If you are minted....

[FeralBeryl]

*What is your/ partner's career or job?
*
Not a TAAT more a TIBAT (inspired by a thread)

Someone has a monthly take home pay of £11k
Not going to lie, I fully intend to suddenly obtain the necessary qualifications overnight for whatever it is. sure there'll be an online course....

I know there will have been a great deal of sacrifice, no work home balance etc. I'm not wanting to judge at all-I'm enthralled

Please.

It's another world!!
I know all the high earners on this thread work very hard, but then so do many NMW workers!!
I guess - from what I've seen on here - getting a qualification in a niche sector
Is key! Also being self employed seems to be a recurring theme.
Dh and I certainly do not feel "minted" but our joint income is considered high for where we live.

This thread is far more nuanced than 'I work hard'.

And that may be a factor when it comes to getting rich. Do you take things on face value? Do you immediately fall back onto your own perception bias? Are you naturally pessimistic? Do you believe that the world works in a set way? Are you risk averse? Are you frightened of change?

That was to a couple of posters up thread BTW. Not badders .

Badders the qualifications I have are open to anyone - it's been the 20 years working experience and taking the risk of setting up on my own that's taken me to the other world - more luck on reflection than judgement. I did make a conscious decision only to do what I wanted to do and stay only if I was happy (from a work perspective) - and can't believe how much (so far) this has worked for me!

Well luck...or lack of it....is always a factor I think.
Right place, right time maybe?
I couldn't afford to go to uni...my parents were clueless (as was I) and I got no career or uni advice at all.
I don't regret it, but I have always had "jobs" and not a "career" iyswim? I think what does Dismay me slightly is that now you need a degree (doesn't seem to matter what subject!) for even a fairly lowly admin post!
I'm not sure what that signals to the young, really.
Is uni just a means to an end now, or just an "experience" to have?
Maybe I'm overthinking this.....😀

Mostly things don't happen by accident. Getting rich is much like anything else - the result of having wealth, or whatever you want to achieve, as an end goal. If you are sure of the direction in which you are heading and dedicated to achieving it, it's much, much easier to get there.

Babs...I'm glad it's worked out for you but most people don't have that option...I know I've had to stay in jobs where I was pretty miserable because I needed the money.

I am also quite risk averse - since having DC anyway - and I'm sure that has hindered me.

I think there's always an element of luck. The opportunity that came up, the mentor who came along etc.

However luck and reliance upon it won't see you through in the longer term. We all have ups and downs, good and bad luck. Very few people will be gilded throughout.

One of the best things to impress upon out DC is resilience.

badders i do believe some people have had bad luck (redundancy etc) but I don't believe my business is successful because I was lucky.

Many similar businesses have come and gone over the years. But we are doing really well.

I never went to uni, I worked my way up then branched out in my own.

I grew up In a poor house that had a subtle message that my education wasn't as important as my brothers because I wouldn't have a career. I would have a job until I had kids and then be a sahm.

My business is doing well because I spent ages researching what I clients wanted and finding a way to offer it. Not because of who I know or because I was picked out of a hat to provide the service I provide.

Attitude to change is a key factor - ime. Dh and I left the UK over 20 years ago and now live in China. He earns more here because not everyone wants to live in a developing country or be away from their extended family and his salary reflects that. Nothing to do with family giving us money, rich background or working harder - it's about taking a risk and embracing change.

Often the people who become minted are those who seize and make opportunities. They see possibilities everywhere and go for it, even when there is a huge risk. Most people just aren't like this. Yes, along with that, they work hard and are often well qualified and perhaps well connected. However, as keeps being mentioned,moods of people work very hard and loads are well qualified too.....however they aren't minted. So what's the difference? It really isn't just down to connections, as lots of people keep simplistically thinking....often the well qualified actually, www.chainreactioncycles.com/airwave-super-wedge-qr-saddle-bag/rp-prod73526how seem to be very resentful that although they are well qualified,msomehow they haven't ended up rich. I'd have thought being so well educated, might have allowed people to take a more nuanced view of thing and recognise the complex factors which all come into play in determining wealth.
Of all the factors that feed into the mix, I would say it is the being willing to take risks and spot and step into opportunities when they come, which sets people apart...the being able to live with the risk factor which may back fire. When people do that, there may be an element of luck as to whether the risk pays off or not....but these are calculated, not blind risks that people who become minted step into. The difference between them and the hard workers who are very well qualified isn't all about background (although yes, background might give them the confidence to do some of what they do....but many from more affluent backgrounds are absolutely not risk takers) but it is about personality type and characteristics which allow them to see opportunities and have the willingness to take the risks that can pay off big. Quite simply, few people have that personality type and prefer the safer, more predictable life. Most of us don't look for every opportunity and seize it and create more and have the business acumen and highly specialised skills (rather than a general degree, however high class, or a PhD in something which makes us very clever, but not useful for businesses who make money) that businesses will pay mega bucks for. It's this which is different, not so much working hard.

Absolutely ChocolateWombat!

I don't disagree with what you say, ChocolateWombat, but I would add that some of my MBA classmates who have become extremely rich are, in addition to having the personality traits you describe, extraordinarily ruthless. That's really what sets apart the merely very rich from the uber rich (among my personal acquaintances).

Agree. Chocolate - but tbh I wasn't looking hard - current position was offered to me and no one would have turned down tripling their salary - with the only downside being I had to be a ltd co! Same person (who I actually now earn more than) is still looking out for me - that is really lucky!

I think delayed gratification is an important factor too, remember the jelly bean test for small kids - they had to decide to either eat the sweet immediately or delay consumption and be rewarded with two sweets - delaying consumption was a good predictor of future success. Hard work without immediate reward is something lots of people can't deal with.

chocolate interesting last post.

When I look at the career trajectory of DH and I there have been certain moments when opportunities arose and we took them (in the face of gasps of horror from some onlookers; who wondered why anyone would do that when life was good and uncomplicated).

Now some of those things have not worked out but those that have leapfrogged us to the next level in terms of cash, but also in terms of seniority of position. And once you get to a certain level of position it all gets much easier.

I disagree chocolate. I think the are SOME minted people as you describe week probably came from un-minted backgrounds. However the vast majority have been minted for a few generations. On the industry I used to work in, there was a huge cohort of not particularly intelligent people but they had been to the right schools, and yes, had the right connections. I bet if you check those who are paid more than 150k individually, a huge majority would have parents in that bracket too. This is where the difference between working hard and being born into the right family comes in.

It's really easy to get a job that 11k/mth (before tax) in financial services. Just be Internationally mobile, be willing to work 60-100 hours a week on a contract where the bank can let you go for any reason at any time, and don't spend any time at home at all. Most of these kinds of jobs don't even require a degree (in fact graduates won't do them), but 20-30 years of hard graft project or IT management experience.

It's really hard work and most of the guys I know who earn this kind of money are only doing it so they get noticed for a permanent opportunity - many will even take pay cuts for work from home opportunities!

To give another example, I know someone who has that sort of money being retired. They probably had that since they were 55~60yo.

The money they have is coming from a whole life time of savings. In effect having 2 people working, one as a teacher, so not such a high salary, the other earning around £3k a month. They basically live on one wage, never bought anything flashy, still had a black and white TV when it was normal to have a colour tv, wore shoes until they had holes in them, one big holiday every 3 years etc etc. Every single bit they could save was saved and put away.
They had some investments, took some very calculated risks and build up from that.

This is the other way. They are now well over 70s and are still very careful with money, even though they are more lavish nowdays.
They would also agree that it was easier to do that then it is now.
But I have to say, how many of us would be ready to do that??

I agree risk taking plays a part. I live in France where my skill set is much more sought after than if I had stayed in the U.K. Not everyone can / wants to move abroad, that's a risk.

Actually scared my inlaws did just that. DH remembers being hungry as a child. They lived a miserable parsimonious life. MIL still does. We aren't extravagant by any means (compared to our peers) and have chardonnay tastes but champagne money but nobody should live like that. It's miserable. MIL has well over a million in the bank and a very very good teacher's pension and widow's pension - pays top rate tax but has lived a miserable scrooge like existence and sucks the joy better than a dementor.

Can I clarify what we mean by minted? Are we talking £100k pa? £200k pa? £500k pa or on to the £1M+ pa level.

I think the op was or finically talking about minted as being those who took home £11k per month.

One of my great uncles lived an unbelievably frugal life (cold baths, hot water instead of soup for lunch...). He was a GP and left millions to medical research (not a penny to his nieces who looked after him in his old age). Unsurprisibly he never married. Miserable bugger!

Earning is not all about high degrees or education. You can spend years studding but that doesn't mean that your qualifications are in demand. It is mainly to do with supply and demand in the job market and the criticalness of your skills/abilities to profits of your employer (assuming your employed).

I left school after skiving though my A-levels and joined the Forces. I left the forces and got a civi job that puts me in the top 90% of UK earners according to salarygraph.co.uk (is this site accurate because I don't feel particularly rich) for an average 38 hr week with no real qualifications. I am just a working class man, doing a skilled manual job. But the fact is the company spent a fortune to train me over the best part of a year and other companies would love to steal me so they have to keep the wages high to keep me there. I am a hugely valuable commodity to them. If the supply for my job was 10 a penny my wages would be low. That is the reality of it. So consider wisely your career path.

I would love to know what the top 5% earn because I am a lone parent raising two kids. Ok I am comfortable but I don't feel minted. I don't drive a fancy or newish car. My sole income is probably that of most middle classish couples. If I am in the top 10% it goes to show how much of the wealth is held by the top 5%.