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.

Just spotted Chocolate's list of questions - here's my attempt at answering:

• can you do a job to a high level that very few people can do?

Yes, there are probably less than 100 people in the country that have my specific skills-sets and experience, which is a potent combination.

• can you do a job which to this level which is in significant demand?

Yes, there are far more jobs than people in my sector. I've also focussed through my career on building portable skills, which means I've been able to cross sectors (marketing to advertising to media to tech) to more highly demanded sectors as opportunities present themselves

• do you provide a product or service which has very high monetary value?

Yes, see above

• do you actively seek change and new opportunities?

Yes, see above. I've never stayed in a role more than 5 years

• when new opportunities present themselves are you highly likely to consider and then leap at the chance, even if there are significant risks?

Yes, see above. Risks haven't always paid off, but the majority have

• do you hold the status quo in your life very lightly?

In work, yes. I value family stability highly though

• if things go wrong, are you able to see it as an opportunity to learn and get back up and move forward in a more determined way?

Yes 100% yes

• do you believe that there is always a way forward and you just have to find it?

Yes, almost always. I've given up on learning languages though - I've managed about 3 to really basic conversational level, but lack the talent to get much further.

• are you prepared to move, go abroad, leave friends/family, miss out on social life and leisure for your work?

Yes, we have moved countries several times

• are you prepared to work hugely significant numbers of hours for extended periods of time?

I used to, but now I have a lot of work-life balance, working from home at least one day a week. I'm protective of family time and partner time, but I'm largely always connected, even if I make the decision not to check my mails for set periods.

-are you prepared to be involved in things where the reward might not come for very many years and isn't guaranteed?
Yes, but I always set time-frames for reward, and am fast to fail, if you know what I mean. Failure is fine, so long as it doesn't take too long!

I really want to know what all the 11k a month earners do!

I suppose a lot depends on if you have kids, where you live and how you spend it. I think some people on this sort of money have a fair bit of it spent by the end of the month

1DAD - indeed. We have only one child (now she really will be minted, she'll inherit whatever we haven't spent on houses/holidays/senior care, and it will be a lot because DH is earning a lot right now as well - and she's the only grandchild on the wealthy side of the family), and a largish but not stupidly large or ridiculous to run house. But many people with a lot of money have large houses which are expensive to run, multiple properties across the world, multiple children, expensive hobbies - it's amazing how fast you can spend money if you don't think about it.

We're a reasonably frugal family given our earnings - I refuse to buy a holiday home (because I don't get the point of going to the same place all the time, and it would seem a waste of money to me if we didn't spend all our holidays there. We meal plan because I abhor food waste, even though I spend a lot sometimes on really great meat and fish. I hate wasting electricity, water etc. But we do spend a lot on things which matter to us as a family - travelling the world (using points from business trips), books, cultural things like the ballet, opera, music concerts, and nice clothes. I love clothes. And shoes.

Lots of examples at start of thread about what people do - the examples get even more specific a couple of pages in.

The one which sticks in my mind is the poster who stated that they are able to GIVE AWAY more than 11k per month, as well as no longer working very much , both spending loads of time with their kids every day and having total freedom about when and if to work. In my mind they took 'being minted' to a totally new level - their income is clearly so excessive they can give away far more every month than most of us could ever dream of earning, whilst having the work life balance most of us would love too. I note however, that they however are the only ones to mention that extent of wealth on this thread....which of course by definition must be limited to the very few.

click click - I work in the media/tech industry, and DH owns a tech dev business specialising in the property industry, so ridiculously specialised. We do very well out of both roles, earning over the 11k take-home in each.

I know it makes me sound very spoiled. But we have had tough times on the way - DH set up his own business only after being made redundant a couple of times, and having an enforced period as a SAHD, which was not great for us at all. And at one point, the pressure of being the sole earner almost crippled me.

DH's earnings fluctuate, mine provides the steady income flow to keep our lives running.

This is such an interesting thread to read, I'm one of those people who will never be minted (unless I win the lotto!) My job is not a high paying one but I absolutely love it and wouldn't want to do anything else, no matter how much it paid.

I think having assets to leave to my DS would be nice but I wouldn't want to do most of the jobs I've read on here. I think being happy in your work is the most important thing. Kudos to all the high fliers out there, I admire that kind of drive!

BitchQueen - 100% agree about being happy in your work. I cannot understand anyone who does a job they hate. I really love my job - and I would only give it up if it were negatively impacting on my family life, which to me is the more important thing. We're lucky because we manage with little home help - outsourcing rearing children is not the route I prefer for my life. DH works from home most of the week, I work from home one day a week, and because I was an older mother, I'd reached a senior enough position to be able to dictate terms. Yes, there are compromises, but there are in every life. Doing a job you don't like is not a compromise worth making for me.

My main compromise is probably that I don't have enough time for my hobbies. And I have a very small circle of close and old friends - I don't have enough time to cultivate newer friendships. Which is sometimes a shame.

Ummmmm there is a lot to think about. I will never be minted. But I am happy doing a job bringing in 5k a month before deductions. A lot of my friends are married couples and I don't think most of their combined wages add up to this. It sees me and the kids OK. Plus a 5 bed rental property that is a long term investment for the kids future. I was poor as a kid so it's nice to not worry about to much about money. I am lucky to be in a job that I love that isn't long hours, stressful (at least out of work) or invading on home life. The company looked after me very well when I was going through hell (the sinics could say they were looking after their investment). fact no one I know have left since they started this job, I think that says a lot for a job. I have a comfortable life on the whole and can't complain. It has been a rubbish year on a emotional front but I am still very blessed and don't take it for granted. As long as I can provide a good life full of love for the kids and give them what they need it am happy. Despite everything I am thankful of the life I have.

I know people on the other end of the scale. I also know good up bringing, education and brains doesn't always = wealth. But cultural capital (not heard that term since dossing I A level sociology till someone used it earlier) is always an advantage. I totally get why university leavers get so down about not walking into well paid jobs. I was the case for the baby boomer generation but times have changed. A lot of the white collar jobs that made the baby boomers wealth have gone. I often feel university is a big con these days. Feeding myths to fund an ever growing industry. What value is a qualification if everyone has one?

Not stressful*

I've disliked my line of work (finance) for a while but have felt really stuck. My outgoings are what they are because of what I've earned for 10+ years and cutting them means a shift in lifestyle which of course worries me. DH earns the same as I do so when we got together everything just doubled and we net a significant amount of money. However neither of us likes what we do. I've now got young children and I just can't do it anymore. So I'm quitting. Nervous but gut tells me it's the right thing.

My parents are well off after retiring as 35 year Nissan dealers, but my Dad started out as a mechanic. He started selling used cars, then took on Datsun in 1970 when foreign cars were a novelty. My mother was illegitimate, trained as a registered nurse, and kept books for my father. They started out with barely a pretzel between them. They worked very hard, and were thrifty.

"We don't have a spectacular lifestyle either. Very nice home in Surrey and a home in France. Modest cars, except for DH's folly. A few investment properties and trusts for the children.

We have August in France and DH and DS ski in Feb whilst dd and I have a warm week. DC have attended independent schools and will leave uni with all fees paid.

I have a cleaner and gardener and odd job man here and in France. I work for my sanity and to keep me grounded."

Of course it is all relative. But unless you are talking Philip Green levels of wealth, this describes something much more than a comfortable lifestyle so it is interesting that this is described as 'not spectacular'. Maybe today spectacular is the lifestyle of the Kardashians, the 0.00001%.

We do very well out of both roles, earning over the 11k take-home in each.

You earn £11k a month take-home AND your DH earns £11k a month take-home??

I haven't rtft. Got to p3 and the posters who said the following boiled my piss. Couldn't read further. £11k/mth isn't that much really and we live well on £20k and are on our fourth holiday this year and often go to our caravan / are retired / 'only' used to have two lots of two week hols a year aren't living in the real world. Working families on £20k don't have a cat in hell's chance of owning a caravan / taking weeks and weeks of holidays and £11k/mth is a king's ransom. Get real!

what's wrong with that sentence rollonthesummer?

I do think some people lose perspective of what wealth is. I will quote again, if you earn more than £150k per year then you earn more than 99% of people in this country.

Jennifer - yes it is a lot of money. And to some is minted

But it's not minted to the level of Kardashian minted. I'd imagine many of the big earners near where I live consider me relatively poor.

rollon - He does now, but we have had times when he's not been earning at all.

For the record, I'd never consider us not wealthy, I was just commenting on the perception of a poster upthread who didn't consider 11k a lot.

Intriguing thread. I run my own business and work very part time, but just calculated that if I put in the hours so many of these top earners do, I'd be on well over £100k per year.

The point was that spectacular is having a yacht and/or a jet, a Caribbean getaway, and a multi-million home and/or homes. Thinking Beckhams, oligarchs, etc.. We don't come close to that lifestyle and nor would we want to.

We know many families with much more conspicuous lifestyles.

I actually think that a home in France and one in Surrey is spectacular. The problem with having money is that often you lose sight of where you are on the financial food chain. You may not be billionaires or worth hundreds of millions, but there's no denying that you are, even devoid of a Lear and a big-ass boat, one of the wealthiest people in the country.

I don't think people do lose sight of where they are. I totally understand that other people struggle but my DH is highly specialised and qualified to do what he does. Others do not do it as well or as successfully. That is not to say we don't understand poorer people or are grateful for what we have.

There are lots of wealthy people in the Uk. There are few that are truly uber wealthy and they are in the Times Rich list. Like thousands and thousands of others, this is not us. However, there are lots of well paid and successful entrepreneurs and DH employs a lot of people on very good salaries. This country does need movers and shakers to employ others. It is how the economy works. People who are less well paid can retrain and do a more highly paid role - if they are capable. This is the problem, of course, the majority cannot do the top jobs or professions. It is just life.

I do think some people, who haven't come from money or previously struggled, do lose perspective. I also think that some people feel under pressure to forget their old life where they struggled.

Most of my circle of friends who are wealthy are so through running their own business, but don't live that differently to before. They have a better house than before, better cars. But live in the same area, they drink in the same pubs, eat in the same places, kids go to the same schools, mix with the same people. Their personalities haven't changed.

However, over the years I have had friends who have become wealthy and dropped all their old friends or seemingly changed over night. I do understand it though.

I think if you move to an affluent place, put kids in private schools and surrounded by people wealthier than you, it becomes relative. Things you have that are considered a luxury become part of everyday life when everyone else lives the same or better.

When you don't come from money you can feel out of your depth, when mixing with people who do. Even if you know you earn more at that time. Some people learn to shrug it off and crack on anyway and not care what others think. Some try and hide or pretend their past didn't happen to fit in.

Luckily dh is the 'shrug off what others think' and it's helped me to be like that too. His attitude has always been that he doesn't care if people think their wealth makes them better than him, it doesn't. He just is who he is. Over the years I have seen that attitude open many doors for him.

TBH you can't win.

If you move on from your past, you're accused of forgetting where you came from/losing sight. If you keep it close, you're accused of failing to recognise you're current situation.

Same with if you say you're rich, someone will come along and tell you that you're not in the scheme of things, that perhaps you don't really understand what rich looks like. If you say you're not someone will tell you you're out of touch.

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