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.

ifnot I am one of the people above who said " consultant " although it was about me and DH not just him so to give more info
We have a Business Consultancy where Dh gives advice and hands on assistance to large companies on IT matters - so if they have a short term project such as a new product release or similar he will be brought in the manage that. I do similar but with a Sales/Business Development slant so I set up sales teams or rescue failing Sales Operations or similar.
We get paid by the day so any time off is unpaid but we tend to have manic periods followed by quieter ones. I only work PT due to DC but a lot of what I do is analysis so can be done from home
I set up the company 4 years ago after a long career in Corporate Sales and Training and he left his job to join me last year.

We have our own business in a niche area ( so I can't say what it is ).

Same story as lots of other posters - we are both well qualified with 2 postgrad degrees and professional qualifications, took huge financial risks early on ( had to borrrow on credit cards to pay staff wages or HMRC) , sacrificed lots of family time ( had to postpone our own wedding for work , DH spent most of my last labour on phone to clients, DH works away a lot of the time which was awful when the children were small ) .

I'm not complaining, of course it's our choice. But it's easy to look at people in their 40s or 50s who are well off and successful and think it fell into their laps without any effort, when that's rarely true.

We are not loaded but don't live in the south east and have a lower cost lifestyle -no mortgage, school fees, childcare, debts - so we are comfortable

Set up and ran a listed company at a very young age (was youngest ever doing what did and on the stock exchange at that time). Recommended takeover and sold extremely well having large shareholding.

Consequently, extremely well connected and very very highly thought of. Great at adding value. Basically manages own money now and buys distressed assets (extremely good at debt workouts, lots of institutions and funds want DHs involvement).

Works about 4 hours a day normally, some days doesn't work and we travel and live in various different locations.

No salary, all dividend.

He's basically a complete one off and amazing at what he does. You either have those skills and completely comfortable with risk or you're not. Oh, and he loves it too. He'll be like Warren B and never retire.

Not saying amounts of money but you can probably read between the lines.

I think of the comments about it not all about being hardwork etc are interesting - its about working hard at the right things and having clear goals - we have our own business, it started as DH's and me in the background but then I have the education and experience to add (MBA, Strategy level Mgt etc) to the skills we offer so we expanded our offering - one of the first people we offered my services too offered me a FT Directorship with take home of 6k - hoping to start next month. All in the IT sector but wholesaling rather than in house IT stuff.

I am a good all rounder that likes work life balance. I have worked hard but I have also worked smart. And no I didn't start off with a privileged background either - no inheritances, no lottery wins, no property bingo, shitty failing school secondary education left at 15 to go to college and found my niche in business. Specialise in quality, change, strategy and plain speaking...

My dh's wealthiest clients are judges, consultants and property developers. Not too many own businesses.

My dad's always run his own businesses and as a child we veered from rich to poor and back again.

In the good times we had private schooling, a daily cleaner, holidays, a huge house.

In the 90s recession he lost everything and I got taken out of school as the fees could not be paid.

Bailiffs came to the house and we were told not to let them in, they cleaned out the garage of anything of value such as the lawnmower.

I have a median income salaried role, I don't earn loads but the stability is very reassuring.

My husband is a partner in a law firm. Bloody hard work though- incredibly stressful and long hours.

Interested to know how many of the minted families on this thread, who with risk as a big part of their work, have had phases of great financial loss or hardship in other ways as a result of their work?.....or known others who were involved in similar work and didn't end up minted?

I know that it's a certain personality type which can live a life of risk and enjoy it, rather than be ground down by it.....that the rewards can be huge, but also the losses too.

It's funny the jobs society places high value on isn't it? There are loads of poorly paid public sector jobs that require a high level of education, long hours and complex/high risk decision making (thinking healthcare for one), that we value in £ not a jot in comparison to jobs in finance, law or IT.

Thanks Hopping that's helpful.

Specialise in quality, change, strategy and plain speaking... I specialise in those things too RB68! Trouble is nobody listens to me or pays me for it!

We are on our way to becoming very well off. Last year my DH earned just under £250k and I expect this year will be similar if not more. It's about 50 / 50 salary and bonus.

He works in IT in the banking industry and has done for the last decade. 13 years ago he was earning £35k. He has got where he is by being incredibly good at his job and working his socks off. He has moved with bosses who value him and they've paid him to make it worth his while. His bosses have moved again and both have offered him to go with them. He's very senior and his current company don't want him to go so essentially they'll pay him enough to make sure he's less tempted. When you're niche and hard to replace then that's how it works.

I worked PT for a long time but now have my own business and am respected for what I do as I'm good at it and don't bullshit basically. I am on the early days but would expect to earn about £40k in the next couple of years working mostly around the kids. Not a fortune but should take our income up to about £300k and DH has benefits on top of that such as pension, health care, life assurance etc.

Our parents both came from nothing and are well off. We are both from big families and should both eventually inherit a total of at least £750k possibly more. It means that hopefully we will be able to help our kids, we've also just taken on a much bigger mortgage rather than paying it off as we feel that it's the best way to make money on property longer term and we will downsize if we need the cash rather than being conservative.

Work life balance barely exists, DH is always working or thinking about work but that's him, he would be no less committed if he was earning £25k so he may as well work in the job he does and reap the rewards.

Boringly, you have to choose the thing that's right for you, and then prioritize work over everything else, again, and again. I'm not sure it's as simple as saying it's privilege every-time, you need to be good at choosing the best path for yourself and not everyone can do that. The question most people should be asking is where on the matrix of how much I want to work vs how much can I earn you fit in. DH has been working relentlessly for the last 10 years and it's exhausting. I could double my salary if I travelled 4 days per week but I won't do it.

I'm more by the person who said '£11,000 a month doesn't sound like much' but they still don't consider themselves minted.

'minted' depends on outgoings as well as earnings. £100k is not a massive salary in London (and yes I do know that most live on much less).

We're not in the minted category I don't think (earnings this year will be €100-120k depending on how much DH bills in the final quarter) but we have low outgoings. OTOH both of us have been self-employed for parts of our careers and have also moved between countries, so saving for retirement is a priority over having an expensive lifestyle.

DH is a specialist translator (own business, turns down more work than he takes) and I'm an economist in a strategic planning role in a multinational. My work can be long hours depending on time of year, but I wouldn't say it's hugely stressful. DH only works if he wants to.

I've done essentially the same job for years but DH has changed careers four times and had periods of unemployment.

Interested to know how many of the minted families on this thread, who with risk as a big part of their work, have had phases of great financial loss or hardship in other ways as a result of their work?.....or known others who were involved in similar work and didn't end up minted?

We have really struggled. Especially the first three years, it was a huge risk. We struggled to pay the mortgage at one point.

Many businesses that do the same (including a couple that have directly copied us and tried to lure our contracts away) have come and gone. I have no idea how hard they worked, but I know what they offered wasn't as good quality, prices or terms.

It took a lot of information gathering and speaking to people to get our business model just right.

Personally, I don't like working for myself and the risk involved. So I will go back to my own career in the next year or so, which was quite highly paid. I don't have a privileged background or much education. I worked my way up in that career and my old employer asks me to go back all the time. So I will be doing that.

Its interesting that many posters have equated a high income with no work/life balance.

I suppose its all relative, I only manage one school pick up a week and dp none. Dd will be in childcare or with GPs for around 30%-50% of the school hols. By many peoples standards that's not a great balance.

We do all the school drop offs though and one of us is always home by 6.15pm and the other usually by 7pm. We never work weekends and if we log back in in the evening (probably a couple of times a week), its after dd has gone to bed.

Our combined take home income (circa £12k/month) means we can outsource household chores and use the most convenient childcare, leaving us with more quality time for dd when we're home.

More importantly we all have financial security, if anything happens to one or both of us, dd's future is secure. We both grew up in relative poverty so it's something we worry about.

I know barristers, bankers and city firm partners earning that kind of money. Pretty much without exception they are men with stay at home wives who think nothing of spending the evening at work. Women in those fields (including me) tend to be less successful (on average) because they have a more equal partnership with their husbands and share household tasks.

Wow its amazing to hear of people earning huge amounts. I work part time in the NHS, take a 0 off the end of 11k/ month pay, that's what I get in my hand. Have been qualified 24 years. I am not a business person, don't think I ever could be. At least in the NHS there is (usually ) job security so at least I know I'm going to get a wage every month.

Incredible. I earn 11 grand A YEAR!

What do you even do with 11K a month?

Ugh. Lots of assumptions on this thread. Very annoying. Dh and I both work in the City and both earn that kind of money. I work 9 to 6, very flexibly (but travel). Dh, same office hours, less flexible and tends to do a couple of hours after the kids have gone to sleep. We both have come through a decade of working 15 hour days, 6 days a week and the frequent all nighters, to be in the senior positions now.

I guess that when people say they worked hard, they mean it wasn't just luck (which is usually the assumption), but it was a combination of hard work, skill and luck.

I also get annoyed when the assumption is you don't see the kids if you earn that kind of money. I was inspired a decade ago by Fiona Shackleton who reportedly left the office at 5.30pm every evening to spend the evening with the family. No idea how true it is, but I have had the same ethos.

Interesting. Much as I like the idea of having more money, I would simply not be willing to do what it takes to get it, and always had very little interest in the types of job where I'd be likely to earn a high salary. I'm not nearly driven enough to set up my own business either, and don't fancy working crazy hours. I am writing a book though .

I'm not sure about the outsourcing household tasks in order to spend quality time with dc tbh. I think quality time is a bit of a myth - normal, hanging about time, doing household stuff, running errands etc IS quality time imo. It's normal stuff that should be part of normal life.

My husband is a partner in a NYC law firm. He earns several million pounds a year. His dad was a CFO, so DH was definitely positioned for success, although he went to public school (US version) and was made to put himself through law school, which means being saddled at the age of 25 with hundreds of thousands of dollars of law school loans.

I'm now a SAHM, but was in a creative field, and earned a fraction of what was then our combined income.

What do you even do with 11K a month?

The vast majority will be housing, childcare, food, bills, holidays, savings.
Just on a slightly bigger scale than most
Bear in mind that London property prices mean that you can be paying £3-4k a month for a mortgage on a very ordinary terraced house in a very ordinary area

Just to be clear, when I said about jobs being dull etc, I was definitely being light-hearted (though I really don't have a clue what half the job titles mean!).

I'm also :O at whoever it was said that 11k a month wasn't a lot though!

Meant to say I work a lot of nightshifts and weekends as well. I'm not interested in promotion or being a manager. DH works in the public sector too, he earns much the same as I would if I was full time IYSWIM.