To feel inferior to and in awe of all these high earners?

[malificent7]

My career has been a bit of a mess due to mh issues. I did well at school and uni but fell into teaching which im shite at and now an retraining to be a healthcare professional which i love.

I will not be a high earner and neither is dp and im happy but would be lovely to not struggle.

Aibu to think not everyone is cut out to be a high earner..we also need teachers amd nurses etc and it would be unwise to make the grade boundaries for these professions lower.
What i need is a lucrative side hustle.

No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

I'm a top band 5 nurse, bring in about £1950-£2100 a month which I thought was pretty good until I started using MN

Come to New York. You'll make $80-100k per year.

I'm shocked at how little nurses make in the UK.

I’m also a band 5 nurse (although currently working towards being a HV which is band 6) and earn £25k a year. My DM raised 4 kids on £5k a year and did brilliantly so to my family, my salary is v high earning. In comparison to all these millionaires on MN however, I may as well not earn anything! It’s all in context and comparative. And even though it’s so easy to feel inferior on MN, it’s best to look down at people below you than people above you in instances like this, I find.

Most teachers I know earn a pretty good salary, I wouldn't feel down about earning their salary.

We’re “high earners” i suppose, (well I was until I became a SAHM) but I often search under cushions for change to buy milk! So I’m not sure what there is to feel inferior about like someone upthread said your lifestyle evolves as your salary grows and then you have to maintain it. Our outgoing are huge so we’re cash poor at the minute but everyone who knows us probably assumes we’re dripping with money. In fact I often get comments like “it’s so easy for you” etc etc. but there are many many weeks when I’m no better off than when I was on minimum wage. Don’t assume these people all live a charmed life, it’s not necessarily the case. Definitely shouldn’t waste energy on feelings of inferiority OP

As a household we bring in 120kish

I am more in awe of teachers and healthcare professionals to be honest. The hours, the low pay, the shift work, the understaffing, the stress. I think they are undervalued and underpaid

Most teachers I know earn a pretty good salary, I wouldn't feel down about earning their salary.

Mine is ok-£39k pro rata but, because it was affecting my mental health significantly, I can only work part time at the moment, which isn’t great.

This thread was about high earners though, which lots of people have suggested is over £100k-I will never earn anywhere near this.

1% of UK tax payers earn over 100k. They all seem to be on MN...I’ll take that with a pinch of salt.

Average UK salary is 24k. Anyone earning over £35k is in the top 10% of earners.

Nearer 4% according to this, and 1.2m people.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3621852/amp/More-1m-people-say-earn-100k-year-nearly-50-000-make-1m-survey-finds.html

My package is c£100k. People the next level up to me will be on £100k and there are four levels above me, so.....

I am in awe of and feel inferior to people who have meaningful jobs (contribute directly to society, make a difference to others) and/or love their jobs. I have stellar qualifications but didn't push myself and feel I've wasted so many hours of my life doing a meaningless desk job that I sometimes hate and at best am indifferent to.

I'm not quite on six figures, but am paid stupidly well for the amount I do. I'd swap that to have a passion - or even interest - in what I do every working day.

It's easy to say that it's not about the money when you're comfortably off, I do realise. But awe and inferiority just because of the number someone gets paid? Really, don't! Be proud of what you do! (unless you're like me and do a crap job )

I'm another person who thinks teachers are high earners but that's because I'm a classroom assistant and a single parent. Sometimes on here I feel like such a failure. I never went to uni (it wasnt a thing in my family plus I'm not smart enough) don't own a house, live in a housing association property which to some people on here means I'm scum of the earth and rely on tax credits.

I then remember that some people are probably making up their amazing lives and dont feel quite do bad.

Find a job you enjoy doing and you’ll never work a day in your life.

I love this x

Dh is a high earner (I'm not). He has no real training or qualifications but he has huge amounts of grit and determination and he just works hard. It took many years of him working pretty much all the time to get to this point. It was bloody hard on all of us. I know lots of people work very hard for less money and I guess that comes down to different choices/luck etc etc. I do know people who found out what dh earned and said "you're so lucky/It's not fair" or whatever but in the end they work 9-5 and take their 20 days holiday a year. Getting to the high earners salary takes more than many are able or willing to give.

To be fair shutuptodd, 10 years ago in our early thirties dh and I were in a similar position to you (and living with my parents with our two little kids - nightmare). Sometimes things just happen and you get lucky.

I know quite a lot of people earning 100k+. I don't know why posters seem to think it's rare. Live in SE though which may make a difference. But yes a lot of them have high stress levels.

To the lady above, hv's are paid incredibly well.

Yes agreed blue25 I also live in the se and 100k wages aren't too unusual for the people I know.

@malificent7 I'm a TA. You're my high earner.

DH and I are both high earners. It’s 20 to 1 I’ve been in work since half eight yesterday morning and probably won’t get home till 3ish. I’ll be back in here at 8. DH has been home about 2 hours and will be in the same time as me.
Honestly I would massively enjoy spending more time with my kids and taking a cut in wages but we want an early retirement and I make sure I take weekends off every week if I can.

I'm a nurse but would probably qualify as a high earner because I'm a nursing instructor. I have a master's degree in nursing, although all that's required for my position is a bachelor's. (I teach practical nursing, so a graduate degree isn't required, although it does increase my salary.)

In my area we have three types of nurses - registered nurses, licensed practical nurses (likely state enrolled nurse equivalent; this is what I teach), and registered psychiatric nurses (only exist in western Canada; scope of practice is broadly similar to an RN but they work primarily in mental health or long-term care). RNs and RPNs are quite well-paid. LPNs, sadly, are not, though their scope is expanding all the time and they can do most of what an RN can do.

I'm only a high earner because I'm in London. If I'd stayed where I grew up, I wouldn't be earning the money I am now.

Then again, I took the plunge to come to London when people in the countryside where I'm from were saying 'ooh you don't want to go to London, do you?'

And I've worked my arse off all my life apart from a year or two of having babies.

So a bit of luck, a bit of making your own luck I suppose.

First of all its Mumsnet, and alot of exaggeration takes place.

Also, if you're going to measure standards it should be based on how happy/content you are. Though I know alot of people think money = happiness.

I read a post from a woman who was a high earner, but she worked 18 hour days and barely saw her children. I found that so sad, and it's quite common for the over £100k earners to need to put those hours in. I wouldn't want that life.

I'm a nurse. I love my job. I'm never going to be a high earner even if I reach the top of my profession. That's fine with me. I have a good work life balance and I genuinely make a difference in people's lives. Not everyone can say that. All those banking execs who earn in the high figures, do they improve someone else's life with what they do? Not usually. That to me is worth more than a 100k salary.

There are some high earners on MN but I think people notice them more. I don't really take notice of the posters on £25k but I do remember the ones on £100k and over (saying that I don't actually remember their UN)

Reminds me of my NCT group. I thought me and DH were doing okay until I met groups of mums who have nanny's and live in million pound houses

We would earn £123,000 between us if I worked full time as it is, we earn just over £100,00.

My DH is generally away Monday to Thursday and has been for all of our married life. His salary reflects this. We were very excited at him being asked to work on a contract that was "only" an hour and a half each way commute and he could come home every night.

The client is notoriously picky and the contract has yet to be signed, so back to Europe we go, that means him getting up at 3.30 on a Monday morning and coming home on a Thursday or Friday at 8.00 or 9.00 in the evening.

So yes he earns a lot, but we bloody earn it, him with the hours and me solo parenting.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/voices/70000-john-mcdonnell-salary-hmrc-rich-top-5-percent-denial-a7697561.html%3famp

According to the SPI data, £70,000 a year equates to the top 5% of UK incomes.

Meanwhile, 21% of people earn under the “real living wage.” That’s 5 million workers. www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uk-population-living-wage-less-fifth-workforce-minimum-quality-life-poverty-cost-a8035616.html