High Earners on MN?

[BitOfFun]

How? The actual leader of my county council doesn't earn more than £100K- where and what are all these super-maxed out occupations? I genuinely don't understand how mumsnetters (often relatively young) access these magic jobs I've never heard of.

YABU- they are there for the taking, you just made poor choices

YANBU- people here are very creative and there's an outside chance they may be lying exaggerating.

VanCleefArpels:
All require high academic qualifications and a shed load of self sacrifice to get to those senior levels.

This made me smile. Yes, indeed, ... or, failing that, rich parents, Eton and Christ Church will do the trick.

I think location must be the main factor. I’m up north, and I can’t say I know anyone personally on that kind of money.

I’m joking about my choices, btw- I don’t see success in money as a main motivation for me.

Meh, some may be lying, who cares.
But in general MN seems to be quite MC- not many people on here admitting to being skint and living pay check to pay check in a council flat.

I think mostly they would be in private sector and London/SE.

but also there is a lot of bullshit on here and a significant proportion of the people who claim to earn six figures probably don’t. Whether it’s a bit of exaggeration from someone on £80k or outright fantasy from someone on £10k.

I wonder if so much of the doubt is actually caused by a bit of internalised misogyny? If you really think about it, if these were men discussing salaries, would you feel the same? I’m not a high earner, btw. I was earning a decent amount, but nowhere near 100,000, but Covid hit the business.

@HollowTalk

Bit sexist to think women can't be in well-paid jobs, isn't it?

I don’t think that. The gender pay gap is real though.

@BitOfFun

How? The actual leader of my county council doesn't earn more than £100K- where and what are all these super-maxed out occupations? I genuinely don't understand how mumsnetters (often relatively young) access these magic jobs I've never heard of.

YABU- they are there for the taking, you just made poor choices

YANBU- people here are very creative and there's an outside chance they may be lying exaggerating.

I'm really surprised if the chief executive of your local authority earns less than £100k. When I was an executive director of a small LA in 2001 our CE earned just over. I found this by googling from the tax payers alliance. Obviously they are trying to argue council tax is too high but CEO of a LA is a complex job especially at the moment! It will depend on population and location I imagine.

"In 2017-18 there were at least 2,441 council employees who received total remuneration in excess of £100,000. That's 135 more than in 2016-17, and the highest number since 2013-14. "

I created an online business, that's how I came by my high income but it took years to get there.

It isn’t beyond the possibilities to earn these high salaries. My DS is 25, and currently on just shy of 70k. He went straight from a very good degree to a graduate scheme with a supermarket and has steadily climbed the ranks. He has specific skills, and is tipped to be a director by the time he is 30, and then will be well over 150k.

No private education, our local (struggling) comprehensive, then a Russell Group university to do a maths related degree. He is very bright which helps and very ambitious. He does however work very long hours and at times is under a lot of stress. Horses for courses.

Huge difference depending on location.
My job earns £80k+ in central London.
The same job near my home (around 1 hour - 1.5 hour commute) earns £35k
London pays so much more even factoring in the commute

I have some friends up north - they earn six figures, one earns 7, a few own their own companies and a few in banking. I think it’s the kind of job you do too.

DH (30) was on six figures until earlier this year. Isn’t particularly well qualified and the role didn’t require a particularly high skill set (although definitely some specialist knowledge that you’d gain through a few years in the industry). The only reason it was 6 figures is because it was a petrochem company.

Law, accountancy, tech, finance etc pay well. However with the exception of maybe tech there can be big discrepancies so you could be a lawyer with a high street firm on 60k or a lawyer with a MC firm on 500k.

However there is definitely a bias on MNs due to the demographic. Only 61k women earn 150k plus vs 295k men which is a bit depressing.

For those discussing the pay gap.

I am one of those people. I have a degree and two post grad qualifications. The downside is my job can be very stressful and eats into my private life

I think there are lots of jobs that you may not have heard of unless you have specific qualifications/experience such as those in the field DH and I work in which is healthcare-related and pays very highly (well in excess of 100k even for very part time roles), but can be done from home and involves relatively little stress. We live in the north and are mortgage/debt free.

It's not about making poor choices, it's about exploring the options available with the qualifications you have.

I’m in London too. DH crosses the 100k mark in mid-late 20’s as did a few friends and boyfriends who worked in banking, accountancy,law, property etc. I also know IT consultants on 6 figures. Head teachers of large comps in London also often earn 140k+. Even consultants who do private work on top of their NHS job can earn north of 100k. I remember some sort of a law suit discussed in London papers and it transpired that a few plumbers at a well known company earned over 100k too.

It is all people living in London and nearby or working in banking, top law jobs, private equity etc. DD's friends are all 28 and I'd say many are in the kinds of jobs where they are on 60k +, with many on 100k +.

My teacher DD in London is on nearing 50k and some of her teacher friends on more than that (yes, they are all ones who have climbed the ladder and on middle or senior management but still seems surprising compared to out of London salaries)

I’m a doctor. I have been a consultant for 10 years and I’m 45. You can look up the consultant pay scales so while I never tell anyone how much I get paid it’s easy to work it out. With a few extra sessions a year and a supplement for out of hours working I’m not eligible for 30hours of childcare.

I would say that the vast majority of the people I know have at least one partner earning 6 figures. It will depend very much on location and job. Most of our friends are lawyers, Bankers, IT, accountants, doctors, commercial property developers or a few own their own TV production companies. All will easily earn 6 figures. I don’t know anyone where both partners are in junior roles or who are on NMW. Even where 1 partner earns less or works PT they are usually still in professional roles and often mid to senior level e.g teacher with additional responsibility, counsellor, physio, pharmacist, HR director, finance director so probably adding at least 30-50k per year to the family income.

@9toenails

VanCleefArpels: All require high academic qualifications and a shed load of self sacrifice to get to those senior levels.

This made me smile. Yes, indeed, ... or, failing that, rich parents, Eton and Christ Church will do the trick.

Neither of these is true. In my entire circle of friends, everyone is averagely driven and pretty clever naturally but not from hugely wealthy backgrounds.

Everyone is a lawyer / works in finance / mgt consulting / tech / IT and started on mid£30ks from graduate level. It’s not hard to move up just through experience and end up being well paid. The salary jumps for those jobs are much higher too.

Everyone is pretty normal, not loads and loads of hugely late nights and “self sacrifice” or loads of qualifications beyond degree

Technically I earn 1.8 million a year before tax, if I leave out the context that i'm not in the UK and that's barely 5 figures in pounds I could definitely claim to be a very high earner.
I agree with previous posters though firstly don't believe everything written on an anonymous forum, secondly high earner is relative and finally there are plenty of highly paid jobs out there but landing one is a combination of intelligence, work ethic and circumstances with a large dose of luck thrown in.

The thing is, at the moment it’s not just about salary.
DH used to earn 6 figures (just) in private sector but changed career into the public sector (became an MP) and his salary was reduced by about 20k.
If he was still doing his old job, he’d probably be about to be made redundant due to Covid. Instead he’s in a secure job, with no worries about his salary or job being cut.
(Well at least until the next election)

Those earning £100,000 may be in a precarious position right now.

@SonjaMorgan 😁

@cabotstove Yes, depressing

Reading this thread is making me wonder whether the effect of all the COVID related WFH is going to mean a drop in higher salaries over time ie less difference between London salaries and the rest of the country?