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.

I'm in the very high earner category, and I think that it's easy to forget how much of that good fortune comes down to background and privilege. I had the following lucky breaks:

• Stable home life and upbringing, supportive parents
• Private schooling followed by top university (free)
• In a relationship with one long term partner for 20+ years who has had the same privileged upbringing
• no personal tragedies / setbacks so that I can focus on career
• easy to take risks when you have financial and social safety net

Plus I've always been motivated to a large extent by money, so I have always directed my career that way.

So I don't think either YABU or YANBU

Ha Ha another total fantasist here.

Earning £130k + p/a
No degree and bad A'Level results
2nd redundancy at 31 at about 40k
Changed careers and took a job at 30k
Stayed with that company for 20 years, 3 major promotions and a few buy outs/take overs. Made redundant @£115k.
Took another job at same level now on £130k - mid 50's with a sizable pension.

My advise, head down, work hard, add value wherever you go - take every opportunity that presents itself, be brave. Treat others as you want to be treated yourself. There are no wrong moves, sometimes you can do things differently but that is a learning curve. Mentor the next generation.

Well done to all those women who are successful (and that comes in many different formats), well done to those women who have a great work/life balance, well done to those women smashing the glass ceiling.

We should celebrate each others successes.
To be honest if you don't see what is out there, how do you know where to aim for.
We absolutely should talk about salary, we should talk about how do we get to the next level.

Tell your daughters to aim high and work hard towards what they want to do. Too often we are conditioned by our surroundings and family, you can't do this, you can't do that.

My measure of success is - do you have money to have a choice in life. Can you feed, clothe and house yourself and your family. Can you leave a bad relationship if you want to. The only person responsible you is you!

I often think its down to decision making. I see people who have something given to them and they just blow it time and time again (two friends spent their 30's with very unstuitable men not just once but many times).

One got married, gave up her job because her husband wanted her to look after him. He also wanted her to sell her old house and release the equity (so they they could go on luxury holidays). Marriage didnt last long, he had two children and had been married before.

Now years later she is in another marriage but trapped as she never did get back to her career.

My DM was a single parent and I didnt go to university. It just wasnt the thing at my school. However I do have a good work ethic. I like working. I also lived in London and was prepared to travel should I need to and I have never been out of work. Many many years ago a small company I worked for closed down but I just got another role quickly.

Genuinely mean spirited and reflects an unconscious bias to “call bs” or disbelieve
Instead of casting aspersions on high earning women, maybe reflect on their endeavours to break glass ceilings, the prejudice & sexism they’ve encountered
I see women getting berated here for reporting they’re high earners

Yet,routinely on mn women describe their high earning partners...Nadda nowt said. No shout outs claiming bs, or fantasists, or embellishments
Because conscious and unconscious bias shapes expectations & norms. Men are expected to be higher earners. It’s viewed positively
Women who earn well are presumed to be avaricious, career woman is a pejorative term

JMG1234
Your post has just about finished me off! Up to £500k per year

I am in no way academic so did not receive good A-Cs in GCSE in order to move onto A Levels etc. I went to university and studied a new pointless course which has been of no use in my whole working life.

I have felt like a failure the majority of my life. No matter how hard I work my marks have always been average. I am only in management due to my sheer determination and am witnessing younger colleagues in their 20's and 30's coming into my organisation as directors.

@SentientAndCognisant

Genuinely mean spirited and reflects an unconscious bias to “call bs” or disbelieve Instead of casting aspersions on high earning women, maybe reflect on their endeavours to break glass ceilings, the prejudice & sexism they’ve encountered I see women getting berated here for reporting they’re high earners

Yet,routinely on mn women describe their high earning partners...Nadda nowt said. No shout outs claiming bs, or fantasists, or embellishments
Because conscious and unconscious bias shapes expectations & norms. Men are expected to be higher earners. It’s viewed positively
Women who earn well are presumed to be avaricious, career woman is a pejorative term

So so true. The misogyny (as pp said) is a tad depressing.

It’s quite aspiring reading how well so many women do in their careers and earnings. I have never ever dreamed of earning 100k but it’s inspiring to know it’s a very real possibility! I’ve never been motivated much by money though. Do you (high earners) think being motivated by money is a key driver in your successes?

I earn a six figure salary. I'm based in the NW and have earnt about that (inc commission) since my early thirties, although I've halved my salary a couple of times by changing companies to improve quality of life but it always seems to climb back up rapidly. I had no breaks growing up, was raised on benefits by an alcoholic mother who said I should quit school and just get a job at 15 :) I didn't listen and have a PhD and loads of experience and I'm good at what I do.

I work in the tech industry these days but have never encountered a glass ceiling or felt discriminated against even though it's very male dominated. I'm not even particularly motivated by money, I just want to be sure I'm never poor again so once my mortgage is paid off, I'll be happy, and I'm planning on switching to a really low paid career in a few years as I'm getting bored in my industry. I guess I'm pretty lucky. I've also always earned more than my partners, and they have not cared in the slightest. My current long term partner thinks it's great! (not a cocklodger, he has a decent job himself)

So so true. The misogyny (as pp said) is a tad depressing

But it's not that surprising. It comes up on every thread about salaries. Women have an issue believing that other women can be successful and earn high salaries.

I wanted lots of nice things for myself and the family. I had a role and whilst it was well paid I am glad after over 30 years I finally left but it was a means to an end.

What kept me going was the nice holidays (I always took every last scrap of my holiday allowance) and sitting in a beautiful hotel thinking maybe the long hours and the pressure might have been worth it after all.

Make no mistake - companies paying say £60K plus benefits will want to get their monies worth! You will do long hours, no overtime paid etc and honestly any personal issues you might have, childcare etc will be of no concern to them.

Some women dont want that, they want to do their shift and then not be bothered. They dont want any real responsibility which is fine but with that comes a lack of salary.

Dont go part time unless you are desperate, certainly dont give up your job because you want a career break. You will find it difficult to get back on the ladder. Push on through the times when the childcare costs makes you think is it worth it?

My DS wanted a far simplier life. She never earned more than £25k. She use to have sly digs at me about how she didnt want to work at my level (honestly with her work ethic she would have lasted 5 mins).

So, yes, all worth while

DSIS (not DS!)

Make no mistake - companies paying say £60K plus benefits will want to get their monies worth! You will do long hours, no overtime paid etc and honestly any personal issues you might have, childcare etc will be of no concern to them.

I disagree, I earn much more than 60k a year and my employer has been very understanding and flexible about childcare issues/school drop off or pick ups. I think it depends on the employer entirely.

I disagree that in these sorts of jobs companies don’t care about your personal issues, I don’t think that’s the case everywhere and certainly not for me in my current job.

I’m not money motivated either but I chose a lucrative professional slightly on a whim when graduating and ended up sticking with it (I wasn’t planning to originally).

I also wanted to give hope to those who haven’t necessarily had a lot of breaks along the way or don’t come from a wealthy background. It’s not essential although it does make things much easier. I had a happy childhood and good (state) education but I’ve had a lot of challenges in my working life and faced a lot of barriers. It’s certainly not been an easy journey but I’m glad I kept going and moved jobs when I realised things weren’t working/the environment was too prejudiced or male-favouring etc. It’s definitely doable and important not to feel overwhelmed by a sense of your own disadvantages or differences and lose confidence as a result.

@Nikhedonia

Make no mistake - companies paying say £60K plus benefits will want to get their monies worth! You will do long hours, no overtime paid etc and honestly any personal issues you might have, childcare etc will be of no concern to them.

I disagree, I earn much more than 60k a year and my employer has been very understanding and flexible about childcare issues/school drop off or pick ups. I think it depends on the employer entirely.

Me also. I work 4 days, normal hours, and my company have been very supportive of childcare issues during the pandemic.

I will never get to my boss's boss's level because I don't want to put in the long hours that does require, but you can still be well paid and have a life. A CEO in my division is on 4 days a week.

Personally I am motivated by money, always have been since a child. I had a paper round at 12, worked in a hairdressers from 13-16, did a cleaning job along side, worked in a food processing factory in my school holidays and then worked in a supermarket.
So I have a very strong desire to have money and a strong work ethic.

It is not true that all organisations run you into the ground. They expect you to work hard and deliver but my organisation cares very much about the individual. They have been fantastic during the pandemic.

I think I have a restlessness about me and I never feel I have done a good enough job, so that actually drives me. I always want to be moving forward.

Someone upstream was talking about background and privelidge, this definitely helps many people especially in the professional sectors like doctors, solicitors, lawyers etc..

However, it is not a necessity and I think we need to get this across to the younger generation.

I didn't necessarily have that, my parents were working class but worked hard in manual and lower paid jobs to ensure we had opportunities. We never went without but money was tight.
The last poster said, sometimes you have to plough through the barriers, I have had people take a dislike to me, I was on occasions difficult to manage.

My first main job was in a male dominated, public school educated, boys network kind of job. I hit is head on! I was made to feel never good enough and I suffered from lack of confidence inside. But I just keep ploughing forward.

I think there is definitely a personality trait that helps. You need to be willing to do more than is expected, you need plough through barriers or think of a different route. You need to be brave and take up opportunities. I think I am a good strategist and problem solver, I can always com up with a plan.

I genuinely think we need to start talking about salaries more, especially to girls and young women. There’s plenty of high paying jobs out there, but you have to know about them, and you have to know how to access them in terms of uni choices etc.
This, with bells on.

Work in the city. That makes a ‘normal’ job pay £££ but you have to be very resilient. Work hard, have good qualifications yes, but be able to put up with a lot of stress. And unpleasant people.

Also insurance and re-insurance. Apparently these industries still pay ££££

I’m not sure why you singled out a council employee. Councils don’t pay well.

Perhaps you don’t meet people earning 6 figs as they are prob working 24/7 and (depending on your age) considerably older than you.

I was definitely motivated by money early in my career, it’s the reason why I chose to go into the City. It probably gave me the very early push because financial stability was really important to me but I would say it stopped being a motivator or even a factor a long time ago.

@CarolineBingley is it wrong to really enjoy a poster with your name posting about being "motivated by money" in your career?

Ten thousand a year at least, you know!

Make no mistake - companies paying say £60K plus benefits will want to get their monies worth
⬆️ I’d actually say you’re probably worse treated in a low pay job that can be done by many others. You’re more dispensable & likely not valued highly as a result. High pay jobs professional reputation &demeanour are important, and you’re paid a premium or it. Also staff can (and do) go to competitors if unhappy in post. There’s an imperative to keep the well paid knowledgeable staff

As a student I’ve worked in retail and care work.poorly paid, and high turnover. We were dispensible

I am now in a professional job, 10+ year study. Two degrees, a PG, CPD and specialist skills. My skills,my knowledge and personality are all part of the job and it’s hard to recruit to skilled work. I have worked around Uk been locum and permanent. As a high wage earner I’m not badly treated. Of course if the job needs done you don’t clock watch, there a professional expectation you get it done. And I do

Company culture isn't always salary-linked, and that's what defines whether a company "cares" about supporting employees through personal issues, etc.

Anecdata, but I'm on the top salary I've ever had at the moment, and the CEO is extraordinary when it comes to flexibility.

Location helps. I worked in London when I lived in the UK, now that I'm in the US I work near to a major city. Someone doing my role in the Midwest might not get the same salary for the same amount of work.

The thing I learned early on was how to represent my value to the company in terms of revenue. Yes, I get paid a generous salary for my job (converted to ££ for the purposes of this thread) but I have proved that it returns many times over in revenue for the company, and that's what has allowed me to continue pushing upwards.

@Autumnchills @mammmamia @CarolineBingley thanks these are all really helpful perspectives. It would be an internal move, but I wouldn’t go for anything unless it was the next career grade up, which is a bit of a jump. I’m really motivated by the examples here of increasing seniority without burning out.

In my current role - which I really enjoy - I have no direct reports so not really anyone to delegate to other than outsourcing to a point. This is definitely a challenge. Our organisation likes a flat, lean structure nowadays.

Make no mistake - companies paying say £60K plus benefits will want to get their monies worth! You will do long hours, no overtime paid etc and honestly any personal issues you might have, childcare etc will be of no concern to them

This is generalisation and I'm sorry but is...complete BS. I'm on that much and I think my company have been more than flexible, especially during the pandemic. Tbh I think I could be on a lot more and still not feel like they were flogging my time to death.

Further to my comment I thought about my widest social circle and those who would be over 100k. Not close friends.

Two sahms married to lawyers (don't live that differently to people on less)
Two sahms married management consultants (very wealthy! 2 million pound house, all dc in private schools, 4+ holidays a year, dcs uni and living costs all in an account ready and waiting, cleaning help 2x a week etc)
One part time early years teacher married to investment banker.
One dentist (only friend to have a holiday home they paid for themselves as opposed to a family holiday let shared with parents/gps)
One Consultant (Dr) who gives away over 15% of his income to charities

Honestly I don't think they have a better like than the many closer friends I have earning 65k but with two incomes so total 130k household incomes the only difference is their partners are more often than not not in any form of paid employment even once their dc are grown.

My four friends/family who are Vicars are by far the most wealthy of the middle class not over 100k income earners. Own their own large detached homes (5 bedrooms, double garage, 3 reception rooms), have holiday cottages, major investments and very nice cars. Get loads of help, housing allowance, discounts on many things. Dc in fee paying schools with massive discounts to the point 3/4 dc get free education. Not in need of those supports but entitled to them, all have hundreds of thousands in the bank and keep getting richer. I realise this is not all vicars, but it's certainly interesting - these ones started from a more privileged place, and then with all the added options/funding pots/entitlements just were able to get a lot of extras for less and that meant they have far more to save.