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.

@Lily193 the point I was trying to make to the OP is that usually you get more of an idea of posters income and wealth from their lifestyle than the usual :"DH is very very senior and earns lots and
lots of money" on this board.

I'm around £100k so is DH. We earn the least out of our friends / social circle. By quite some way in some instances. We're Surrey.

@Lobelia123

I used to think like this and thought it was through unfairness, lack of opportunity etc that I was in a midlevel position. As I got older and matured I realised that actually every job I ever had, no matter how humble, was an opportunity that I wasted because I dismissed it as 'just' entry level, or 'just' something to pay the bills at the end of the month. I was more invested in my life outside of work than I was in my life in work. That was natural for where I was at that stage in my life. Now Im in a space where I fully commit to work during work hours (instead of planning my weekends, horse shows, chatting with mates etc) and the results have been incredible. People notice hard work, enthusiasm and ambition and all of these things are freely available to us all. People who copped to this before I did have a head start in the fabulous well paid job dept, but its never too late to get going and make up for lost time!!! Adjust your attitude and stop doing the bare minimum and youll get it back in spades.

100%.

@Quandaries

You didn't just 'roll your eyes' at that comment, you gave one back.

"Wow. Where do you live?

I don’t know a single person who has ever been in prison.

We had one girl who got pregnant in school but, other than that, the vast majority went to university and most didn’t have children until they were late 30s, let alone becoming grandmothers."

If this isn't a judgemental response I don't know what is.

It’s location and business that largely makes the difference. I am a woman who earns over £100k. I am state educated; first person in my family to go to University. I am legally qualified, have many years experience, live in London and work in financial services.

I could not do this job outside of London and I would not earn as much in a different field.

The number of high earners on here does seem disproportionate to the population, as does the number of children with ESN.

Read the site (especially the FWR boards). It clearly attracts an educated, (mainly female) demographic. It's not stretching credibility too far that the likes of some of the scientists (who clearly from their subject knowledge are not making up porkies about their profession), GPs, etc., are earning a tidy income. They're trained and educated professionals. So they should be.

The gender pay gap is a separate issue but it categorically does exist and yes, this is in the sense of equal pay for equal work. It's also coloured by the fact that women are more likely to work part-time than men and less likely to chase significant promotion or if they do, tend to do so at a later stage of their career.

Almost all site members here post under pseudonyms meaning people don't have a clue (or care) who we are IRL. That being so, who cares about impressing a bunch of fonts?

@butterpuffed

Isn't it lovely how all the high earners on MN never seem to be busy and always have time to flood these threads every time they come up

Your point being?

I honestly don't know why people think that £10k+ salaries are figments of people's imaginations or why so many people are disparaging. Do you actively want your daughters to be on the lowest wage possible just so that people are not bitter about it?

I am not a high earner, I went into my field eyes open to the terrible financial prospects, but loving the work.

But will I encourage my own children to adopt this 'It's a scam / it's a lie / it's a magic job' / men earn this money and I work p/t and take off every sick day so never progress' attitude? No I will not. I have encouraged them to look at what they truly enjoy and can throw themselves into for fulfilment, and alongside that to look at the financial context and potential lifestyle. All factors taken into account.

A few years ago they did a documentary on Pimlico Plumbers - all the plumbers earned £75k basic. That must be more now.

Let's not be grabby and materialistic, let's fight for fair living wages for ALL, let's fight for equal opportunities for all, but also let's not be bitter, jealous and disparaging about people who earn more.

I would say that the vast majority of the people I know have at least one partner earning 6 figures

And I would say the majority of the people I know don't earn anywhere near 6 figures!

However I'm in the North (Yorkshire) and have several friends who work in the public sector, work for a charity, are self employed, etc. which may be a factor in lower wages. I don't know anyone who lives/works in London so wages of £100,000+ are alien to me.

@julietteb18 [shocked]

Is your DH head of a large school?

You'll be able to retire at 40 if you're saving all your pennies

even

I am a public sector lawyer in my 30s earning £75k

DH is in private finance earning variable but approx £250-300k

We're in the frozen wastelands of The North. Both very much working class backgrounds, one of many siblings (Catholic), state schools etc.

I do consider us incredibly fortunate and we live in a manner I could never have imagined when I was growing up.

I think things do get quite skewed - because of our jobs pretty much everyone we know and speak to daily is a very high earner. Your perceptions of the world and what's normal can change.

Got to laugh a little bit at all the high earners saying "how hard they worked" to get where they are now.
Don't you think nurses, teachers and similar public sector workers work hard (sometimes with very challenging patients/children)?! Many healthcare/public sector roles require MSc and further professional qualifications which people undertake whilst working full time, night shifts etc.

My salary is approx £40,000 and I'm in a role where i'm unlikely to ever earn >£55,000, just because of the pay scale and there's no such thing as bonuses.

However I have flexible working hours, plenty of annual leave (no issue with taking time off for school holidays), job security and good pension etc. I live in a part of the country that suits me, plus have very good job satisfaction. Overall this is more valuable to me than earning £100k.

I think quality of life is location-dependant to a large extent as well. Yes, it is not necessary to earn 100k to live in London, but it is necessary to earn near that if you want a certain standard of living. And I'm not talking exotic holidays three times a year, but being able to buy a house with a garden that is big enough to swing a cat in fairly centrally so you don't spend your life commuting. The sort of lifestyle you could get on around £30-40k in other parts of the country (as I've pointed out to my DH, in suggesting why we should consider moving).

I think it varies a lot by area and sector.. London is generally better paid fir the same roles ( living costs and competition) but there are definitely sectors like finance, tech, law , consulting where most 20ish year olds pass the 100k level in base pay.
What I do think is unfair is that nhs doctor pay is fairly low considering how skilled a job it is ( and how critical ), I just saw the pay scale for doctors in public service in my home country and the base rate is double the nhs salary, and probAbly more in line with where it should be!!

@Lobelia123

Oh my God, I've think you've got it! People don't earn 28k because they're in lower paid jobs, they earn that because they're lazy, work shy idiots! Of course!

So, you spent your early working life half arsing it and then, by the power of sheer hard work and perseverance (and not planning horse shows during your work hours which is, naturally, par for the course in any low paid role) earned way more. Wow!

Face it, the best, most hardworking NHS nurse in the world isn't going to earn the same as a hedge fund manager. If wealth was the automatic result of hard work, the world would look very, very different.

I am medical and do nhs and some private work. I’ve been on over £100k since mid 30s. It’s bloody hard earns though.

I think its just about making choices that take you into high-paying industries. A lot of my friends moan about their pay but then choose avenues that are generally low paying. They work harder than me in terms of hours and standing up, but it won't pay off for them financially. That's not to say it doesn't pay off in other ways for them; I think they get reward from their job.

I'm also a big fan of finding secondary income sources...ones that pay high for little effort. I have a couple of these and they give me enough money to live on should my day-to-day business fail. I also veer towards doing business in different currencies so that if the sterling is weak, that pays off too. And mine is not location-dependent at all. I work from home. So long as I have internet connection, its all good.

And to the poster who said they earn less but put their children first...its possible to do both, depending on their age.

I earn close to £100k, I am not particularly senior in my organisation, about half way up the ladder and I don’t work crazy hours all the time. I do work in a very specialist niche job though. I didn’t choose my career path based on salary, but what I had genuine interest in and was good at.
I work in delay analysis and forensic planning for construction projects, so claims and disputes within the sector. I am professionally qualified engineer and also have legal qualifications. I’ve got 15 years experience working on construction projects and have transferred these skills to a consultancy job. I am the only person in my organisation with my mix of qualifications, experience and skills, and I am paid well for that.

I'm also a big fan of finding secondary income sources...ones that pay high for little effort.

Can I ask what?

I'd say there are some wealthy, high earning posters on MN, but you are more likely to meet them on the Education board or Style and Beauty than AIBU

I'm in the top 0.1% and I never look in the Education board. S&B sometimes if a thread catches my eye. It goes to show that people's assumptions of wealthy people are way off.

That includes the assumption of hard work, luck, payout from parents, degree from a prestigious institution. None of which I have.

I just turned 29 and am on 67k+10k bonus. I work in accounting (ACA) in London. Frankly I could be earning more but I chose a stable job in a less stressful company. I worked in audit previously but it absolutely destroyed my mental health.

OP asked how? Agree with previous posters who have said the two things you need are London and a job in one of Finance/Accounting/MC Law or Tech. That's a pretty surefire way to be a 'high earner'. Husband and his friends all went to Oxbridge, all have Masters degrees, most are white and earn probably 200k plus. And all of them are painfully smart.

I also agree with the poster that said a high earner rarely feels like they earn a lot. I don't, because my husband earns well into 6 figures. My husband doesn't feel like he earns a lot because his brother earns in the low 7 figures etc etc.

One thing people haven't really mentioned is that you pay (in other ways) to earn that much. I'm more flexible than my husband and even then but we rarely spend time together except for on weekends. Dinners with friends are organised at 9pm-ish and one of the group always has to cancel for work reasons. Laptops are usually brought on vacation. I could go weeks without really seeing my husband during audit busy season. Most of the people I know have sh*t mental health and dream about moving out of London. Very 'rich people problems' but I don't think some people understand how much shit you take to earn a lot of money.

I'm also a big fan of finding secondary income sources...ones that pay high for little effort.

That sounds like the do some kind of online sex work on top of their normal job.

If we all relentlessy pursue wealth none of the important stuff will get done.

I think that there is a lot of jealousy with regard to high salaries which is why many high earners only feel comfortable revealing their salaries anonymously
Posters readily believe those who say they have low to mid salaries ( which is most of mumsnet) but don’t believe the few ( relatively) who say they earn high salaries.
The fact is that there are people earning a lot of money. As others have said, MN attracts a mainly middle class, educated demographic who are more likely to get these jobs
My dd2 is ambitious and wants to get into banking / finance because she wants to earn a lot of money. She has chosen A levels that will help her achieve this. She has also researched the universities and careers.
Even at the tender age of 16, she has a plan .We should encourage our daughters to aim for those high paying careers .

I don’t think anyone saying they’ve worked hard to earn a big salary thinks that those in other roles aren’t working hard. However it can be frustrating to read assumptions that those who earn lots have been to public school/Cambridge, had friends in the right places etc. This is of course true for some but not for many.
They are possibly just saying they have worked hard in their own right and this didn’t just land in their lap or wasn’t all down to luck. I believe that many people make their own luck through working/studying/networking and choosing a potentially high paying career.

:-D No, not sex work. Its actually a separate business related to my day-to-day business but one that only requires input a few times per year.