AIBU To think that the vast majority of the 5% of top earners in the UK don't really post on MN

[ChristmasAlone]

Top 5% of earners in the the UK earn 70k or more, but it seems that every 3rd poster on here earns way above that and beyond.

‘Don't most of the high earners in London not even live in London and just commute in from the Home Counties‘

This raises a good question for you OP. If you think there are so few high earners out there... who do you think owns all the homes in London? There are 9 million people here and the average house price is about half a million.

The answer to your question is yes some do, but no I wouldn’t say most. A lot of people would hate the commute, especially if 2 people working.

@Bluntness100

Actually I genuinely do. And of course I’m not going to put myself. 😂

I rest my case.

Most women in their 40s in a professional job will be on £70k+, especially if they're in a city with a higher cost of living, like London.

If you're in your 20s and/or in a different line of work, £70k+ may seem high. But you're not comparing apples with apples.

I do and I'm here posting away.

I would say mumsnet is London centric and attracts people over 30 and 80% of the people I know in London over 30 earn that amount.

Don't most of the high earners in London not even live in London and just commute in from the Home Counties‘

I'm a commuter and a modest 3 bed with small garden will cost min 650k in my corner of the home counties.

In my immediate social circle I can think of several women who are earning that much or more. I know a GP, Headteacher, Newspaper Editor, Head of HR, Head of Finance.

We’re all in our 40s/50s. I also know lots of pt retail workers and nurses and carers. And I work in a glorified pub.

I think there’s a weird assumption on this thread that the 5% (lol) are some elite species who wouldn’t possibly a)have time to post or b)ask stupid questions online.

I think there’s a weird assumption on this thread that the 5% (lol) are some elite species who wouldn’t possibly a)have time to post or b)ask stupid questions online.

Seriously.

I earn that as a skilled individual contributor in the corporate space. I can easily MN during the day, in a boring meeting or a break between meetings. The more highly paid the job, the more it is mental work that you need autonomy to do. Also plenty of people in the world at all levels are great at their jobs but not so great in other aspects of their lives.

70k is not very much, especially in London. I don't earn that much but our household income is well above that and we live a very ordinary non extravagant life. I've got no idea where the money goes tbh.

£70k. £35 per hour. Is a good wage. PAYE take home pay isn't that fabulous!

I know it's not the same because SE has expenses, but Ds1's driving instructor is £33 p/h.

Plus I paid beautician £15 to dye my eyelashes. And that only took 15 minutes.

I earn more than 70k but I am late 40s and live in London. I think if you earn this much in your 20s it’s unusual but not so much if you are my age and in a more senior position. I also work 9-5 at the moment with a long lunch break. The more senior the role, your responsibilities increase but also your flexibility and not necessarily your workload. I often check MN during my day too especially as I wfh these days.

I wonder how many of the top 5% are women, that would be interesting.

Unfortunately, I think when a lot of women here talk of their high income, they're referring to their DH's salary, which is good, it should be seen as shared income unless, it seems, the woman is the high earner

I'm surprised, actually, that £70k is enough to put you in the top 5%. That would include some fairly ordinary jobs in banking, for example, and even some senior teachers and administrators in schools academies and local councils.

I don't think a family on one £70k income feels "wealthy". Obviously it's a nice income, but I don't think it gives you an exceptional lifestyle.

There are a lot of misconceptions on this thread. £70k is quite normal among women in their 40s who are graduates or postgraduates and have followed a career path since their 20s. Especially in London.

To respond to a PP, in my part of London (suburb) £950k would not get you a 4 bed detached house so it is not a high enough budget for that kind of family house if that’s what you want. You need a minimum of £1.2m for that.

I earn double the £70k quoted by the OP and as others have said - I have time to post on MN because I control my own hours to an extent. My job is stressful and involves a lot of thinking and strategy. I find MN a great source of information, humour and it relaxes me.
I also post about stupid things because although I work in a job which needs high brain power I am not good at practical stuff, cooking, house things etc and often need advice on this. Also parenting! Doesn’t matter how clever you are at work. We’re all novices at that and each stage brings its own challenges.

Despite my high salary I don’t actually feel fulfilled by my work although I do enjoy it, and often think about doing something else, but that’s another thread.

I am in that bracket, often post on MN and don't have a cleaner. Stereotypes only hold you back.

@YellowGlasses

5% of 66mil is still a lot of people. Besides, for many, it’s the household income rather than an individual.

Is it not 5% of the working age population?

This has to be once of the most London centric threads there's been here.

So many people are saying that £70k is normal because that's what people (all their friends) in London earn.
And of course that's completely overlooking the number of people living in London working for minimum wage or doing 'normal' jobs like teaching or nursing.

So the question is why are high earners and Londoners over represented on mumsnet?

I dont live in London.

I actually feel a bit sorry for these people on such high incomes that claim it's not much and they only just manage and have boring lifestyles.
What bollocks!
They land pretty good jobs which they must need some intelligence for but don't seem to have any clue about saving, investments and making their money work for them
I find that really bizarre.
I've never had that income and neither has my partner and we've got a lot of savings, investments, mortgage free properties and a great lifestyle. We have lots of holidays, hobbies and a hectic social life etc. We're also part time and retiring early.
What a shame to have those incomes and not really benefit

This has to be once of the most London centric threads there's been here.

Well... not to put too fine a point on it, duh. Is it a surprise to you that high earners are concentrated in London and environs? London and the Home Counties sustain high house prices because enough people are willing and able to pay them, because salaries are also high. When you start a thread directly targeting high earners, the majority of them are going to derive their money from London one way or another.

Why does any social forum attract any given group? They find it suited to them, a cultural norm develops, which is then reinforced. MN has always had a reputation for being intelligent and outspoken and that will in itself attract intelligent and/or educated people and further reinforce that norm.

London is also home to more of the UK in raw numbers than any other city, and more than Scotland and Wales put together. The sampling of people on Mumsnet could be absolutely perfect as a representation of the UK population, and you'd be "dominated" by Londoners, because... more people in the UK live in London than anywhere else.

@Zenithbear

I actually feel a bit sorry for these people on such high incomes that claim it's not much and they only just manage and have boring lifestyles. What bollocks! They land pretty good jobs which they must need some intelligence for but don't seem to have any clue about saving, investments and making their money work for them I find that really bizarre. I've never had that income and neither has my partner and we've got a lot of savings, investments, mortgage free properties and a great lifestyle. We have lots of holidays, hobbies and a hectic social life etc. We're also part time and retiring early. What a shame to have those incomes and not really benefit

Well that’s disingenuous. You’ve obviously made lots of money in other ways than salaried income. It’s still income.

Oi saraclara I thought you'd buggered off. Begone with you

I once started a thread asking if other women in their 50s had meagre pension provision. It started off with others sharing and then got taken over by posters who couldn't help bragging about their million pound pension pots or their final salary pension schemes. Not helpful

@theAdventuresofMissBarbaraPym

Oi saraclara I thought you'd buggered off. Begone with you

I once started a thread asking if other women in their 50s had meagre pension provision. It started off with others sharing and then got taken over by posters who couldn't help bragging about their million pound pension pots or their final salary pension schemes. Not helpful

“So the question is why are high earners and Londoners over represented on mumsnet?”

They’re not. I’d anything, they’re way under represented.

I'm not in London. I do earn over that, and I do post lots (and frequently name change)

I also have a cleaner, and a nanny, and took shorter maternity leaves.

I don't have two dishwashers or any plan to get one.

I don't really understand the implication - that everyone who claims to be a high earner is lying?

I honestly don't think I personally know of many households where there isn't one person making £70k. I appreciate this is niche. But the teachers or nurses or midwives I know all have high earning partners. Even the builder I'm friends with makes over 70k

@Zenithbear - it can’t be that surprising, can it? I don’t know your circumstances, obviously, but I have a decent job and there is a gulf between me and older and retired colleagues. They benefitted from no tuition fees (or great apprenticeships, which have only really come back as a mainstream option in the last decade), great final salary pensions, more favourable treatment of benefits like company cars and so on.

I was trying to explain to my DF the other day why there wasn’t necessarily such a big difference between what I get paid in a professional role and what my DSis gets for a much lower salary in the public sector. The big contributions i put into my defined contribution pension because I’d like to retire before I’m 68+ if at all possible mean the difference is not what it looks at first glance. High contributions also means I’m more exposed to changes in pension contribution taxation than someone whose employer is taking the strain. Very similar to how younger professionals stack up against older colleagues in the private sector.

I gave up in the end because he just couldn’t grasp it!

Of course 'rich' posters are on here too, they too want interaction and advice.

I'll piss you all off by stating a saying from my country 'money is not something you talk about, it's something you have'. Sorry for bad translation . But my point being, it will be unlikely that the truly rich posters will ever comment on threads like this.