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.

I find it throughly depressing that women don’t look at high salaries to be aspired to, and assume instead that people must be lying.

How on earth could you know if someone is lying about their income or not? You just couldn’t

AGreatEscape
Of course age has a bearing but my investment decisions were started in my early 30's. Over 20+ years there is a lot people can do if they want to.
No final salary pension here sadly. Never had a company car etc. If I had been a higher earner I would have more pension provision as well as the other income streams but overall am happy with my choices.
JensonsAcolyte
Yes I now have other income but apart from one modest inheritance (which would no way compare with a higher income pa) it has all come from income that I earned then invested as much as I could without missing out.

The London thing is bollocks too. I earn a good salary and am home counties but my colleagues are earning probably double and are mostly in or around Manchester.

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 sure we can say either way, but I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of people of middle/average incomes won't be showing up on threads to highlight their finances. Equally many people on higher incomes won't be the sort of people who sit on Mumsnet dimly saying things like I couldn't imagine ever earning less than £80k a year, it would make having a family so unaffordable.

Regardless of actual salary or individual wealth, there's a certain type of person who enjoys talking about money and they will tend to self select on threads where they have an opportunity to talk about it.

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

We have a 6 figure household income & I do work p/t. However it is only now in our late 30s we can start to save more for the future & put more into investments. Our 20s was saving for house deposits & renovations & then early 30s was increasing pension contributions & childcare. Tbh we will be moving house soon so then will have to pay more mortgage & for renovations. It's never ending & whilst I appreciate we are privileged it's not like we are rolling in it. However I have no interest in making money off others peoples need for a home & tbh it's much harder to do it these days even if I wanted too.

I find it throughly depressing that women don’t look at high salaries to be aspired to, and assume instead that people must be lying

Oh don't be so earnest! I thought the OP was being slightly light hearted.

You can't help wondering where are the hairdressers, dental nurses, delivery drivers, hospitality workers, pre school teachers, police officers etc. Do they not use MN or choose not to post their more modest salaries amongst all the high earners?

@LolaSmiles I dont know...I know plenty of Londoners who genuinely dont get how professionals could earn any less than 100k. Would they say it on MN no idea - but if you spend enough time with them you clearly get an impression that talking about money, costs of stuff and value for money is quite central to their lives. Maybe it's because a lot of them work in finance and money is front and center in their day-to-day jobs. But I hear a lot less about cash and how much stuff costs from my friends working in the public sector than from my neighbors.

@Giantrooster that’s interesting. what’s your definition of truly rich then?

We do and I do.

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.

I don't know about nursing but plenty of teachers in their late 20s will be on 50-60k with a TLR & I know teachers in their 30s on SL who get paid 80k plus.

@idontlikealdi

Should I not believe all those posters on mw, with no money for food? Do I just assume they're trolls because they're not in the same income bracket as me?

To be honest yes, they could well be trolling for handouts. MN has had a lot of those.

I don’t believe a number of wealth boasts. Often the OP isn’t able to maintain the brag.

I accept a number of truthful but honestly don’t get what compels people to reveal their income and wealth. Quite a few fall over themselves to make sure we all know they earn a lot, have an expensive house, a big pension and an army of help. It’s an interesting personality trait.

rarzy
We have a 6 figure household income & I do work p/t. However it is only now in our late 30s we can start to save more for the future & put more into investments. Our 20s was saving for house deposits & renovations & then early 30s was increasing pension contributions & childcare. Tbh we will be moving house soon so then will have to pay more mortgage & for renovations. It's never ending & whilst I appreciate we are privileged it's not like we are rolling in it. However I have no interest in making money off others peoples need for a home & tbh it's much harder to do it these days even if I wanted too".
Thanks you. At last a believable comment.

I'd love to have a discussion about what people are investing or interested in investing later on when they are able than all this rubbish about 'it's not much money' which just sounds silly and fake.
If you earn a lot of money then you should have disposable income which you will either spend or invest or both. Even if it a nice home. Otherwise what's the point in high incomes?
It's daft to say I earn over 70k but we're poor as church mice.

@Zenithbear I would say my experience is true for our friendship circle too.

@theAdventuresofMissBarbaraPym

I find it throughly depressing that women don’t look at high salaries to be aspired to, and assume instead that people must be lying

Oh don't be so earnest! I thought the OP was being slightly light hearted.

You can't help wondering where are the hairdressers, dental nurses, delivery drivers, hospitality workers, pre school teachers, police officers etc. Do they not use MN or choose not to post their more modest salaries amongst all the high earners?

Earnest

There are HUNDREDS of posters with those normal jobs on here. Lots of people talking about their normal jobs and average salaries

[quote mammmamia]@Giantrooster that’s interesting. what’s your definition of truly rich then?[/quote]

I don't think that's possible to define. You can have 1 mill. and feel and be truly rich compared to others in your area or country. But 1 mill. will be seen as peanuts by a lot of people with other circumstances. There will always be people richer than you so in comparison you will never truly feel rich.

@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.

You’re not very good with numbers, are you.

Your post title and this post don’t really make sense.

1. Of course the majority of the top earning people don’t post on Mumsnet.

2. Nothing like 33% of posters on Mumsnet claim that they earn £70k p.a.

Even on threads about salary, there are always a huge variety of posters earning a huge variety of salaries. YABU.

The reverse snobbery on MN is something I don’t understand. I know that lots of people work hard and much of success is down to luck, but it’s the nastiness towards the lucky that bothers me. You discredit yourselves.

Ive found most posters who earn very high salaries insist it's all because they worked harder, and made more sacrifices and took more opportunities than others, and don't acknowledge any other factors/privilege that may have assisted. Family background or dynamics, economic background, education, network or connections and luck can all play a part. That doesnt mean people havent worked hard or made sacrifices but sometimes it's not just working harder than others.
And people on much lower wages also work hard.

And in answer to other PPs. I think 70k is a very good salary.i earn less than 30k, and dont in any way consider myself in poverty.
And earning a much lower wage doesnt mean I'm not intelligent!

I have been thinking about this.

I have been here for nigh on sixteen years, sixteen years ago we could barely afford to breathe in and out, but we acquired pay rises and promotions along the way, and invested heavily in pensions so perhaps the people who are high earners with big pension pots are all of similar age demographic.

Ive found most posters who earn very high salaries insist it's all because they worked harder, and made more sacrifices and took more opportunities than others, and don't acknowledge any other factors/privilege that may have assisted. Family background or dynamics, economic background, education, network or connections and luck can all play a part. That doesnt mean people havent worked hard or made sacrifices but sometimes it's not just working harder than others.

That's an interesting observation -- on the previous thread about this same topic, there were many posters who did acknowledge the privilege, explained the steps that led up to their current position, and it goes largely unremarked.

We see what we want, I suppose. It's my observation that people choose to focus on the posters insisting "anyone" can have a high salary if they "work hard enough" and gloss over the posters with more in-depth explanations.

I don't know about nursing but plenty of teachers in their late 20s will be on 50-60k with a TLR & I know teachers in their 30s on SL who get paid 80k plus

Teachers in their late 20s on 50-60k? Pounds? In the UK? Surely not?

We see what we want, I suppose. It's my observation that people choose to focus on the posters insisting "anyone" can have a high salary if they "work hard enough" and gloss over the posters with more in-depth explanations.

Spot on.

I for one have given up explaining on here and in RL that my DH worked away Monday to Friday all over Europe and the UK for the first ten years of our marriage, I was bloody lonely and for the last twenty years ( DS is 20) he was also away more than he was home, he went to Basle for a two day consultancy project and ended up commuting there and back for eighteen months, that is how we ended up where we are.

In 1995 I kept a note of every time he was away, and how often on a working day he was in the UK, it made for very sobering reading, I used to also lose weekends if there was a training course at the head office in the US.

Nine times out of ten, if you dig deeply enough you will find the price paid.

We do have a comfortable retirement lined up in fourteen months and now my greatest fear is that he might die before we get to enjoy it.

@BarbaraofSeville yep, always get told I'm lying on here though. I used to work in a school & my brother is a teacher

www.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/pay-pensions/pay-scales/pay-scales-fringe-outer-london-and-inner-london.html

BarbaraofSeville
I thought the same.

To get £55k a teacher would be UPS3 with the maximum TLR1 award, so would probably be a Head of Year or Head of (a large) Department. If they were in inner London then UPS3 plus full TLR1 would get into the £60s.

Senior leadership positions in large secondary schools are typically mid 40s-50s in my area, and £80k would be more than many primary headship outside of London.

I'm not sure how plenty of teachers can be on the kind of salaries mentioned up thread.

But your typical late 20s teacher won't be head of year in their late 20s would they?

ie, if you picked 100 28 YO teachers, most of them will be 'standard' teachers, and only a handful will have achieved sufficient promotions to be head of year by that age.

So it's not exactly a reasonable expectation for a young teacher to be earning that amount of money before they're 30. Most will be earning far less. From that link, most of them will probably be earning around £35-40k.

@LolaSmiles UPS3 in inner London is just under 51k. A 50% TRL could be 5k plus a S26 of 2.5k.

I did specifically say teachers in London with a TRL because there is often a narrative that teachers earn peanuts. My brother is a deputy head on 85k & yes he also can take time off to see his child's nativity.