..to struggle to comprehend huge salaries?

[missbunnyrabbit]

I was reading the thread about how much people earn having been to grammar/private schools and I just cannot get my head around how much lots of people earn. My head just cannot imagine such huge salaries. People earning over 100k, what on earth do they even do with that money? Do they buy everything gold-plated? That's a joke BUT I have no idea what anyone does with that sort of money or what it could be needed for. This isn't a bashing thread or anything like that. I'm just a bit stunned.

Does anyone else's brain struggle to imagine such huge amounts of money?

@WalkingOnSonshine

I will never understand why people who seem to be triggered by people earning more than them, open threads with titles saying things like “huge salaries” and then flounce off claiming that their mental health has been affected, telling everyone to fuck off in their wake.

👏👏👏

@MapleMay11

Big salary comes with big outgoings and in almost 100%cases an awful lot of stress.

People rarely have a luxury of finishing at 6 or switching off work for the evening and weekends when they earn 6 figures.

So many misperceptions. DH and I are both high earners and have hardly any outgoings - no mortgage or other debt. We don't work evenings or weekends and very little stress.

Are you in IT?

I would suggest that if it makes your head hurt, you stop thinking about it. Its not actually your business what other people do with their money and it doesn't seem to be good for your mental or emotional health to go there.

inawe yes a friend of mine was an expat for 15 years earning well over £100k after tax and his wife not working. 2 kids. He lost his job and in six months they had used up all their savings, I was gob smacked. They are lovely people but she is constantly getting hair, nails done, going to the gym etc, private schools, flash cars and holidays..

Another friend of ours lost their job and same thing - in 6 months had eaten up all savings. ?? He earns about £120k per annum, wife doesn't work, 1 child at state school, 4 bed 'executive' home on an 'estate', new car every 3 years.

It seems some people can't help themselves and just spend all they earn despite high earnings!

@WalkingOnSonshine exactly

PS, no my brain doesn't struggle to imagine it at all.

I earn a lot more than £100k. Only thing to add to what others have already said is that my job, if I make a mistake, can result in significant (hundreds of thousands) personal fines and reputational damage so significant that I could never work again in my industry. Even jail in an extreme scenario if I’m found to be negligent. So for me some of it is danger money, it isn’t something I want to do until I’m too old to enjoy the fruits of it and the majority of my earnings goes into savings to cover pension/worst case scenarios where I suffer a major fine and can’t work again. Several people who do my job suffer mental and physical health issues as a result of stress so great that they cannot continue working. So that’s also a possibility and if I ever find myself starting to feel that way, I will quit (with savings making that possible).

A nurse who makes a mistake can kill someone.

Earnings are not determined by the consequences of your potential mistakes.

@godmum56

PS, no my brain doesn't struggle to imagine it at all.

If the OP struggles with this I shudder to think how she actually manages life… her poor children if she has any

This sort of thinking actually has negative impacts on women. To be seen as ambitious wanting money is frowned upon to the extent that women asking for pay rises are denied it.

Yes more could be done for social mobility but the sooner we stop this faux concern ‘money = materialistic = bad’ attitude the better. Really pisses me off.

Life costs money and It’s not materialistic to want a worry free one.

I totally understand op 2600 a month here me and dp its depressing isn't it. Yes I know people take on bigger mortgages etc but they have a better lifestyle all the same

A lot of those jobs will go hand in hand with a lot of stress and responsibilities. They will often require involvement in high level strategic decision making. If you don’t offer the right salary for these positions then you won’t get the right calibre of applicant.

Also OP seems to be trying to justify having less money to herself for some bizarre reason, so she can feel
Morally superior

@oldwhyno

This ridiculous thread epitomises what's wrong with the "class war" in this country. Low earning working class clashing with high earners, bickering about what is and isn't "rich".

With a couple of notable exceptions maybe, anyone that comes from a poor background has the potential opportunity to find themselves a high earner later in life. Not just by hard work, that was never enough, but being clever, paying attention to your education, working smart, taking risks, and just maybe having a little luck along the way.

Conversely, many of the high-earners on here could have a change of circumstances and end up much poorer in later life, through bad luck, bad choices, whatever. Even if they've got enough wealth to avoid being "poor", their children, or grandchildren can rapidly find themselves with no more advantage in life than anyone else. That upwards and downwards social mobility is a fact for 99+% of the country.

There are those, the actual "super rich", the mega wealthy in this country, and as it makes little difference, in the world, that have such substantial amounts of wealth that their families will be wealthy for generations, AND here's the real problem, probably just continue to get wealthier.

Excellent summary.

Was poor, now rich (according to MN) - it was a combination of luck and me (mostly luck). I don't work harder than (some) poorer people.

@Dontgetyerknicksinatwist

A lot of those jobs will go hand in hand with a lot of stress and responsibilities. They will often require involvement in high level strategic decision making. If you don’t offer the right salary for these positions then you won’t get the right calibre of applicant.

and a lot of this is bollocks - every day I see stupid and costly errors rewarded with big bonuses.

It's very far from a meritocracy (and I say that from a position of privilege - although not on the Boris kind of scale).

@CSJobseeker earnings are determined by how hard it is to get qualified people. Even supposed white collar jobs like software development is at risk of outsourcing and salaries could drop tomorrow

Nurses are paid an ok salary in outside terms but the understaffing is crazy. Not NMW, that’s care assistants

@Libertaire

You do realise that the government takes 40% of everything you earn over £50k in income tax, and that a gross salary of £100k equates to take-home pay of around £5500 per month, don’t you?

That’s a decent salary, particularly if your other half also works and you don’t live in London, but it’s by no means rich.

This!

My DH earns £100k. We were both brought up in a mining town and the first in our families to go to university. He works in finance with the NHS and has worked hard to get promotions.

For us his salary means I can afford to only work 2 days a week. We have a moderate mortgage (£1k) a month, 2 cars on finance and put £1k a month into the savings. We don’t live an extravagant lifestyle at all.

@antsinyourpantabut the house prices are very different. In london, my 2 bed flat cost 400k (£1k mortgage). for my MD who commutes from Buckinghamshire (cheaper house), his commute would cost him £510 per month and even on flexi season tickets, his day ticket is like £50. Quite standard for people who live outside London and commute even if they have cheaper house prices. So if you work in London, your expenses would be higher even if you earn more.

I used to live in London and now commute so I'm aware of London house prices and commuting costs....
My point was that everyone no matter what they earn has housing costs, childcare costs , commute etc
There are plenty of retail, hospitality and averagely paid public sector workers in London and the South East who don't earn anything like 100k.

You won't get far on here op go to Facebook universal credit group and you will see there are loads struggling on low incomes

You pay a lot of tax, you lose your personal allowance, you work all the time for the money and thus have to pay people to do lots of life tasks because you have no time. It is also all relative!

You may also get a nicer car bigger house and then find that you actually save less 🤦‍♀️!

@daimbarsatemydogsbone exactly.
There’s no massive stash of wealth for several generations.
And while having well off parents can give one a leg up for house deposits etc it’s easy for that to disappear with unfortunate cirucksgandes /bad choices.

I've read most of the thread, and the thing I'm most shocked by is that out of ALL the posters who admit to earning huge salaries, NOT ONE mentions using any of it to help those less fortunate than themselves.
No wonder society is fucked and the rich just keep getting richer

Tbh, the posts from people who say "I'm a high earner, I choose to spend my money on [savings/big mortgage/school fees/holidays], and I really appreciate being in the fortunate position of not having to worry about money too much" haven't attracted any criticism.

The ones which have been criticised are the ones saying:

"I earn £££, but most of it goes in tax! Have you ever heard of tax?"
"I earn £££, but I have utilities, mortgage, council tax and nursery to pay, so it's not actually very much really"
"I earn £££, but because of my amazing job I am FORCED to spend a lot just to hold down my job"
"I earn £££, but really you need at least ££££££ to be comfortable in London"

So how much more tax and deductions do you seriously think we should be paying? 100%. Because that would suit those that like to sit and wallow on universal credit and other benefits.

Wallow? Ugh. How revolting

@InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream

I've read most of the thread, and the thing I'm most shocked by is that out of ALL the posters who admit to earning huge salaries, NOT ONE mentions using any of it to help those less fortunate than themselves. No wonder society is fucked and the rich just keep getting richer

Tbf, people are only ever going to mention their most significant regular expenses/commitments in a thread like this. You can't assume that no-one gives to charity on the basis of this thread.

People rarely have a luxury of finishing at 6 or switching off work for the evening and weekends when they earn 6 figures.

my friend is a midwife, last week she stayed 4 hours over her shift finish time because the last lady to give birth on her shift lost the baby at 12 minutes old. She regularly does not finish on time, nor leave her work at work, and still 'only' earns £28k.

'People' working hard for their 6 figures and believing that others don't for their just above min wage jobs are precisely what is wrong here.

@Tevion28

You won't get far on here op go to Facebook universal credit group and you will see there are loads struggling on low incomes

Eh?