..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?

I have not posted about salary specifying numbers on MN since the first time I did, 5 years ago. I was accused of lying snd people were soooooooo nasty about it and I name changed and never gave an amount again! I’m actually very surprised on this thread that there has only been a few “you’re lying” accusations. 😆

@TractorAndHeadphones I completely agree and wrote earlier on the thread that jobs like teaching are massively underpaid but that's it no good asking the people on 100k to sort it out, the finger needs to be pointed at the government.

You ask how much is enough? Well lots of people are happy on 30 or 40k and with two partners working will make the budget work. But two kids under 3 and full time child care and a mortgage in the south and you read on here how things get tricky.

But for people who have salary as their career goal, enough may never be enough. I'm not on 100k but salary growth is a big motivation of mine, probably the main one. Dh and I have enough to live on - but every year I'm pushing the salary up and up as hard as I can, because i am just focused on moving forward. I know there are people in my industry taking home bonuses the size of my annual salary so it's just my mission to push as much as I can - not for the monetary value but for the recognition from them that I did my job well - and that's the only language they understand. Maybe chipping away like this every year will mean one day by the time I'm close to retirement I find myself on 100k, maybe not. The goal isn't the figure itself, just that the figure keeps growing.

Sad to some probably, but true. But I love my job - I can't even say I work harder than a carer or a call center worker, I've done both those jobs in my youth to fund my studies and they were the hardest days of work in my life.

I only mentioned being sacked on a whim because someone above mentioned "risk" as something some higher earners have to face. Comma in the wrong place and client loses £20m etc kind of thing. However I certainly accept that my son who drives food for a living could die on the road every day and I suppose if he did something wrong with the food that might poison a customer of the large food provider.

Being low paid has very few advantages and I recommend every teenage girl aim for the highest paid jobs they can as that makes life easier.

and yes I am not incorporated - if that means benefits claimants thus get more money and tax from me then many would think all to the good.... and well done me....

@Alonelonelyloner

My DH and I are on the same income and have a take home together of around 10k per month. 20 years ago at law school I couldn't afford to feed myself and had to choose to starve so that our son would eat. I barely managed the rent. It's swings and roundabouts. As noted above, people who choose careers such as mine or my partners are making a choice to take a punt and aim for a career which will pay well. I do not work any harder than our office cleaner, in fact categorically not. I do though have a tonne more responsibility and that I believe is what I am paid for. No more no less.

That's the crux of it I think. I'm in a minumum wage job, day to day I probably work harder than my company director who is semi retired. But he has the financial responsibility of 150 employees. I wouldn't want that responsibility no matter how much money it paid.

Better education and better life. Not difficult to understand imo.

OP may I suggest that you listen to Paul McKenna’s ‘I Can Make You Rich’ recording. If you’re struggling to imagine that much money I respectfully suggest that you may have a glass ceiling imposed possibly by your upbringing. Smash that fucker!

It's honestly not that much if you have to buy a house and don't get any help . Plus you pay half of it in tax !

I’m with you OP, a whole other world eh?!

@gunnersgold

It's honestly not that much if you have to buy a house and don't get any help . Plus you pay half of it in tax !

No, you only pay the amount you earn above a certain level... not all of it. Also depends on where you're buying a house Crikey

If you live in London, work long hours and have two kids under four you are talking about £3000 a month just in nursery fees, before you’ve even paid rent and bills.

@TractorAndHeadphones well yes I know that but it's still a chuffing lot of tax ! We are in the south and house prices are high !

People on those salaries give 40/50% just in income tax to the government. Very easy to spend that kind of income as they don’t take home that amount.

Earn heaps ? Good for you. Probably worked a lot harder than I ever have. Basically lazy, mortgage paid off, small works pension. DW and I are lucky enough to be able to work 3 or 4 days a week in not much more than minimum wage jobs. Would love to be rich, but too idle.

Thank you for saying that on here. Some people can’t and won’t do their sums and then resent others for their earnings.

But you live to your means, so it’s relative.
Larger homes - larger mortgages. New vehicles. Holidays etc

My ex earns £140k which equates to roughly £6k a month take home. He works at least 80 hours a week for that as it is expected at that level.

I’m not sure how you can struggle to comprehend someone earning £100k a year (I earn a lot less than this) but I can see houses in my areas that look amazing for £1-5m so I could easily and happily live like that… £2m house, £50k car, £5k holidays etc (not saying £100k pa gives you that, I’m just saying it’s very easily imaginable and wouldn’t be insane, just very nice)

I struggle to imagine what it’s like to win say £125m on the Euromillions though. And I can’t comprehend how much money multibillionaires have…

@lcl

People on those salaries give 40/50% just in income tax to the government. Very easy to spend that kind of income as they don’t take home that amount.

No they don't, and every single person in this thread who has said that, has been deliberately disingenuous. Which is hardly helping the cause of the well off in this thread.

@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.

Spot on 👏🏻

@gunnersgold

It's honestly not that much if you have to buy a house and don't get any help . Plus you pay half of it in tax !

Another one. No you don't pay half of it in tax, and very few people, especially those on a low to average wage, get any help buying a house. You're not special in that.

I didn't mean help to buy a house .

Earned £300k pa years ago. Got sacked for having a baby. Didn't recover career really. Spent savings on private schools. Suited one child, the other not. Went to work for a charity on just above the minimum wage. Treated appallingly. Peanuts, monkeys and all that. Went back to six figure job this year. Trying to put funds away for retirement. We don't have a flash lifestyle.
No posh holidays, terrace house, older cars. However i do buy my food at Marks. My treat to me and easy for my daughter when I am away.

So in some ways it's like you have a million but then items cost x times more than they would if your on thousands ?

If you're decent and not avoiding tax, you'll spent 40% of your salary over 50,000 and 45% over 150,000 on tax. That's a lot. Still a lot left over, but most of that goes on the mortgage, school fees, and pension savings. Plus bills and car expenses, and some nice family holidays from tine to time. It does add up, especially in London.