To ask if you have a wage/income that would shock people?

[Newmumatlast]

Inspired by the tipping hairdresser thread, and a post on there about people having no idea what some people earn with an anecdote about a London cabbie earning twice what his nurse wife did.

I just wondered if anyone does a job where people would actually be shocked to know their true earnings based on stereotype- either way. For example cleaner earning loads or lawyer earning very little.

I was talking to a woman the other day who employs HGV drivers (almost all driving in the UK) and she is struggling to recruit to jobs that with a bit of overtime can pay £90k. That shocked me.

I'm a nursery nurse. I think some people are still under the impression that we are paid well because their childcare fees are high. Definitely not the case!

@LittleLIDL

thanks, Lidl.

You mention your background and I wonder if some of this is down to the gravitas and credibility someone like you is perceived to bring to a role? Not just your skill set but you, yourself.

I ask this because I work for a charity who after very nearly two years there cannot make the role permanent. I have worked very hard for them, in a role that is not straightforward and I wonder if I am simply, in their eyes, not u/c enough. There is a mixture of people there but on the whole it is quite genteel. I feel very comfortable there but think that perhaps I don’t quite dress wealthier enough for them ( because I’m not in a permanent role and renting so have to be careful🤣).

I think sometimes that new ideas can be accepted when the package looks one way; when someone who looks a bit of a work in progress and hasn’t been there long, it’s easy to just dismiss expertise.

Or is it the 2 year thing? That after two years, I have employment rights so it’s easier to terminate a contract before then.

I'm surprised at this. I have been at a firm an echelon below the MC and the partners drawings started higher than this (but probably not at the level people think). Were they based in Belfast or something?

Within law firms the real money is in the equity partnership, which is often tightly held and with very few women - less than 10% in many firms. The salaried partners earn nicely but not on the same scale.

Associate salaries have risen a lot in recent years and the equity partners won't have their shares falling so it is the salaried partners who get squeezed. The jump from associate to partner now doesn't mean much of a jump in salary terms, particularly as you lose benefits like pension contributions.

I think what might be relevant here is that @HurryShadow is repaying a £200k (personal?) loan that taken out in order to buy into the business and the repayments seem to be coming out of the £5k income.

She's saying that the £7k interest on the loan is tax deductible against their personal tax which is lowering her personal tax bill.

well because they are striking for more pay I guess.

Bloody hell, this thread was a great discovery into how poor I am.

I'm an estate agent in Cornwall. People tend to think our salary's are very high but my basic for 8:30-5:30 5 days a week is £18,000. My commission is OK but the hours are draining. This year I expect that I would have taken home (after tax and NI) around £32,000 with my basic and commission combined.

I earn 6 figures but people are usually surprised as I’m very down-to-earth, not at all materialistic or interested in appearances and I don’t work v hard. I am always surprised by project manager/business architect type jobs which seem a bit wishy washy in my industry also on 6 figs. Anyone in retail is not paid enough.

The role i do is open to people of a lot of diverse backgrounds. Not limited to scientists. My background is in engineering. One of the most successful people I know internationally in this field, her background is Economics. Honestly a good Masters programme or some on the job learning would be helpful for anyone making a career switch.

I’m also a childminder, covid hit me hard. But in 12 years I haven’t really ever struggled for money to be honest. Although I am in an affluent area where fees are quite high. But when we bought our house we were given a mortgage based on my income for that year which was 27k! I had had an assistant for two years at that stage, and worked at full capacity of 6 children between the two of us for 3 days a week. I only worked 3 days a week for years and still earned enough to run my house (single parent at the time).
people do always find it surprising though, I find the opposite that people think childminders don’t earn very much.

I’m a supervisor in a fish factory earning 32k, started at 24k but goes up every other year.

I’m a cleaner and most people would be amazed at how much I earn.

And as a household now we have a fairly low income compared to most of our friends but we live a nice life due to the way we manage our money, eg we have overpaid on our mortgage etc so it’s quite low. We are currently moving and our budget was the same as friends of
ours who earn way more which surprised them, but it’s because we have so much equity in the house.

Maybe we should go into business selling cars. USP = women are treated like customers and not talked down to or ignored, ditto people who “don’t look rich”.
Salesmen will not smirk / scoff / self combust with confusion if a man wants a Fiat 500 and his wife wants a Bentley.
In other words people will be treated as customers and not judged. Radical idea! I’m on to something here!

NHS Surgeon 100k
But I know when I start my private practice I can double/triple that.
my colleagues who have ( very lucrative specialty for pp NOT orthopaedics) call their NHS practice “charity work”.

Im a nanny/housekeeper, employed by a family. I earn £20ph and work 3 days a week. I earn the same as my husband who works full time in IT.

LOL, NOPE, as you would probably know! A myth. Two of my sons work as software developers/engineers. An eye for the creative side, uni, and working up the career ladder to get proper work in the industry is imperative.

My eldest is on £65k per year and moving up the ladder of can take him in access of £100k. He works on front-end development of websites.

My youngest works on the coding of websites, so it is on the back end as they call it. He earns more than my eldest has its coding, which is very intricate on the maths side.

Far more to it than a few courses

I’m the other end of the school. I left teaching and set up my own business just as covid hit. People assume I still have a similar income. I spent covid not entitled to business help as not established enough, no furlough and very little work and I’m in catch up with an overdraft. The first two years of my business has realistically been way less than minimum wage.

Wilkins Micawber got it right. Income is only relevant to outgoings. Earning £200K is meaningless if outgoings are £250K.

I have lots of children and am forever driving them in circles, standing at the edges of sports pitches, camping in fields at mountain biking events etc etc. I often look bedraggled and exhausted lol….. I work in finance for a big company and earn a six figure salary though - I think people would be surprised. I’ve always gone back to work after having the kids and have kept my hand in even when nursery fees were almost more than I was earning (I used to work evenings too to make ends meet) so I’m glad that’s now paying off !

My 21 yr old son got first job in London as equity trader on £68,000 plus annual bonus. Next year will be over 100k+

More than his Mum & Dad earn!

Money is a funny thing

My DH has just sat through an hour long call with his mother about what a great new job his brother in law has, how important his job is is and what a high earner he is. We are delighted for his DB (who I guess earns about 75K)

DH earned £750k last year (it was exceptional-typically about £275K). He has never told any of his family this- I imagine they have no idea what he earns but from the conversation I assume they think less than £75K!

Brother in law has a flashier job title then DH (they are both in the same profession). He works for a small local company and DH for an international company. DBILs role in DHs business is on about £275K- the same as him.

PS- Just for accuracy
I know that MN doesn't like people talking about DH salaries
I earn £125,000- very different sector to DH