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 have rtft. Let me see if I can get the tone of my post correct 😬

There are many folks on here who should be paid a shed load more. And take home pay is no reflection of anyone's value/worth.

But I am completely cheering on and celebrating those MNers who are posting their amazing career successes. Many never trainer specifically or expected it. And many are quietly living their lives without being flashy. I have very much enjoyed reading about your successes. You rock!

You don’t care what people earn…. Yet seem fully aware of what your friends income is…. Why does this matter if you ‘don’t care’

You'd be surprised at how little architects earn (compared to salary expectations). We have a saying in architecture, which is, you earn your age. Of course some architects will do well but the median wage is low.
Likely because they are not generally needed for construction work to go ahead. I think something in the region of 80-90% of building works in the UK go ahead without architectural input. Unlike other countries such as Spain where no building work can legally go ahead without an architects sign off.

It's interesting watching the arguments about nurses salaries go on, as I earn more than that per year.

Last year I took home nearly 60k as a nurse. I think my friends and family would be surprised by that. My husband is.

(I'm an 8a and I do bank sometimes at the weekends)

Also, do ppl find this high? I would have thought for 2 income households this world be the norm, it is pretty common where I am (north) for couples to have this income between them

Architect here, and married to an architect too. I think people expect we are earning twice what we do. Average salary for an experienced architect without moving into management (I.e. associate or director) in our region (outside London) would be 35-45k. And you will rarely find a practice where you’ll work only your core hours, usually more. You can earn more working on the building contractor side but the hours tend to be even longer and involve more travel, and not much actual design.

Interesting thread....I earn £150k husband £120k, him degree RG, me BTEC then management degree at 27. Live nice house, old cars, DD1 now through Uni, DD 2 A levels....do not flash the cash or splurge on anything really. Always chasing the deals through Quidco and my works discount site 😊 agree with other posters that some professions are v poorly paid for skills and qualifications

And this is everything that is wrong with the world. Some of the junior doctors I work with earn a pittance.

I’m always surprised by doctors salaries, I always thought they earned a good wage. Out of all the public sector jobs striking I really think junior doctors deserve the biggest rise by far.

Unbelievable Salary for a dentist! I would have expected double that, at least!

I’m shocked at the NHS Dentist and Doctors…thought they were loaded.

Some of the jobs and sectors mentioned; I don’t even know what they are!

@SRS29

but when you do a job that pays that well I imagine it’s hard work? Where do you get the energy to run a home, children and then coupon online?

This country is f*cked. Someone who does such an important job earning 22k. Makes me sick to my stomach.

I work in heritage/culture and earn £50k (which is really well paid for the sector), but I have 3 degrees plus a professional qualification so carried a lot of debt. I advise my children to try for an apprenticeship and learn a skilled trade; always in demand and not carrying a load of student debt.

I think this is a misconception. Many well paid jobs are no more stressful or long hours than much less well paid ones. In fact, senior people often have more flexibility and autonomy which makes it easier to juggle other priorities.

I’ve been a nurse for 48 years very experienced and working in a specialist area, I ve never earned any more than £37,000 am now retired and about to get my pension which will take me to just less than that

I don’t mind how people spend or not spend their money, but I do really dislike people who earn a lot constantly trying to look like they are not that well off. We see you!

All my friends earn very good wages, (unlike myself in health research in NHS… sigh! Where I did years more training than my friends… wrong call!)

And all my friends are a bit nauseating, I’ll be trying to get them away for a weekend break, or out for a meal, and they are ‘well not sure I can afford that… ‘ ‘things are a bit tight this month’… aarghh not they are not you all own over 100k and have zero mortgage!

They even complained about the cost of living crisis… umm I think the families down the road in that horrible block of flats are having it hard. Not if you are earning over 100k!

I’m 25 and I earn a base salary of £40K + a good bonus and other benefits.

Great post, really interesting seeing all these salaries!

It doesn't work like that in real life. In real life most people increase their spending in line with an increase in earnings.
On MN people earn a fortune but live like paupers. I've never understood why people say they do that.

What is the point of earning so much money?
When our income increases we book more holidays, buy something we need, treat ourselves and our dc, do up the house a bit, invest more and save some of it. Everyone else we know does the same.
I can't see the point of hoarding all of our money for the sake of it, for some far off life when/ if we get old when it could be helpful or useful or we can be generous with it now.

I remember working as a teaching assistant & being completely demoralised when my mum told me how much she paid her cleaner- more than twice my hourly pay. Her cleaner didn't get hit and spat at either!

My great-uncle was a doctor here in the USA, which is a very different animal than England with the NHS. Many years ago, just for fun, he and I sat down and figured out how much he would be making per hour after all the expenses of running his practice, and actual hours worked. I was stunned to find out that his income was just below minimum wage, when figured that way. He made lots of money, but 80-90 hour weeks were the norm.

So I earn - salary plus bonus about 225k per year with pension contributions on top. I could earn more if I went for promotion but I can't be bothered. Household gross income is about 450k but that includes rental income from a property portfolio. I used to spend a lot on expensive clothes make up etc when I was younger - but now I'm happier getting a cheap designer bargain out of tk maxx. I tend to save as much as I can while still enjoying life the way I want to. Kids in private school so that takes a chunk and lots on extra curricular activities for them. House is nice but in no way pretentious could be a lot nicer - worth over 1mm and no mortgage. Property portfolio well thought out and worth millions (but with some mortgages). I don't buy into the whole expensive clothes, shoes and bags stuff anymore. I know I could buy them but I work too hard to pay their prices, instead I save so that as an earlier poster said you can get your freedom sooner and I prefer to spend my money on holidays and experiences and I want to retire early from work. Plus I wasn't born to rich parents, they had to watch money all their lives until retirement when I was working and helped them out, so I grew up not feeling rich but wanting to be and knowing the value of money (I feel guilty sometimes when I think of what my parents earned versus what I earn now) and even today I still don't feel rich, which may sound odd to some on here but honestly in some of the circles I mix in I'm not, I'm below average because they have had the advantage of inherited wealth, I've had to work for mine. I'm not sure what it will take for me to "feel" rich.
My boss doesn't know my wealth and neither do my colleagues as I don't talk about it and when they are boasting about their house price I just stay quiet and smile as I'm worth so much more. Plus the industry I work in is an incredibly jealous one and I wouldn't want people to treat me differently. You wouldn't look at me and assume my net worth for sure but I think showing off wealth in the times we live in now is inappropriate (just my opinion before I get flamed from those who feel they've earned it and want to splash out). I have all I want in life and way more than I need and I am very grateful for that.

I’d love to actually know how much people ‘think’ I earn. I’m self employed and my office is a stones throw from my house so I often pop back for things or to appointments with DDs etc. I’m a Project Manager and returned to work a year ago having been a SAHM for eleven years. I think people would be quite surprised…

Apologies for delay replying (had all children off yesterday). Youngest Children not in nursery as too expensive and re what I do - Basically administration I’m self employed which people don’t realise / I don’t publicise. But by working early morning (not often) and late into the evening once children in bed (Mostly), we avoid childcare. The work just Slowly increased over the last 10 years to what it is now.

The downside, I rarely get any downtime / never watch tv before 10 pm at night and yes it’s tiring but I am organised by normally making a ‘to do’ list every evening for the next day / writing ‘to do’ things as I go along at work if can’t get done immediately . But I am able to take the children to activities/ swimming lessons / clubs / school activities etc during the day and I keep reasoning with myself that the children will grow up in a flash and (surely) at some point I’ll be able to go to the cinema and not fall asleep! 🤣

@FlickWrk Yes it's one of the FAANGs. We're still waiting to hear who the layoffs will affect. Not too nervous as we're confident he has enough experience to be able to find work in one of the other companies, and we have enough investments to keep us afloat whatever happens.

We used to be pretty frugal before having the dc, so squirrelled away money into investments and put it into our main home, so our mortgage is very low (for a 4 bed London house). But we spend a lot on prep school fees and kids activities, though I feel like we spend a lot less generally than other parents/colleagues in similar roles (less glamorous holidays, and no car expenses living in Central London).