Resentment at 100k

[Arseholeneighbours]

Theres a lot of vitriol spilt towards people being “high earners” at 100k and over. As net contributors, and most likely having made sacrifices, stresses and difficult life decisions, there’s many judgements about life choices , expectations and living within one’s means. What is the motivation to push forward in a career and to try and be as successful as one can if there’s no personal gain? It’s all well and good saying those with the broadest shoulders should take on the most - but to what end?

No one said they can't afford luxuries, but no one wants to earn that much, and be taxed that much, if it does not appear worth it to do so. And if it's not worth it to do so, and therefore less people are willing to do I – who is going to contribute the majority of tax?

I want to add something personal

I get a fair amount in benefits because of of my children is disabled - I can tell you in a. heartbeat I would prefer to be at work than at home looking after my child. I love my job, I'm not someone who has some sort of 'caring' gene! im selfish as anyone, I've got an ego, I'm really good at my job and I miss it!

Just because people are getting benefits and not in full time work - it absolutely doesn' tmean they would not rather be working.

The joy I've got from work is much higher than from getting benefits appearing in my bank account

I live in quite a deprived area and know a couple of mums who are completely living on UC and dno't work - I do not envy them. There are usually MH reasons why an adult who is fit and well is not able to get a job - these mums often have trauma in their past, or the children have ND needs and it's hard to fit work round them.

School based preschools charge £30 a day? I wish. It's £27 a session (as in 3 hours) and £4 for lunchtime here.

Many have to. At least you'll have that potential and your future looks far brighter than lower earners.

Anyway, you and everyone else moaning about how terrible it is earning 6 figures and how hard done by you are could always take a lower paid job. No one will stop you.

I am in that position- I'm a net contributor. Happy to be so. I've worked hard to get there and I've had a lot of privileges that have enabled me to get there. I can afford luxuries. I know that "luxury" doesn't mean being able to walk into a dealership and drive off in a Porsche, it means being able to pick up a pack of salmon fillets in Lidl rather than look for the cheapest protein source, it means not having to rifle through the cupboards working out how to stretch what I have because there is still a week to go until payday. It means that when my daughter tells me her coat feels a bit snug, I can buy a new one on Vinted, not that I can march into Ralph Lauren.

I know because I've lived like that, I've cried because I dropped my warm hat on the bus and can't afford to replace it so I know I'm going to be cold all winter- including at home where I can't afford to put the heating on. I've felt a thrill of excitement buying a granary loaf instead of the cheapest white but knowing that I have to put back the pack of biscuits.

You won't catch me moaning about paying tax.

Do you think people in lower paid, or even minimum wage, jobs haven’t battled to overcome barriers too?
Plus the glass half empty miseries seem to me to be people who can’t even be happy with a 6 figure salary.

I'm in the £100k+ high earner salary bracket. I've never been motivated by money or personal gain. I work hard at my job, because I love my job. I love what I do, I feel lucky to do it, and even on the worst days there isn't anything else I'd rather do.

Not all personal gain is measured in financial terms. I gain so much satisfaction and pride from my work, it's an outlet for a passion and a talent I have nurtured carefully and still, at 46, take great joy from growing and extending.

I don't mind paying tax. I don't WANT to - who would? - but as I want to live in a functioning and fair society, I don't mind it. I know I am lucky and I find it hard enough to enjoy that luck as it is, when there are people out there choosing between heating and eating. The wider the divide between the richest and poorest becomes, the more dysfunctional society becomes, and the guiltier I'd feel sitting here in my ivory tower while more kids are forced into poverty. Fuck that.

The thing that bother me more is the posts I see on MN which are supportive of children not having to study hard at school. If you aren’t raising your children to work hard, always do their homework, and revise a hell of a lot so they get the best grades they can possibly get at school - or if you didn’t do those things yourself- then you shouldn’t feel entitled to money earned by people who did turn down social invites, who didn’t watch tv around exam time, who were ok with being a bit nerdy or whatever. Most of the time (yes i know, not all!) high earners started working hard long before they hit the work force and this is under recognised in parenting threads on here.

I have also been there but I can still appreciate why the higher earners feel the way they do

Can’t you see that this merely illustrates the levels of inequality in the country. We could do with more people earning more, not just incentivising the top 4% (that’s £100k+ earners) to earn, and therefore pay, even more?

you know, live within their means like everyone else? / They could spit their dummy out i guess

This is where you lose credibility. It's such a poor arguing style to be sarcastic and snarky – why bother? This could be adult conversation if you'd let it.

You'd need to earn £150k in 2025 to have the spending power that £100k gave you in 2017, you need to earn £55k today to have the same spending power of £40k in 2017. The majority of those now with at least one school-aged child and and 5-10yrs into their mortgages and having made their career decisions for the growth and stability of their life and family made those decisions back then, and the vast majority made those decisions within their means.

Anyone, no matter their income, who is a decent contributor to society is allowed an opinion on working just as hard, if not harder, for backwards gain.

Are there enough jobs for enough people to earn more though?

Sorry going a bit off topic here, but I’m curious as to your engineering discipline that needs you on call 24/7? Are you in critical infrastructure or something? Just being curious as I like to understand the expectations of professions I’m not familiar with!

It doesn’t demonstrate inequality - it shows how much the tax burden falls on that group, driven by high tax rates (vs low tax rates for average income workers compared to equivalent countries).

Because there is obviously gain - financially (as tax is stepped) and psychological gain. Some people do high level but not financially rewarding work because they are ambitious but not in a lucrative area. Obviously money is not their prime driver.
My DH was a very high earner at around £500k. £200k in taxes. Four kids all went to private school so not using the state system and he had private health insurance through work so didn’t even burden the NHS. He wholly supported his ex and children and I became a sahm after our second. He never resented paying tax and even said he’d be ok with paying 50% if it improved things for others. But dud the tax ‘burden’ stop him from wanting to achieve more? No it did not. My DD (at uni) shares his ambition. However she has not chosen a particularly financially rewarding route (Sociology, with the aim of education reform/journalism/working at an NGO). Will that curtail her dedication? No. Ambitious people are that way innately. The financial aspect is secondary.

But don’t you see a lot of the high earners weren’t gifted their roles on a silver platter. They wouldn’t have started on 100k. They would have had to work for them

People with the big £100k jobs also work and incredible amount of overtime – they might not do it because they care, but they do it because they have to. It's the job.

We need to stop big employers who are making massive profits from underpaying their workers so much that we all have to chip in for UC for them. It’s nonsense.
That’s just for a start.

I have never even known anyone who earned over £100k let alone been anywhere near to earning it myself. What sort of roles do people do for salaries in that region? I am guessing CEOs, the higher levels of law, finance, medicine, education? I don't move in such circles as I am an average person of average intelligence leading an ordinary life.

Oh I see...if we berate our kids for not working 24/7 !and for having a social life then we are shit parents for not churning out net contributors.
I think most of us have a sensible balance of encouraging study but also leisure time for our kids.

I am snarky, especially when it comes to this particular topic on MN. I have no time at all for higher earners moaning about how awful it is, especially when it follows some iteration of "ive worked hard/sacrificed/someone on £33k is more secure" etc etc.

Im not arguing either btw. I know i won't change anyone else's view, mine wont change either. So arguing is a waste of time.

And, genuinely, I'd find it hard to have an adult conversation with someone moaning about earning £100k anyway. (I am aware that sounds snarky BTW, not intentional its really how I view it all)

Anyone is free to ignore my comments if they dont like them or think im a prick not worth engaging with.

Yes. But carers work hard. Classroom teachers work hard. Nurses work hard. Etc etc. getting £100k plus is very much sector dependent. Working hard is a necessary condition of a 6 figure salary. It’s not a sufficient condition though. Other factors influence that.

Exactly. It's astonishing to me - and rather depressing, actually - to contemplate the idea that there are people who assume that money is the only motivator.

We all need enough to cover our essential costs, of course, and it would be naive to assume otherwise. But there is substantial evidence to show that, beyond a certain point, earning more money doesn't really make people happier in any case.

It's very sad to think that, once people's basic needs have been met, there are some who are not motivated by a sense of challenge and achievement, the opportunity to make a difference or contribute to something bigger than themselves, the opportunity to use and develop their talents and skills, the pride and satisfaction of having worked with others to achieve common goals etc. Life must feel very pointless to these people if their only goal and their only motivation is to amass as much money as they possibly can.

With values like this, I guess it's no wonder we have so many mental problems. People seem to have lost sight of what actually matters.

Also completely unaffordable for us to move right now as would need to save up moving costs etc.

Such as?