High earners, what do you do?

[M3ssiahMe]

I am interested to know what high earners do for their living and how they got to a high income? We have a joint income of 5k per month after tax and other deductions. We both work full time and have a rented property.

I earned £130k a year when I was 28/29 doing marketing for big technology companies.

I was lucky to be in a rich industry. I worked hard at my job and took lots of risks.

But it's ridiculous you can earn that much for such a job, I was hardly saving lives

Chartered Financial Planner £100k part time.

16 professional exams.

105k. Heading up a department in a company. Had a very disappointing board meeting today which made my job feel pointless and not sure if it’s worth it really.

150k .... run my own business ... hard work during set up years but much easier now !

Chartered Accountant, ACA £130k, started in Audit, now in industry.

Professional exams through graduate scheme in the City.

2:1 Degree in STEM subject.

3 Solid A-Levels (A-C) and 10 GCSEs (A*-B).

Software Project Manager

I qualified as an actuary and was earning six figures when I was 30. (Now I lecture part time so earn a lot less than that!)

I’m a buyer, heavily bonused so I come does fluctuate but usually around 6 figures. DH is a software developer, also low 6 figures. We have about 60% equity on our house (7 figures) but that has primarily been due to family money. I say that because I know we are incredibly lucky and when you look at what other folks can afford, getting a leg up while buying a house is what makes a big difference. DB earns more than I do but DH’s family have given us the money so he has much tighter finances despite having a much cheaper house.

I know 3 people on 100k plus.

One is a senior offshore engineer (risky and never sees much of his family)., One is in nuclear energy (signed off with stress more than once), the other a software developer (happy but travels loads and doesn't see his family much).

IME it comes at a cost. My household income is 30k. At points it has been less. We have 2dc. But I am happy and have everything we need.

Over 500k, writing software for a big tech company. I spent almost all my spare time playing with computers (hacking / writing code rather than games) since the age of 8 or so, and still love it forty years later.

I'm terrible at negotiating - I've never even asked for a payrise or a better offer, but it's a well-paid field so fortunately that hasn't been necessary.

The key thing for me has been always to keep learning new stuff, rather than stick with what I know.

Nothing only voluntary work but dh owns his own commercial company, varies from year to year but on average around £1m net per year. Ds wants to go into the business side of sport’s management and I would love to hear from anyone in that field.

The advantage to dh’s chosen career is he has lots of leisure time as can plan his meetings around kids, and more or less takes the whole summer off.

@Ibizafun is that company profit though or what he takes out as dividends?

That’s what he takes out himself as dividends

But changes from year to year

I'm a lawyer. I hit a six figure salary at 30.

Degree, post -grad law qualification, on the job training and climbing the ladder is how I got there. I worked like a dog in my 20s and early 30s and still sometimes have to in my 40s. The stress never stops. The amount I earn for pushing paper around is ridiculous but entirely worth it for how much I can make or save clients.

Airline pilot. I only work 8 days a month, but if you read the Flightradar thread from today on here you’ll see I probably earn my actual income in about 10 minutes each year, the 10 minutes where I do something to manage an aircraft in an unusual situation. The rest of the time I’m just on a busman’s holiday.

@backinthebox do you think the FlyBe pilot that landed that flight today was senior? I know all pilots train for that situation but I think a less experienced pilot might not have attempted it.

I’m a patent attorney - I earned a little over £135k last year. I have lots of qualifications and several years of experience (my family joke that I have more letters after my name than in my name). I have STEM degree (essential) & PhD (optional but helpful), and I’ve passed lots of professional exams too (I’m both a European and a U.K. patent attorney - and I’ve got additional qualifications that allow me to conduct litigation).

I am in HR but work through my own consultancy. If my day rate was converted it would be c£120k.

If I go on the payroll (which I do for some roles), it's around £90k plus bens usually.

I put 50%+ into my pension, so I don't really notice it. I don't have a mortgage though so still have plenty of actual disposable income. Am single with no kids.

I think the key seems to be lots of qualifications or niche jobs

OH is a consultant business analyst, self employed
(I work for a charity, on nowhere near 6 figures )

dp is a banker, worked his way up from answering the phones, got a degree through work and now earns a lot.

it's worlds apart from my job (police) - we often joke our salaries should be switched

@MooseBeTimeForSummer no idea if they were senior. Captains have higher crosswind limits than copilots, so yesterday’s landings would all be by captains, but pilots of all seniority would have been out flying. The Flybe captain would certainly have had more opportunities each year than a long haul pilot to land in different weather conditions - it’s a simple fact that short haul pilots do more take offs and landings. In my company most (but not all) of the short haul captains are junior. However even junior long haul captains can have over 20 years flying experience.

Around 150k, in-house lawyer at global company. Was tough getting here but now I have a lovely work-life balance despite the high salary (which will keep increasing year on year). Feel very fortunate and also am very motivated to give careers advice to younger kids, especially young girls, as I could easily have taken a different path by thinking it would be hard work forever and no time for family or children. It was all quite accidental for me but has really opened my eyes. I always thought as a lawyer it was no life in private practice but high pay or massive pay cut to go in house and have a reasonable work-life balance.