If you earn 100k plus, what is your occupation?

[CJ2010]

I've posted this here as it is a bit U, but i am curious to know what jobs pay mega bucks.

I've just been looking on a jobs website at admin jobs, most are paying on average 20-25k (in London). With the cost of living as it it, that sort of money will not go far at all.

I've been a SAHM for a while now and have begun looking for work. I'm considering retraining, but only in something that pays well!

So members of the 100k club please spill the beans and let me know your secrets!

pickled, I disagree with you. The benefit of letting our dds know what is truly available to them in career options gives them a choice later on in life. If they have a good career, it allows them to either carry on, be a sahm for a while or work part time. If they are the higher earner in the relationship, it means there isn't an automatic assumption that they will give up their career. For some, being a SAHM is because they have no choice either because they can't afford the childcare costs or because their husbands earnings far outstrip theirs and for some reason people seem to calculate the childcare costs out of the womans salary alone.

In response to the OP, I could have posted soley about my dh. He earns approx £300 to £400k per year, we are mortgage free and have no debts. If I wanted to stay at home, (we have a baby and toddler), I could. However, I don't want to as it's not me and so not what would be best for our dcs. I earn approx £700k per year, so if dh felt strongly about someone being at home (he doesn't), then he can do it. My career, and earnings has given me choices to do what makes me happy (it's not about the money, as I said upthread we save most of it) and that's what I would like to give my children.

You don't think Novice, given the choice, that your young DC might prefer Mummy and/or Daddy to be looking after them during the day. People often role out the 'choice' argument when in reality it is about us imposing our choices on our DC.

Off to work now .

pickled my DD would prefer to eat ice cream and cake for her dinner, but I don't let her because its not good for her. Whereas I will let her have ice cream once a week for pudding because I don't believe it will harm her. Part of being a parent is making those choices for your child because you are the adult and you know what is best.

I fundamentally don't believe that missing 90 mins a day of home time with my DD is going to harm her - that's 7.5hours a week I'm missing with her, not a great deal (she tends to spend it swimming or playing in the garden with her friends anyway). Its not as if I never see her - I still do the majority, the vast majority, of parenting with my DH. I do chose not to work in the UK because that would mean I would rarely get to see her before bed during the week, and I think that probably would harm her. A balanced choice, I think.

Interestingly, I had DD after 10 years of marriage, so late in life even though I was a relatively young wife amongst my peer group. Not 100% my choice (I first came onto MN on the infertility board), but it has given me the advantage that I was sufficiently senior in my career that i could dictate the terms of my "working mum" lifestyle. So I am in demand amongst clients to the point that I can say, sorry, I can't do that date, but I can do this instead, and they will accept that. I can dictate that I never fly at the weekend (so no Monday meetings or Friday finishes overseas), or work away when DH is also away, ensuring that someone is always there. I rarely work away for more than a couple of days at a time - on the one or two occassions a year when I do need to be away longer, I take DD, DH and her nannay with me. I only travel with an overnight stay once a month, the rest are all day trips. etc etc etc

TheBossofMe - while I am not unsympathetic to the argument that children cannot have what they would prefer all the time, I don't think that you can use ice cream to illustrate your point .

IMVHO, children always prefer to have a parent at the school gate and, IMVHO, that is one of the most critical parenting points in the day. It is an unfortunate fact of life that a busy professional life is not compatible with picking children up from school on a regular basis. Better, IMO, to be upfront about the conflict of interest than to deny it.

Jajas - exactly my point, you made a choice which you are happy with. And thought about how you could minimise the impact of that choice on your careers. Too many people don't think about the impact, or plan for it, they just blindly assume that things will be as easy as they were before.

FWIW - I'm slightly We are making up for it now - we only spend every other weekend in Bangkok these days, the rest of Asia is on our doorstep and we are exploring fully. Not quite backpacking, though, my bones are too old for some of the concrete beds you can find in backpackers round here!

They don 't always prefer (teenagers don't want to be seen dead with a parent around) and what children want isn't always good for them. If fathers think it's so important to be home then can stay home and do all that stuff.

Also if you have the novice type ratios - shje on £700k, husband on £300k or in my case I on 10x the chidlren's father you can bet your bottom dollar mother doesn't tend to stay home and clean the toilets and mind the chidlren and fulfil a dull support role which most women can't stand but are forced into because they made poor career choices which mean their salaries hardly cover childcare.

Bonsoir fair point, although I like to try and get ice cream into every conversation!

Of course there is a conflict of interest - that's what I mean by you can't have it all. I would love to be the parent at the school gate (although i console myself that I am at least the parent dropping off at the school gate, so know all her friends, teachers etc) - but I also know that I need to do something I enjoy for self-satisfaction (and I enjoy my job) as well as put food on the table, so voluntary work won't cut it. The reality is, part time, school friendly, well paid jobs are few and far between. DH is older than me and may not have many more years left in his career, and having been through redundancy with him twice already, we can't take the risk of me not working and him ending up unemployed again. Actually, the most sensible option is for him to be the SAHD, if we went back to the UK, that's probably what would happen. We're actually on-track to "retire" very early from this job, by my mid 40s, if we can keep this level of saving up, and then the options open to me are much greater than they are now.

As i said, my year at home with DD was the very very happiest of my life. I would be lying if I didn't admit that part of me hoped that it could have gone on forever. But it couldn't without making what to us would have been unacceptable and unwelcome sacrifices in our standard of living. Choices. Only time will tell whether they were good choices, and I think you can find fault in anyones choices. But choices have to be made for most people.

This has been such an interesting discussion so far - generally very positive about what what is needed to become a high earner, and what type of careers.

Let's not turn it into a debate where women vilify each other for their life choices. They are just that; choices. What's works for one family may not be ideal for another.

I'd much rather have a balance life, with my children and husband being my highest priority, than earn so much money.

There is nothing in this world like sharing a dinner table with your family, in a relaxed manner, chatting about their day, getting to share with them, even watching a TV program together. And please don't tell me that you get to do all that even though you are traveling and working all hours, I only stopped working full time a couple of months ago, so I know the difference.

No money in the world will ever bring back that precious time. You do NOT need 700K, 300K, 400K a year! You are filling your self with stuff, things, possessions, how is that going to improve your life?

I hope to go back to work soon, but I am determined not to compromise my precious time with my family.

Completely agree Jajas.

Xenia - doctors and nurses are totally different professions. I dont want to and never have practice medicine and yes I do have the grades which is why I have progressed so quickly in nursing (1st class degree/post grad cert etc)

My point is that it's sad that unless you go into management/law/medicine or are self employed your earning potential will never be in the top 5% of the country. Nurses/police/fire/most teachers carry out vital service to the tax payers yet our pay structure doesn't reflect this and the top earners in the nhs are the managers who take "risks" not the staff on the floor who actually save lives and make a difference.

Am not of you and your paypacket but and the way our society rewards the so called elite. I love my job and wouldn't be a lawyer/banker etc for the world. I work 18hrs a week and pay a modest mortgage with that. I'm a SAHM for the most part yet still have a career. Think I'm the winner tbh

timetoask in the same way that posters are asking Xenia not to denigrate your choices, please don't denigrate mine.

And yes, I do get to do all of those things, at least 4 nights a week for at least 40 weeks of the year. I live very close to work, leave at 5.30 most days, and am home by 6 at the very latest. Dd doesn't get back from school until 4 and plays with her friends untl I get home. That gives me plenty of time to spend with her. Shes having a bath with DH now, but when she's done, we are going to make a glitter fountain.

And what else am I going to do? This is my job that I have done for 20 years. It's not that easy to just walk int another job these days, in case you haven't noticed. And I've seen enough of my friends unable to be jobs after 7 years out, not even jobs in Sainsburys, to know that your dream of going back to work when your kids are older may have to remain a dream.

And my DD and DH are absolutely my highest priority, don't ever make the mistake of thinking they aren't. If DD is sick, I stay at home with her, or DH does. I have no idea what job you did, but mine is manageable in combination with family life.

Does your DH work? Isn't his time just as important with your kids? Or is that a luxury that only applies to women? Do you accuse him of sacrificing his precious time with his family if he earns?

And if you had bothered to read the thread, you would see that I don't buy lots of things, and have so far saved enough to put DD through private school when we come back to the UK, enough for a Uni fund, even if she elects to go to Harvard, pay for a deposit for he first house, look after my parents in their old age, and fund a comfortable rather than extravagant retirement. We also travel a lot, and whilst stuff may not enrich your life, experiences surely do. DD has seen baby gorillas up close, has spent a day in a school set up for deprived child factory workers in Bangladesh. I also spend a significant amount of time working with "charities" helping some of those most disadvantaged in society. All funded my my supposedly selfish choices.

"You do NOT need 700K, 300K, 400K a year! You are filling your self with stuff, things, possessions, how is that going to improve your life? "

How on earth would you know how people who earn £400-700k a year spend their money? Why assume that they are 'filling' themselves with 'stuff'?

Believe it or not, most people earning lots of money are earning a lot because they are highly skilled and highly motivated - not because they have actively set out to earn the maximum money possible (we'll have to set Xenia aside as an exception to that rule ). If your sole motivation in pursuing a particular career is the cash, you will struggle and will most likely be very unhappy. There has to be something more that drives you on. Pursuing a career that you love and that you have a passion for, and that you are brilliant at, is pretty life-improving IMO.

I'd much rather have a balance life, with my children and husband being my highest priority, than earn so much money.

Er - one of the main reasons why DH and I choose to work bloody hard, and earn lots of money, is precisely so that we can use that money for the benefit of our children in due course.

My parents worked long hours to earn well when I was little. As a result, they were able to: fund my school fees; help me buy a house (which means I'll be able to work less hard than they had to); and take early retirement so they could spend lots of time with us as older children/adults. Do I think those benefits are worth missing some dinner times and TV hours with them when I was little? Absolutely I do. I am very grateful to them for making that choice.

Let's not lose sight of what money can do. It doesn't just buy you "stuff", it buys you - and your children - choices and opportunities. Those choices may be more valuable to them then spending every mealtime together - it depends on your particular child and what needs they have.

New to thread.

When i met my DH, my eyes were opened to how much people earn in the City. The average salary is around £108k! My DH is on £118k plus 15% bonus. Works hard but not obscene. However, his friends (circa 35) all earn more, doing a variety of senior (but certainly not very senior roles) in the City. Again, they work hard, but rarely beyond 8pm and only lightly and infrequently at weekends.

I did not return after the end of my maternity leave. I was 29 when I left, junior business analyst on £44k but circa £7k bonus. And trust me when I say... I did not work hard (9 - 5) NEVER at the weekends. I wasn't particularly ambitious either.

It is all about the City. If you find work in the City in financial services, your earnings will easily outstrip counterparts in other parts of the countries for doing exactly the same job.

Added to which, generally speaking superb benefits in the City (in the main, even the lowest rung administrators have private health insurance and bonuses) and you rarely have to bring out your wallet on nights out as the boss generally picks up the tab and then expenses it.

Funnily enough the most stressful job I've ever had was one of the worst paid. At Uni, I worked during term time as a carer in a home for adults with special needs. Now that was stressful - shift work, which meant I was permanently confused as to whether it was day or night, working with, again, a highly marginalised group in society where, when i wasnt wiping bottoms and changing soaked bedsheets, combined with having to fill in endless forms for various benefits, where a simple error by a, lets face it, untrained student who wasn't over familiar with the system, could mean the resident not getting access to vital cash, services or treatment. I was permanently terrified I was going to hurt someone by dropping them, make them sick by changing their dressings incorrectly, or ruin their lives by screwing up their forms. Now that was stressful.

BTW, if anyone knows how to get gluey glitter out of hair, please let me know so that i don;t go to work tomorrow looking like an extra from Starlight Express.

Xenia - your teenagers might not like to be seen around and about with a parent, but I can vouch for the fact that many teenagers are thrilled when their parents show up at school to take them out to lunch. Perhaps some parents are more fun than others?