Under 40 and on £100k+

[muffinhead4]

Talking to my brother who is 35 about work. He is on over £100k and has been for a few years (he works in IT sector) He thinks its a normal wage for his age and is shocked i am on £60k at my age (37) I work in finance.
We both work in London. Am i really behind like my brother says?
I would love to be on £100k but wouldn't know which direction to turn to.
Anyone else on £100k under 40? what do you do for work?

Unfortunately quite a few of them exist.

I only know one person, she is a dentist and has earned that since her mid-20s I think.

I suspect two other friends earn that. They work in tax in London.

I'm in my 40s and never earned more than 32k. I have an amazing work life balance though!

I have lots of friends who work in IT and none of them earn near to 100K.

It's not only the job you do, but the sector and company you work for. I'm guessing OP's brother works for an large private company in financial services.

I work for a large financial organisation and my previous role was with a very similar company. Based on salary scales alone the highest a senior manager could in theory get to here is £100k but that's the very top of the senior manager scale. Above that roles are really quite senior and salaries not disclosed. I've just moved into a senior manager role from a 'normal manager' role, have 20 years experience and am on £75k. My husband is £80k in a more niche job. We think we're on high salaries. Sounds like he's got an ego problem! It's the kind of chat I hear from the young and over-confident to be honest.

Dh has been on over £100k since we met 20 years ago. Management Consultant - late starts, long boozy lunches and early finishes...barely lifts a pen, all handed to him on a plate, not very bright either.

I mean the average wage in London in £42k so you're doing 50% better than that. There must be some really weird wealth bubbles down South that make people so detatched from the reality of others.

It depends on what they do in IT as well as how they work and who they work for.

If you do stuff where there is a shortage of skilled workers you can get a higher salary e.g. cyber security, dev ops, data science, even when starting out unless you decide to work in the charity sector.

Your experience is certainly valid.

In my experience, there is a very good mix of bright and so-so among the high earners I know. For e.g the people who really struggled have gone on to retrain in IT or accounting roles, which pay a lot. Those who are really high up in their career are mostly there because their faces fit and/or they’re seen as being a good fit for the culture.

The engineers I work with are not the kind of ‘high earners’ this thread is talking about. What is ‘quants’. QSs? They’re on par with engineers from my experience

The highest earners are those who have luckily chanced upon one good idea tbh

Well newly qualified lawyers are usually around 24/25 yrs old and earn £100k+ at City firms. It’s plain stupid to think that’s a normal salary, even for a retiree.

It's not an abnormal salary but not common either particularly for women unfortunately.

My brother is mid 30s and on nearly 200k but he works as a consultant in Dubai. So completely not the norm.

I’m 33 but have earned 100k a year since around 29, I’m a IT consultant self employed. I will earn around 170k this year

@muffinhead4 sounds like devops. A very sought after skill!

Quants are very special - very well paid and for good reason - their skills are rare and highly sought after, they are not on a par with engineers. Incredibly complex modelling .

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Brilliant response.

The average salary is 30-40k.

Clearly the ability to earn £100k is not relayed to the ability to engage in the most normal of general knowledge.

@muffinhead4 I work in finance (in london) and am on 6 figures - mid 30s.
You are only PQ so are on a good salary for PQ.
I was on £55k NQ in my mid 20s so basically doubled my salary in a decade.

You are comparing apples with oranges comparing your brothers salary with yours. You should be asking PQ accounts their salaries. Once you have qualified and obtained PQ experience you have a high chance of earning 6 figures in london.

would be keen to know here if you are a qualified solicitor or similar working in compliance to earn this amount? I believe it is something I could go into but didn't expect there would be such decent salaries available (without legal background)

I'm 34 with a basic of £75k and bonus taking me up to circa £100. Never EVER expected to earn that and am 100% convinced i never will again, so save every penny to the point of obsession which is exhausting.

I feel like we're missing OPs point a bit aren't we? It's very industry/rule dependent. I've been on 6 figures since 30ish, and while I am very aware it is an excellent salary in the greater scale of the whole country - its very normal in my industry and role, I.e. I'd be surprised to meet someone working in a similar job who earned a lot less (London, financial services)

Jesus this thread is depressing. I earn £21k a year.

I'm 36, worked for 20 years, tried to better myself with courses, qualifications in HR and financial services etc but it's been pointless. I've always worked really, really hard but couldn't attend uni due to a shitty home life as a child And I had no idea what or how to do anything in relation to bettering myself really.

I feel so sad for my past and future self that I'll never be able to earn a decent, living wage.

100k in IT in London is senior level. It's not particularly high level. It is compared to outside London and other professions.

His perspective is the thing that's off here.

It's a normal salary for financial services upper end of senior manager level in the city. Next level is director.

PAs / business manager/ admin usually earn around £60k.

The city is a little bubble world.

IT sector some of the better companies have graduate schemes that start at 35 - 40k (and this isn't London). 60k - 80k is roughly where most end up (again outside London). So 100k in London is reasonably normal for the industry.

But it depends on skill set. And company. Some pay a lot less.

IT is by far one of the better paid jobs out there these days.

I was on 100k in late twenties and DH is in early thirties. We both work in tech. There is money to be had but I still don't think it's the norm.

I'm in exactly the same position as you op. Every single letter of it, apart from the salary.