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Original poster

I want to earn more money-tell me how?!

50 replies

badlifechoices · 24/04/2023 20:04

Having just read a thread of £150k salaries and seeing the lifestyles of I would say...all of my friends. How normal is a £100k plus salary?! I have a maths degree, no clue what to do after graduation, so decided I would move to London, train to be a teacher for a year, teach for a year then get a well paid city job. Turns out I loved my job, loved my school, within 2 years was promoted and earning £40k (15 years ago) and thought I had made it, worked up to Deputy Headtecher and earning £70k by 30! Had children, couldn't keep doing 12 hour days and stopped work. Survived on husband's modest salary and massively cut back on everything, but happy to be home with children. Children got into an amazing out of catchment school in a London commuter belt and I had my eyes opened to another world, of bankers and who knows whatters, as no one seems to work much, odd remote meetings, parents always at pick up and I can't help but feel where did we go so wrong?! Play dates are embarrassing as all my friends live in multi million pound houses!! My husband is on £8k more than he was 15 years ago, just over £50k, which is another issue as sees nothing wrong with this and has zero aspirations. And now knowing these people who earn so much, I just think, whatever you do, I can do it! As modest/arrogant as that sounds, I just feel like I made some seriously bad life choices and should have gone into the city (London) and got a high powered/paid job I could have equally done well in and enjoyed but earned a fortune more! So basically my question...I'm now 40, I am more than happy to go back and retrain from scratch with the youngsters but I want to say to someone, what is the exact job title I should be going for and with which company in London if I want to be earning £100k plus. I feel I can't ask friends without sounding like all I care about is money. But if I'm working full time, why not work and earn well!

OP posts:
yoga4meinthemorning · 24/04/2023 20:15

Back to teaching?

HTs in London will be on over £100k?

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 24/04/2023 20:17

Back to teaching - as a family you’d bring in your dream income no?

catchthedog · 24/04/2023 20:19

my friend does tutoring (of super rich kids) in London, and I think she takes about £150 an hour.

Stripycatz · 24/04/2023 20:22

Can you make Maths resources? The government is pushing the maths agenda above all else and everyone is scrabbling round for resources.
Look at being a content developer for an edu charity or business, or consider selling your own resources. There will be lots of funding for this.

MargotEdithAgnes · 24/04/2023 20:22

Agree, go back to teaching or maybe try working for an educational or young person's charity?

I know you've said you'd be happy to start from scratch, but will you honestly be happy earning peanuts while working long hours and missing time with your family for little compensation in the short term? Fair enough if so, but I know I would not be happy.

We have a combined income of £100k-ish but we still have a small house and don't spend too much as we want to be mortgage free asap. On the other hand I know families who are in huge amounts of debt to pay for their massive houses and nice cars. You don't know how people's finances are behind the scenes

Alarae · 24/04/2023 20:33

Going into accountancy and then exiting into industry/investment banking in London will likely get you to £100k. Accountancy firms are very happy to look at mums returning to work, it's a particular focus at mine.

DancesWithFelines · 24/04/2023 23:53

London Underground! Start as a station assistant 2 on 33k, promote to station assistant 1 on 40k. Then go for train driver or station manager on £64k. Then with your teaching quals move into a training role on circa £65k, then decide if you want to go higher than that. Service control £82k plus OT if you are good enough to qualify.

LondonQueen · 25/04/2023 00:44

You could go back into teaching, you may struggle to get an SLT position being out of the game so long, but once you've been a teacher again for a year or so you should find it easy to move up the ranks, particularly with your prior experience.

NotAnotherBathBomb · 25/04/2023 08:04

Become a governess and work for Russian Oligarchs?

ameliaandme · 25/04/2023 10:06

Well if you earn over 100k you'd be in the top 5% of earners in the UK wouldn't you ? So no it's not very common, you must be circulating in an elite group !

Ask your friends, i mean if they are your friends they will want help.

Doesn't sound you made bad decisions at all, 70k is amazing, I wouldn't put yourself down.

Not that I would know much about earning over 100k but I cant imagine many people do it without sacrifices. You'd have to work out what you'd want to sacrifice. Make a plan and go for it, you're a bright person, whats stopping you ? Find the drive and confidence, you got a maths degree you are awesome !

Now people totally bulls**t and they might look fine on the outside but who knows whats going on underneath. I ran my own company and I would pick my daughters up from school but I'd also be working at 10pm when they're in bed amd nobody saw that part.

No one is going to give someone 100k for easy work (if you do find a job like that you'd be in the minority) but that's to say if you have the drive you can't do

Dracuuule · 25/04/2023 10:18

Many people who have these big houses have had family help too. I'm not saying everyone, but quite a few have.
Yes, there are those who do amazingly well themselves but they're often the exception.
Even on £100k salaries, you can't get a mortgage for a £million house.

ParentsTrapped · 25/04/2023 10:24

I agree with the suggestion of private tutor/governess. You have amazing teaching experience and maths is super desirable. You can set your own hourly rates and schedule. You’re clearly in an area where people will be able to afford to pay you so you may be able to work from
home/stay local and have a lovely easy life.

SIL quit her job as a prep school teacher and now tutors privately for 11+. Seems to do only a few hours a week and earns almost as much as she did when working full time.

If you’re looking for more of a “career” then big bucks in investment banking. Obvs they mostly recruit young grads but you could spin your teaching experience and your maths skills will be desirable so could be worth a punt. Would he hard work and long hours though and at your age and stage I’d take an easier option.

SpeckledlyHen · 25/04/2023 10:28

ameliaandme · 25/04/2023 10:06

Well if you earn over 100k you'd be in the top 5% of earners in the UK wouldn't you ? So no it's not very common, you must be circulating in an elite group !

Ask your friends, i mean if they are your friends they will want help.

Doesn't sound you made bad decisions at all, 70k is amazing, I wouldn't put yourself down.

Not that I would know much about earning over 100k but I cant imagine many people do it without sacrifices. You'd have to work out what you'd want to sacrifice. Make a plan and go for it, you're a bright person, whats stopping you ? Find the drive and confidence, you got a maths degree you are awesome !

Now people totally bulls**t and they might look fine on the outside but who knows whats going on underneath. I ran my own company and I would pick my daughters up from school but I'd also be working at 10pm when they're in bed amd nobody saw that part.

No one is going to give someone 100k for easy work (if you do find a job like that you'd be in the minority) but that's to say if you have the drive you can't do

She earn’t 70k over 10 years ago though - I think what’s she’s asking is what can she do now to get that kind of salary.

Belmondo · 25/04/2023 10:29

Interesting thread. Whilst I know a few people who earn £100k+ it's very much not the norm within my circles and those people have made a lot of sacrifices (or their families have).

Like other posters, we've prioritised getting mortgage-free, which is now on the horizon for us within a few years, BUT our house is fairly small and modest. We might regret this in years to come, when our kids are older and want more space, but for now it's our plan and we're sticking to it. Everyone compromises on something.

DannyZukosSmile · 25/04/2023 10:33

The vast VAST majority of salary claims on here are fake @badlifechoices Always remember that. These people earn £125K-£150K in their head only.

ameliaandme · 25/04/2023 10:46

Sorry I meant to say you can do it lol not can't

ameliaandme · 25/04/2023 11:03

Yeah
I meant she done so well once doesn't mean she can't again. I dont think alot of people earn or have earn 70k (average salary now is 31k isn't it ?) So she's got the ability.

I probably wasn't the most constructive about which sectors😆

Find out the top paying jobs, find out what qualifications and work towards it ? So can rule out most public sector work 😜

My brother in law earns over 100k he detests his job (does defense military work), he has to travel makes lots of sacrifices but adores the money.

Maybe work out what you'd be prepared to do for the job and go from there.

poppysockies · 25/04/2023 11:07

Is there an age limit on graduate roles in finance?

Hairbrushhandle · 25/04/2023 11:11

I work with people who earn over £100k. I'd say you're seeing things through rose tinted specs. Yes they might be at drop off and pick up but are you seeing them at 5am on the phone to a client? I'd say 100k jobs are 100k because they take a bit of your soul. It sounds like the only thing you don't enjoy is the comparison so stop comparing!

bigbabycooker · 25/04/2023 11:13

You can definitely get a return to work finance scheme if you'd like to. But firstly:

  • you've been a great teacher and enjoyed it. Do you want to do a desk job? Ensure you think about how you want to work
  • lots of the people you are seeing apparently not working hard have done brutal hours in their early 20s. Do you want to do that - ie doing the job and the learning? It's a sacrifice of family time for you. Lots of those people who you see doing school runs etc are also never totally off - so they keep responsibility on holidays etc.

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice life and you can afford help. But it isn't just a licence to print money for no effort to get into a career like this.

If you want a good ratio between salary possibilities and balance, I'd look towards fund management (get the CFA books and see whether this is actually interesting to you) or insurance - investment banking at the junior end will absolutely not offer this.

bigbabycooker · 25/04/2023 11:14

(My husband and I qualified as city lawyers and live in the commuter belt, btw, so we do know this world - wouldn't recommend city law as a lifestyle)

bigbabycooker · 25/04/2023 11:18

(Other options also include returner programmes at eg Fitch or State Street ratings agency - stable hours)

bigbabycooker · 25/04/2023 11:20

But I really do think you need to think through properly - I mean, you decided to stay at home as the higher earner, so clearly you wanted the time with your kids and it would be quite extreme to go from that to 12 hour (inc commute) city days

Wenfy · 25/04/2023 11:24

If you thought teaching was long hours then London based banking / finance isn’t for you. But with a maths degree you could probably walk into an entry level data analyst consultant position in another secror (you can earn £70k+ with the right applications) . Have a look at LinkedIn and research job descriptions.

CamelliaAndPrunus · 25/04/2023 11:26

If I were in your position I'd aim to get a job in a private school. Progress quickly into SLT.

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