What's it like having and earning loads of money??

Sandtree

Mr_Maths said:

Like when your pay has been frozen but they bring in a C 'random letter' O  who seems to serve no purpose whatsoever before they abruptly leave a year later, no doubt with a nice payout on top of the handsome salary they'd been picking up for a year. 

Inevitably there are good and bad CxOs out there just like there are good and bad doctors and call centre agents. The vast majority I have worked with have been exceptionally experienced and hard working. 

I have predominately worked in large multinational finance companies and the idea of being responsible for all HR/IT/Finance or which ever letter you want to replace the x with globally is daunting, compound that multiple times if your the CEO. Certainly not a job I’d like to have with the vast range of issues you’ve got to make decisions on and having to be reliant on the work of everyone else in option analysis etc as its totally implausible for you to spend more than an hour or two on any one topic because there are hundreds of topics to deal with.

There is certainly a strong argument that some front line staff are not paid enough; if you look at UK domiciled companies and where the executives are not material shareholders the level of CxO salaries I generally don’t think are that grossly disproportionate to the role... or at least you’d need to be paying me that kind of money for me to be willing to take on the stress.

fred246

I think you need to consider the OPs position. There must be so many young people in minimum wage jobs. You can't really get on with life. Stuck living with parents or renting shared places. Or spending it all on a car with big insurance premiums. I am sure years ago you could afford to buy some sort of a house if you had a job. You can't really get married and settle down and have children etc on a minimum wage job. Not too sure though because it sounds like the £45k friend is wasting it on unnecessary stuff.

Marvel1

steampowered said:

Am I the only one who finds this thread a bit depressing? There is a stark lack of ambition! What happened to working hard and being the best you can be? 

Perhaps this is because I am still in my thirties. I suppose I might be looking for a quiet life by the time I get to my fifties !!!!

I do not see £45k as a large salary at all, though my attitude is probably skewed by living in London.

Working hard = more responsibility and stress, not worth it.
£45K is a lot for me, and definitely skewed being in London, I do the same as often I see posts in House Buying and think how much?! Where I live it's cheap, my street on average is £70K.

John_

steampowered said:

Am I the only one who finds this thread a bit depressing? There is a stark lack of ambition! What happened to working hard and being the best you can be? 

Perhaps this is because I am still in my thirties. I suppose I might be looking for a quiet life by the time I get to my fifties !!!!

I do not see £45k as a large salary at all, though my attitude is probably skewed by living in London.

I just find it strange.

Anyone who’s of at least average intelligence, and fit and healthy could work their way into earning £50k+ if they really wanted to.

Yes, it’d take effort, and planning, but it’s very achievable. I’ve had people ask me if it’s “fair” that I earn a lot more than them, yet they simply never even made an attempt to find a high paying job, or to work towards a professional career.

If, as many on here do, you do the minimum at work in the first job that they find, bad-mouth the management and the company, be ready at 5pm waiting at the door to clock-out, and show no interest in promotion then you’ll likely settle into a low to middle earning life.

John_

Iamdebtfree said:

I don't earn a huge amount. I don't want or need to earn more. I haven't got work on my mind 24/7 and I'm not uber stressed by relentless demands from management and subordinates alike. Not ambitious in the slightest and don't see anything wrong with it. 

You also posted;

” . I'm just tired, full of anxiety, on meds for insomnia and depression. ”

Which doesn’t really tie in with what you are posting now.

Which is it, you’ve chosen to live a contented, low stress life rather than one of worry by trying to do well at work, or you’re suffering from anxiety and depression?

Mickey666

steampowered said:

Am I the only one who finds this thread a bit depressing? There is a stark lack of ambition! What happened to working hard and being the best you can be? 

Perhaps this is because I am still in my thirties. I suppose I might be looking for a quiet life by the time I get to my fifties !!!!

I do not see £45k as a large salary at all, though my attitude is probably skewed by living in London.

Agreed.  Besides, working hard when you’re young and have the energy is the best time to do it.
I’ve never really hankered after being a millionaire but I was set on early retirement, which I managed a tad before my 50th and have never looked back.  However, I also know quite a few people in MD/CEO positions who do earn millions yet have no plans to retire early or probably at all - which I find immensely strange.  Still, each to their own.
Perhaps MSE’s very own Martin Lewis could shed light on why multi-millionaires continue with their day job - perhaps they just don’t have any other interests in life’s/

Sandtree

John_ said:

Anyone who’s of at least average intelligence, and fit and healthy could work their way into earning £50k+ if they really wanted to.

I think that is exceptionally condescending and rather ignorant statement (and flor clarity my net earnings are 6 figures so its not sour grapes).

There are a vast number of factors that influence both career progression and salary and not are in your control. Some I am sure you will dismiss and say either they’re not true or they dont want it enough etc but you have to have a reasonableness test or at least a caveat of your statement that the level of sacrifices to get there would vary greatly.

I’ll ignore the fact that 50% of the population are at least average intelligence and the feasibility of that many people earning £50k+

AskAsk

fred246 said:

Hobbies are more important than money.

so how do you buy food and pay the bills?  i love sitting on me bum all day posting nonsense on this forum as a hobby, but that aint gonna pay for me dinner or the bills is it??

AskAsk

Iamdebtfree said:

What I find depressing is this obsessed consumerism that exists in modern society. And a culture of 'become a CEO by thirty'. Some call it ambition. I call it wasting life and missing things which really matter. Love. Family. Beauty of nature. 

One can just BE. One doesn't have to constantly DO. 

I don't earn a huge amount. I don't want or need to earn more. I haven't got work on my mind 24/7 and I'm not uber stressed by relentless demands from management and subordinates alike. Not ambitious in the slightest and don't see anything wrong with it. 

To each their own I suppose.

it is a balance between comfort, security and enjoying your life.  everyone loves to doss around doing what they want, so you could decide that you will only work so much to earn enough to live on and spend the rest of the time doing what you enjoy and spending time with your family and friends.

but to some people, having nice things and being to buy things, to go on big holidays, to send their kids to private school etc is more important than enjoying themselves daily dossing around.

to a certain extent, you only need a certain amount of money to live a reasonably comfortable life.  however, in a way that is short sighted as without a lot of money, you may find that you will become disadvantaged at some point in your life.  when you fall ill and can not pay for private care but has to join the long queue to get NHS treatment.  when you get old and have to go into care, you can't afford to go into a decent care home, but end up in a council funded one, where you do not get the level of care that you really need.

when you lose your job and have to look after your family but can not find a new job or one that pays an equivalent wage.  when you need a new roof that costs 10k and you don't have that sort of money so you end up putting saucepans on the floor to catch the rain.  when your boiler breaks down and you need 1.5k for a new boiler but you don't have that money in your bank account so you have to go and ask friends and family for a loan.  do you really think it is ok to asking family and friends for a loan when you are an adult and should be able to sort out your own finances?

i could go on and on....

[Deleted User]

AskAsk said:

fred246 said:

Hobbies are more important than money.

so how do you buy food and pay the bills?  i love sitting on me bum all day posting nonsense on this forum as a hobby, but that aint gonna pay for me dinner or the bills is it??

Actually what you post on this forum is the complete opposite of nonsense, but thanks for this post, it made me laugh.