People on the internet talking about their huge salaries

Pissy Missy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119055851#Comment_119055851

Yup, life be unfair

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119330516#Comment_119330516

Unfortunately it's you who's engaging in wishful thinking.

These salaries are indeed being paid and they are not uncommon. Two professionals in their 40s earning c. 150k each is not a big deal.

Why you'd go on to AAM looking for advice is a different question.

BrianD3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119330607#Comment_119330607

I think a lot of the salaries being mentioned are more than what a pharmacist would make - unless we are talking about locums and daily rates which don't exactly fit description of "private sector employee with a salary of x".

Doctors - definitely potential for consultants, GPs and NCHDs (overtime) to earn big money but again, I'm not sure that many of them would be or describe themselves as "private sector employee".

Also, my experience of doctors (and solicitors) is that they are very drawn to professional credentials. They'd pay someone to give them financial advice rather than ask AAM even if they got better advice on the latter than from the former. I could be wrong of course and thinking of a more old school thinking by consultants.

Geuze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119062017#Comment_119062017

I will check the 2018 SES for you to see what the distribution of earnings is like.

Note that this covers earnings, not income.

The top 10% of earners in 2018, had earnings (not income), of above 6430 per month.

It seems to exclude self-employed?

So this seems to be the distribution of employee earnings.

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118601781#Comment_118601781

Wouldn't be bragging about that. 75k after factoring in overtime? You're being mugged off.

Unless you mean after tax of course then all power to you

fits

met up with some old college people a few weeks ago. Many of them working in tech in high level management. Fully expected to feel like shite after it as I wouldn’t be a high earner in comparison but I thought everyone looked stressed and tired.

that said they’ll probably retire early with fabulous lifestyles. And I won’t.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119330800#Comment_119330800

I'm not disputing for a moment that people are earning these salaries and then some. I know several. But they tend not to talk about it to randomers and I'm fairly certain none of them are turning to the internet for financial advice. Especially considering a number of them are in the Finance sector themselves.

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119332917#Comment_119332917

You can be in the finance sector and still have little or no practical experience at managing your own money.

How do you know if the people you know are posting about their finances online? They might be reticent to talk about it in person, even with close friends but there’s a reasonable level of privacy when posting online. Even if you knew AAM Poster 125334, there usually isn’t enough information in their MM posts to identify themselves.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119332049#Comment_119332049

Always best to just keep interested in your own career. I was never interested what my college mates were earning because I always knew that some would earn less and some would earn more and it would be an annoyance of some kind or other.

Jim2007

You can be in the finance sector and still have little or no practical experience at managing your own money.

So very true. The rules are not as strict when managing others money and the ‘opportunities’ to do stupid things are greater!

Geuze

This couple on 330k combined spend 65-80k on four holidays per year.

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/planning-for-retirement-at-age-55-and-want-to-maximise-finances-in-advance-not-sure-how-to-optimise.227939/

rob316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119351360#Comment_119351360

Just read that, bonkers money on holiday but its their money. For the level of salary and no kids, their asset position isn't great. Overpaying a mortgage while 170k is sitting in the bank and not maximizing their pensions is a poor use of that income also.

dotsman

Yeah, that thread is a perfect example of how people can earn a lot of money without being financially savvy at all.

I don't know how anyone could spend 80k on holidays per annum? Where do they get the time? They must literally be spending several thousand per day when on holidays.

Also, earning that much money and only having A) a very modest pension fund, B) a dinky 37K in investments and C) only 110K in equity on a tiny investment property (which I assume is mainly down to growth and not from their contributions) is beyond me. I know the poster says their incomes only doubled in the last few years, but they were still on good incomes before that, yet have SFA pension/investments. And they are hoping to retire in 13 years time?

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119360079#Comment_119360079

The holiday thing is easy to understand. When I went on my first holiday to Paris shortly after college, we picked 6am Ryanair flights, a bus to/from both airports and a hotel which could generously be described as minuscule. All our meals were in restaurants which definitely did not have a view of the Eiffel Tower.

When we went back a few years later, we flew Aer Lingus and got a train to Paris. The hotel was a little closer to things and a little less cramped. We ate in sightly nicer restaurants and even had desert as well as a glass of wine.

For someone earning a nice salary, they’ll pick somewhere further away so the flights will be more expensive, they’ll park at the airport which is never cheap, maybe get a private transfer to their slightly more expensive hotel, probably eat in expensive restaurants with a few bottles of wine, maybe do some expensive activities like skiing, paragliding, etc. It all adds up very quickly.

Almost everyone does this, it’s just the scale of that couples holidays that looks crazy but compared to their salaries, it’s probably no worse than most other peoples. Especially considering they have none of the expensive hobby of all - children!

There are 326,000 people in Ireland who are paper millionaires if the price of their family home is taken into account

https://m.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/crazy-rich-irish-how-ireland-is-now-home-to-326000-millionaires-41664263.html

The actual number of Irish millionaires is I think about 26,000 if memory serves but I stand corrected. While there’s a lot of poverty in Ireland, and a lot or majority of middle income families, there is also a lot of wealth, relative to population size.

I know a lot of people whose parents were born at the start of the baby boomer generation- 1946 - they’re starting to die off now, leaving significant wealth behind to their sons and daughters- so these numbers will increase.

Rich people in Ireland are still in the minority but there’s a lot of rich people in Ireland- but why anyone with money would want to look for money advice from randomers on the internet is beyond me- a fool and their money and all that…

i know a lot of people on salaries over 150k a year- these are intelligent people- they wouldn’t go on websites looking for advice for their finances- they already have the knowledge, the contacts, the access to sound financial advice and the common sense.

BrianD3

Another whopper on there today - a 29 year old on a package of 300k looking for advice from strangers on the Internet.

dontmindme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119529172#Comment_119529172

...whatever makes you happy 🙄

Kalimah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119529172#Comment_119529172

I saw that one. Unbelievable. I’d love to know what industry he or she is in.

Geuze

Yes, it's the age 29 that I can't understand.

In my sector, it's possible to reach 150k approx, but after a minimum of maybe 15 years, more like 20 years working.

What sector allows a 29 year old to reach 220k basic? Maybe seven years after graduation?

fits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119530399#Comment_119530399

Trading or fund management?

dotsman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119530460#Comment_119530460

But that would be an industry where the person is very financially aware/educated. Generally the people on huge salaries asking for advice would be working as doctors/lawyers/IT etc where, while they might be very good at their respective jobs, they really have sfa knowledge of investment/finance etc.

For me, I had 2 x solicitor friends who asked me for advise in their mid-thirties as they had several hundred thousand sitting in a zero interest deposit account. Both knew that that was a bad idea, but really had no clue of the world of finance. I've always assumed the people on AAM are the same, but aren't discussing it with friends.

Geuze

I thought this couple are saving 1,150 pm, turns out it's 11,500!!!!

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/advice-for-couple-in-their-50s-with-disposable-income.233031/

Leg End Reject

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276531#Comment_121276531

Wife works part-time, 300k put into house renovation, no debt and saving nearly 12k p/m?

I want her husband! She can keep the kids. 😁

BrianD3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276531#Comment_121276531

Describes his job as "good" - now if they are able to save 110k per year with one working part time and 3 kids, even if they are extremely frugal, his job is more than "good".

IIRC there was somebody on there before with salary well into 6 figures who described his financial situation as "comfortable".

maninasia

They also have little time and tired to look through all the financial options.

And the more money you have on hand the bigger mistakes you can make.

Bobson Dugnutt

There’s a lot of professionals who have a 6 figure salary. It’s not that unusual at all. There’s people in their mid-late 20’s already making it. I make approximately 150k a year and I wouldn’t describe myself as wealthy by any means. I’m comfortable of course, but I’m not exactly flying first class or buying a new Merc every year.

Geuze

22 year old doing well:

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/new-college-grad-no-idea-what-to-do-with-money-long-term.233749/

150k USD.

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277018#Comment_121277018

Maybe his outgoings are also comfortable?

I'd be pretty certain that he is spending a lot more now than he was when he was earning under 100K.

Gusser09

Im earning 374k per annum. Thats after a pay cut. Comfortable but not loaded.

BrianD3

I've managed to resist the temptation to update this thread but the latest AAM whopper (one of many) is just too much

240k salary + 200k bonus + 60k stock options plus wife earns 100k as a public servant.

2 million euro house. Pension funds. 1.2 million in RSUs. Cars worth 160k. Private schooling for the two children

Spend 50k per year on holidays and 48k on clothes, eating out and doing "stuff".

Asking for advice from strangers on the internet on how to optimise their finances.