I realise partners' earnings vary dramatically across firms and also within firms, but what do people estimate senior partners at MBB, tier 2, big 4 etc earn? Does anyone know senior consultants outside work? What kind of lifestyles do they lead? If you get to the top do you end up being comfortably well off, or quite rich?

Quite a bit.http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/support_services/article6854969.ece

Partner "starting salary" at my firm is 250k, although I've been told, by a partner, the average partner salary is somewhere between 500k and 750k. (Big 4 Consultancy)

So MBB, Booz, OW etc partners must be making >£1m after a certain level of experience?

Wow, I wouldn't have thought so high. I've heard the lowest of them start at around 120.

Wouldn't want to make any assumptions, but I'd lean in that direction!@padang 120k is a director salary where I work (one grade below partner)

Basic partner take-home was c.£500K last year at my place plus performance-related compensation

Deloitte average partner salary is c£700k last year.

So if the AVERAGE is 700k and there are going to be senior guys with much larger share, that means that there are a lot of junior partners earning significantly less, definitely way less than 500k.

run of the mill 'line partner' comp is more of the order of 300K outside MBB, and at tech-heritage consultancies can be less.

It is important to emphasise that there really are only a handful of businesses that pay that sort of money and only a handful of their employees get to be a partner. It’s the MCS equivalent of being in MUFC or CFC: the overwhelming majority of even v v good management consultants are lucky to get to £200/250k packages. Pretty good money of course but not, for most, life changing