High earners - how do you spend your salary?

@Robinni

you’ve gone on the whole thread about how those with money are the worst in the world

no I havent

been very argumentative.

I'm not arguing with myself lol

My opinion is those on lower incomes have worse opportunities. Being able to technically buy your ch doesn't change that and is a strawman argument

I haven't discounted your opinion. I just couldn't figure out why you though that particular opinion was relevant to the point i made

@Topgub you’ve gone on the whole thread about how those with money are the worst in the world and been very argumentative.

And appear to be of the position that those with the most humble beginnings ie council estate have it the worst with least opportunity.

My opinion would be that the people who fall slightly outside of this bracket - can’t get sh but still low earning will struggle more.

I said empathy by the way, not sympathy there is a difference.

If you are going to discount my opinion as irrelevant you’d better discount your own as well. It is a discussion thread, all opinions are relevant.

Yes absolutely with two on job seekers they would bring in about 8k a year. But there will be further top ups if they have kids probably bringing close to circa 15k. Depends which category they are put in.

If a couple is on something like ESA/PIP + tax credits or on UC + Pip it will be closer to 25k and they can work part time on top of this…

People in council houses do work too you know. And many stay there even after prospects have improved. Though Cameron saw to it that rent would be adjusted according to income.

But of course, if they just worked a bit harder they could chose not to and have the same chances as some one who lives in a country estate and whose parents can afford to make sure they dont fail.

It's this that just still so gets me every time. Even after I have been "comparatively rich" for over a decade.

Ruth was a girl who went to school with me. Ruth was just as clever as me (probably more so, actually). Ruth's only "fault" was that - whereas my siblings and I had parents that demanded better for us - she was from a family that was utterly resigned to the status quo, had grown to resent "intellectuals" and held it against their own daughter when she was gunning for A-levels and uni.

Ruth dropped out. Ruth died last year (freak accident, not actually any poverty related structural situation). She wasn't even 40, and she left three kids, none of whom would consider uni an option in their wildest dreams either.

THIS is what poverty does to us: we either accept our fates, or we stay to fight the good fight - and, if we win, we'll forever be feeling guilty because we "cheated the system" and the Ruths in our lives did not.

This is what people mean by "it's structural".

It is never just about hard work as to who earns more in life. It is a huge mix of factors although hard work is often part of it. All we can do if as families we think it is useful if our children earn quite a bit is do our best for that child to achieve the goals it wants. That is not every family's ethos of course - families have all kinds of aims which differ as thankfully we are a democracy and do not have all to be the same.

I find it quite useful to have spare money but could always do with some more so try to make that so.

@Robinni

Why is who you feel most sympathy for relevant?

No families are on that income if they rent
do you understand the benefits system?

@StuckonanLNERtrain

Thanks i wasn't sure of the details.

Sorry for derail Op

@Topgub my point was that a household on 15-20k say in a housing estate where rent is £250-400 per month might just scrape by and has at least the chance of purchase at a very low rate if they become better off at a later date.

For a family on that income or even slightly more where rent is private £800-1000+ the economic climate will probably slaughter them so that’s who I feel most empathy with at the moment… and I hope they have a sizeable rescue package announced soon.

That was my point.

You need to have lived there for 35 years to get a 70% discount up to the cap

mortgages typically end at 67. So say you get a social property at 30- no chance of getting 70% off

if you got one at 18 then you would be 53 and looking at a 14 year mortgage.

@Robinni

Both myself and dh are from actual humble beginnings

We both grew up on council housing estates. You know the kind you see on channel 5 poverty porn?

Yeah.

Its not a stereotype. People do live in actual, true poverty surrounded by crime and despair.

But of course, if they just worked a bit harder they could chose not to and have the same chances as some one who lives in a country estate and whose parents can afford to make sure they dont fail.

You appear to be talking about people not in actual poverty but who managed to blag a sh in a decent area. They exist too, of course.

I've kind of forgotten the point you were making, it appears to be that no one is really poor so they should stop blaming the rich?

Or that they should be grateful for what ever scraps the rich decide to through their way?

@Topgub

Never mind the crack den next door and the sex trafficked brothel down the street. Great investment

Way to go with the stereotypes!!! Lols
How many social houses have you been to?! Yes in inner city there can be problems but in many cases they are interspersed with privately owned properties and sell pretty well!

*Reminds me of a documentary I watched about Kensington, one of the most unequal boroughs I believe.

The rich mum drove her kids around the poorer bit saying look at all these awful people, you must stay away from them.*

Dreadful. What is wrong with people.

When I was a young adult starting my first grad job, I used to lodge with a nice family in one of the most expensive part of the country. The landlord's father lived nearby in a council house. Though a council house, it is one of those regency town house in an conservation area. He has lived there for decades, carers (Council provided) and my landlord attended to take care of him. Now this father had been an abusive drunkard his whole life, never done an honest day of living. Not only he gets to live in a house in a prime spot rent-free, enjoyed free care, the best part is, he was offered to buy this house for £90k because he has been there for so long, 90k is about 30% of it true value. Now how is that fair? Why is honest hard working family not come across this opportunity.

In the end my landlord bought it for his father and inherited it. At least the house goes to a deserving hardworking family in the end

@StuckonanLNERtrain I did clearly say “up to” and if the London areas/SE England are too expensive transfer to a different estate. It is 35% for a house 50% for a flat btw.

Friend of mine got an enormous discount as had sat in the house several yrs - while studying!! - had the house virtually paid off in 5yrs the cost was so low, then made further substantial profit off it. Now sits in very comfortable detached property. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

People who can’t access these advantages - due to not getting a house (it’s bloody hard), or not being willing to move do really struggle. I think they are certainly going to come up with a substantial package to support people through the current crisis.

So a child wanting/supported/able will do well in private just as they would in state school in my personal opinion.

100% this. I was always academic and motivated by learning. I got my A* and A GCSE grades at a crappy state school but I'd have got them at a ridiculously expensive private school, too. Because I wanted them, I was bright enough to achieve them, and I was supported and encouraged to achieve them.

@Robinni

I'm not sure very many people on the lowest incomes will be able to afford to buy a house at even 70% discount

Going to state school and self funding uni doesn't equate to humble either

Plenty of those well off plumbers use state schools. Most consultants I know use state schools

Your post just sounds completely out of touch tbh.

Hey, I know you cant afford to eat or heat your heavily subsidised house but at least you can buy it at 70% off.

Never mind the crack den next door and the sex trafficked brothel down the street. Great investment

SlightlyGeordieJohn
god your gross. I hope you teach your kids better manners and respect than your posting on here.

Who can but a house at 70% discount?

If you mean social housing it isnt 70%. It is 35% plus 1% for each year to a maximum of 70% but the maximum discount is £87,200 across England, except in London boroughs where it is £116,200. So where are houses less than 120k?- virtually nowhere.

Flats in my block sell at a million. So not much of a discount!

This thread...I went to private school at 14. Prior to that I was in a school where we had 100 on a class. A state school in a developing country were there were over a thousand in a year and our end of year results meant you were given a position in the year group. I remember coming 340th. If anything it gave me the drive try to crack the top 200. Anyways I digress, I went from that to full boarding in Essex and was fine. Made friends and went to university. Not starting private school from age 4 did me no harm and did not hinder my ability to achieve. The period of adjustment was similar to going to university. I did not feel out of place. I knew why I was there.

I think having gone to private school in the last 20 yrs, I understand that parents forking shed loads of cash into a child's education does not guarantee definite success. Even though some people like to think of that investment as a fruit bearing security blanket. Trust me several of my classmates in school barely managed A levels let alone degrees despite the grounds, the pastoral care, the hockey and netball teams, the socials, the trips aboard, theatre trips, horse riding clubs, voluntary clubs etc etc. It is very dependent on the child. So a child wanting/supported/able will do well in private just as they would in state school in my personal opinion.

Yet still better than you.

They came from humble beginnings, if they went to a state school and were self funded through Uni - that would mean collective household income would be pretty low.

I realise this because I had to fund Uni myself too - parents paid for prep but later fell on hard times… as I say not always a silver spoon.

The education system needs an overhaul to make it more equal.

But I have to say those on the very lowest incomes do have massive reductions on rent and a chance to buy a house at up to 70% discount. Not to be sniffed at.

It’s the people slightly above this bracket - don’t get a council house on 10-20k a year and paying full rent who will struggle most.

💯 you have just summed it all up.

It really amazes me how many people on this thread cannot seem to imagine that not everyone grows up with the same opportunities in life and that will impact on their education going through life and their chances of financial success. Humility does seem to be lacking by many on this thread 🙁

Fortunately you’re doing well enough to not have to live near them or work alongside them

Get in the ghetto, poor person!

Reminds me of a documentary I watched about Kensington, one of the most unequal boroughs I believe.

The rich mum drove her kids around the poorer bit saying look at all these awful people, you must stay away from them.

She didn't come across well either.