Combined salary needed to afford this lifestyle for 2 kids in London?

[brownbutter]

The lifestyle I mean includes things like:
-private school (and wraparound care if needed)
-nice holidays
-4+ bedroom house
-hobbies
-days out
-contributions for first property deposit

I was doing some quick mental arithmetic and I was thinking you would need combined annual gross salary of £350k plus? Does that sound right?

Obviously depends on a few factors like mortgage, savings, other sources of income etc.

This is a weird and irrelevant comment because if you do have the money - which OP does- why wouldn’t you want a nice house and private school? Yes it might not make your kid happier than a kid in a tiny house in a state school but what’s the point of money if not to give your kids an easier life? I choose to spend my disposable income on private schools for my SEN kid instead of on new cars and lavish holidays. Giving each child a bedroom of their own is hardly luxury living.

How old is DC1 ? Thats relevant if you do want to move out of London and be in the right catchment by the right time . 200k will go a long way outside London especially if DC proves to be academic and you can make use of the Bucks Grammar Schools

I want to give my child the best start in life (everyone’s definition of this will differ) and opportunities to enrich their life.

No-one is talking about a luxury home! Just a simple house with a garden (with one bedroom per child)

Not your question but I’d recommend coming up north if your work allows. All that very doable on £150k combined income.

Thanks @PixellatedPixie I’ll check out those areas in Surrey. And totally agree, if you do have the disposable income and you deem it worth it, why would you not spend the money on private school.

My husband commutes into Central London 3 days a week, sometimes 4. It's quicker to the office than we used to have when we lived in London! We're near Amersham, and feel we have best of both worlds. Amazing schools, countryside and London nearby when we need it. Definitely don't discount moving out. You might regret your priorities later in life if you don't have second child.

@Beansmum2 my DC is 7 months 😂

I know it seems premature to be thinking about this now but I’m just planning ahead.

I’m guessing then you need to be in the catchment area for a certain number of year(s) to be eligible for the grammar?

@Scottishgirl85 to answer your question, from my own perspective.

We stayed in London to raise our daughter because the most interesting and well paid jobs for our specialism are here. Because we live centrally we have no commute to speak of and can take her to school and pick up each day. If we had moved to Bucks we would have had to compromise on our job enjoyment and options or commute and have less time with our DD.

We also love London, we go to cultural events often, and have a direct train 40 mins to the beach. We love and value the diversity. The schools around us are outstanding with none of the Bucks / grammar pressure.

I grew up in Buckinghamshire and couldn't wait to get away, frankly.

If it helps here is my breakdown

2 kids in prep school-£45k a year (so remember that is post tax) so £90k really of salary. Secondary is will be closer to £60k
mortgage-we have £1m mortgage on a £3m house in zone 2. £6k a month
Nanny-£42k a year (again post tax) you could do wrap around care but remember private schools have about 18 weeks of holiday
holidays-we spend about £30k a year
remember all the additional clubs/music lessons
car/bills etc

our combined salary is £750k

we don’t worry about cash though so you could do it more cheaply but hopefully it gives you an idea

Leave London?
You could live in virtually any other city in the world, have all that list, a better work life balance and all on €150k

When DBIL was looking to resettle back in the UK, I think he worked out they’d need at least £400k for a similar London lifestyle. But he already has significant assets so pensions and investments are sorted. He was looking to live in NW London, so high housing costs even with a large deposit.

Friends who have a similar lifestyle in London are:
City lawyers at partner level
Two medical consultants (but school fees/ house courtesy of wealthy parents)
A partner and senior advisor at a big 4 consultancy firm
A stay at home mum and tech entrepreneur

You need to make sure there’s enough left over to account for mortgage rate rises, to invest for the future and as a school fee increase buffer.

London is a very expensive city to live in!

Right. But leaving London might also entail leaving your family and friends and what price do you put on that.

It is a bit of a “how long is a piece of string” discussion but one thing I would say is don’t commit to private schools if it’s going to be tight. For me, pulling the DC out of their private school would be the same level of upset and upheaval as having to sell the house because we couldn’t pay the mortgage. You can always do state primary and save for senior school fees.

For Grammar children take the 11+ at the start of year6 and most will have been tutored in year 5 if not before . If DC is only 7 months then you have some time before you need to worry about primary school applications and catchments , but you might want to start looking at private prep schools quite soon crazy though that sounds . We are Bucks and lots of parents with the means seem to use a mix of state and private provision . DC were in a lovely ‘good’ village primary . DS1 is in Grammar and DS2 is in private . I personally rate the Grammar experience better than the private .

I would have some weekend trips out of London to places that might be an option like Marlow ( and the other Bucks options mentioned) .

Looks here like it is one year but individual schools may have earlier deadlines

https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools-index/school-admissions/school-admissions-guides-policies-and-statistics/guide-to-moving-up-to-secondary-school/moving-home/

https://www.thebucksgrammarschools.org/

Your life choices sound very similar to ours @fiskal. What beach do you go to?

Leigh on sea! We love it

A big issue too is what you want to do in your free time . London does have a lot to offer , especially with young children . We use the Elizabeth Line or drive in on a Sunday from Bucks very easily .

This thread demonstrates the enormous problem we have in this country with economic inequality and all the wealth in the South East.

I live in the North, a mile away from a place where the median income is 29k per family. I find the sums on this thread all a bit mind boggling. Kids don't have to go to prep school to be happy. Most people would rather have a sibling to share their whole life with rather than 13 years of rarified education.

It really is a case of haves and have nots in this country.

BigBreaths · Today 11:07
👏👏

a proper 10-15k hol

"proper" 😵

yeah… I know it’s eye watering for 4 😩
hence not bothering for a while…

by the time we do them it’ll be in school hols so more expensive and there will be 4 of us!

It's very odd. We are a family of 6 and have managed to all go on holiday many times. Never managed to spend 10-15k though.

It's like people have completely lost perspective.

I know! We are comfortably off and I’m pretty picky and never spent more than £3k.

We usually manage to do a holiday for all 4 of us for no more than £3k. Until now I had no idea they weren't "proper" holidays ...