Is £65,000 a year before tax a good income for a couple in South Surrey?

[Benny91]

Evening all,

Just wondering if this is a good income for a couple and also wondering, for you guys who live in the South East what is your income before tax?

Sorry if it sounds too personal.

You are paupers 🙄

Can’t you use Google and look up average salaries?

MN isn’t representative.
If you’re financially secure then it’s a good income.

It depends on lots of factors. If its 2 people early in their careers, living in a flat with no kids, then maybe not so bad.

If its an older couple with kids and a mortgage- then not so great.

As a single person's income it would have been "good" in the 1980s. Not today. As a couple's joint income, average at best.

Easily. I work and earn 35k (gross). DH doesn’t earn anything (freelance work dried up due to the growth of AI), but doesn’t claim any benefits. We own our house.

20% of the U.K. population is aged over 65, and nearly 40% is aged over 50. Do people really think that a pensioner household is in general receiving 70k in income? They’re not.

These threads are typical in that they tend to discount those in older middle age and the elderly.

Depends where in SE. Ashford or Hastings very different to Brighton or Sevenoaks.

Whether you would be renting or owning g with mortgage fully paid off.

Also totally depends whether you have children or not. Young children on full childcare, tough, no children at all, ok.

Wondering the same thing. Must live somewhere rent / mortgage free

If I had no mortgage Id be fine but otherwise no not enough but people on here seem to be able to live on fresh air. I wouldn’t chose to live in Surrey on that salary, I’d be surround by people who would be relatively a lot wealthier than me and that would make me miserable.

Kindly. You are a DPovvo.

Even if you both earn that, it’s not a good combined salary for the area. However, if you own your home outright and have minimal outgoings then it would be ok.

Depends on housing/childcare costs. My DH and I get slightly more as a youngish retired couple in a neighbouring county and we have the life of Riley.

No, it’s not, is it yours, if so the you should know how much it buys you, which isn’t much,

equivalent to over 280k in 1980, 170k in 1989 - yes 65k would have been fabulous in the ‘80s

not quite sure why you think that significant ?

Depends on housing, life stage, children etc. it’s substantially below the average dual income household for SW Surrey which is one of the wealthiest parts of the country.

It's absolutely fine as a wage. People forget that you don't just halve it to see how much that is per person as it's much cheaper to live as a couple than a single person. Cheaper to eat, one set of utilities, combined mortgage etc.

Do you have housing costs?

I live in South Surrey and if that wage is equally divided it means £4500 per month before any pension or healthcare etc deductions. Almost all of that would go on my mortgage and commuting costs. It’s not going to give someone in the area a good standard of living.

It would if they don’t have rent/mortgage, commuting or childcare costs.

£4500 is a fine standard of living even with a mortgage unless you are paying £3000 a month for a mortgage which is unlikely for most people as the average UK mortgage payment is about £1200pm. Even if the poster has a mortgage of £2k then they'd still have a full average wage to use for all other bills and to live off.

If my mortgage was £2k then I wouldn’t have posted as I did.

The average UK mortgage payment is irrelevant in an area where property prices are significantly higher than average.

No, not in S Surrey.

The cheapest rent on a 2 bedroom property within 3 miles of where I live in SW Surrey is £1300 p/m. The cheapest 2 bed house is £1750. A 3 bed is £2k+.

If you are buying the cheapest 2 bed is about £220k. 2 bed house is £330k. 3 bed is £400k+.

Band D council tax round here is £2.5k a year - so £250 pm

Gas, electricity and water likely £200 pm

Food probably £400+ pm

A full time nursery place - if you can claim 30 hours - is £1.2k a month

So around £3.8 - £4k p/m for rent, bills, food and nursery.

This doesn't include insurance, transport, broadband, phone, clothes, shoes....

Of course without nursery fees it's a very different - and more affordable - position.