Was £65k a huge salary 5-6 years ago?

[Donotfitin]

I‘m just curious as back then we thought it was life changing money. I’m currently on that salary and to us it’s now “mid” (in fact, I’m starting a new job with a higher salary which is a really nice upgrade, but still not life changing).

So I wonder if it was us being naive back then, life getting expensive, or something else.

On £90k and husband very similar, one abroad holiday a year, kids have great hobbies but apart from that we are no way rolling in it and minimal savings! Cost of living is just become stupid! Years ago I would of classed us as well off but not now

I get that it is worth leas than it used to be.

But it also sounds a lot to those of us utter mugs who have been stupid and worked in the public sector for decades.

It makes me so cross that we can all understand fiscal drag, inflation and depreciation but also that registered professionals in the public sector are meant to be grateful for a £40k salary with no hope of earning more.

And then you get things like the NHS Profesionals (apparently owned/run by the Dept of Health) unilateral downgrading of pay rates across the board.

We earn less than that between us, both working f/t. So to me it is an excellent salary, but I absolutely agree that everything costs a bloody fortune. 5 years ago I'd have felt much more comfortable but we're only just managing - one holiday in ten years, meals out are only for birthdays etc, two young adults to support (one is starting a grad job just after Christmas, the other has just started uni). Etc. We're both desperate to work less but need far more income than we used to, like everyone.

I earn about that and I do pretty well but as a single income household of course it’s not “insane”. Having said that, if someone had told me 5 years ago that I would be on £65k I would have thought i would be rich.
To be honest, I think the majority of my friends earn more than me.

I constantly see complaints mumsnet is full of high earners, I think this thread proves otherwise,

Oh here we go …

Above average yes - huge, no. Not in the south east at least - I’d have classed 100k and above as ‘huge ‘ then.

You know about inflation and cost of living so why are you asking?

You know that £65k when living up North with a £700 mortgage shared with a partner is a great wage. Compare this with someone living alone in London with a £2k mortgage and £500 transport.

Sounds like you want validation?

I'm on just above that for a 4 day week. It doesn't feel much in the south at all.

I'm on 44k, was on 33k in 2016. All my salary increase has allowed is for me to maintain the same standard of living, make progress on paying off the mortgage and pay off a car.

I would like to earn more and might sell my soul to the devil for a while so I can build up more pension. I feel like I have about 5-10 years of high earning potential.

No. It hasn't been a huge salary at any time during this century.

I'd say it's a high salary now, and was huge then. There are many others getting by on far less.

That’s a lot for transport in London - £25 per working day?

it would also be quite hard to be paying £700 a month for a house in the north - 1400 would be more normal for a smallish home in an OK but not great area

i do appreciate there are differences but don’t over egg them !

average London salary nearly 50k
average north east salary 28k

you probably find that on an average for your area salary you have a similar quality of life

so yes 65k isn’t as much as it was 5 years ago and yes 65k doesn’t go as far down south as up north , but the chances of getting 65k are significantly higher down south than up north

I don’t think 65k has been considered a huge ‘life changing money’ salary since the 1990s. It’s still above average though.

Yes. I had so much disposable income, even though I was renting in the SE of England. Now I'm on more but feel much less well off.

But you probably have benefits and universal credit and funded childcare which tops you up to similar to what op is on after tax?

If you live in London and have kids it certainly isn’t. But I’m sure many other posters will come along to tell you it is above average (which I know it is) and how they manage very well on half that and they have 3 kids, 5 cars and holidays.

How many are full time though? When people quote these figures they often don’t account for the fact that lots of people are only working a few hours.

65k isn’t especially high for full-time work.

You could have looked it up yourself but for full-time workers only, 65k is around the 84th percentile.

So 65k is not a top 10% salary then. Too many people post misleading facts trying to make out that the average wage is lower than it is, by not taking into account the fact that many people on low salaries don’t work full time.

The average full time wage is almost 50k, and the median is around 40k, so there’s no way that 65k can be considered a huge salary for full time work.

It's misleading to pretend there's a massive difference between top 10% and top 16%. Why do you want to make out £65k isn't a high salary?

It depends so much on where you live. I don't live in London (used to) but do live in one of the top 5 most expensive cities out of there. If you have a mortgage, commuting expenses, etc, it adds up. Just looked up an Oyster card for a month: £313. Compared to our system: £74. That's just for a start. Take it further in terms of childcare, their expenses to just open the door are going to be more. Where we are, I'd understand a friend on £65k cutting their cloth compared from a few years ago but we'd both know that noone starves.

65k is not and was not a huge salary 5/6 ago in London or SE. It’s very average.

The median London salary now - so average - is under 50k

65k even now is above average even for London