To think that 60k is a lot of money to earn a year?!

[MinkSlink]

I think it is a lot of money to earn per year but it seems a lot of people on mumsnet don't think so, am I in the piss poor minority here or what?!

and there are a lot of m netters who begrudge anyone doing well for themselves.

i see it all the time on mn, you have more than me therefore your a ......

Income isn't something I ever think about in relation to other people really. No-one knows how much money people have or how much credit they are using.

Whether 60k is a lot of money depends on the people, the area in which they live and the debts and bills they have acrrued for whatever reason over the years.

People who live off much less than that are obviously going to think its a lot, whereas someone who might have been used ot earning more than that would think it was nothing.

Most of our friends are in the same income bracket of probably between 30-50k. Some of those friends cant manage at all, some have fairly affluent lifestyles but most - like me - just about manage to make it to the end of each month but have no back up money if things go wrong.

"and there are a lot of m netters who begrudge anyone doing well for themselves.

i see it all the time on mn, you have more than me therefore your a ......"

^^
This.

I hate these threads. There was one last month where someone with an income in the 20Ks was slamming everyone with an income in the 40Ks, asking how they weren't rolling in it. Then it transpired she had a 300pcm mortgage.

It is a good salary. Dh earns that just. However, he works 50 miles away from home to do this so by the time he has paid for petrol/car expenses it isn't as great as it sounds. Mortgage at crappy 5.99 fixed takes another grand. (not a mansion)
We are fortunate that we can afford to run 2 cars but don't have money spare to replace them.
We don't have money for fancy holidays etc.
We are a family of 5 living in expensive area.

O and I probably spend £100 a year on my hair.

It absolutely is a lot of money. If you choose to live in a bigger house, run several cars, have holidays etc.. that's your choice, but again, you have that choice if you earn a high salary.

I earn more than this (shout out to catgirl), and my husband earns more than me and we have/do all the above and still, I can't even begin to imagine how someone can say it's not a good amount to earn in a year.

what that supposed to mean glue. its true!!!

Agree it's all relative. I didn't think it a lot when it was our basic family income one year, but we're a large family and have different outgoings.

Also dont forget that you are worse off in terms of take home salary if you have one earner on gross £60k than 2x earners on £30k due to 2xPA and being entirely in the 20% tax brackets.

A lot of why people with very high incomes don't feel as though they're rolling in money is the astronomical house prices. E.g someone who earns NMW but has a HA house or a retired person with minimal pension but with a paid off mortgage will have more/ similar disposable income to someone earning median wage who is renting privately.

Can someone please build some more houses (proper ones with enough space to live in but none of that executive high spec interior bollocks).

For those who think £60k is average.
YOU ARE WRONG
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/table-3-13-mar2012.pdf
THe MEDIAN (50% above, 50% below) wage in the UK is £19,600 and in London is £23,400

whether that is full time or part time is IRRELEVANT - as people take the work they can get.

For those who say "everybody in my town is rich"
YOU ARE WRONG
The petrol station attendants, checkout girls, shop cleaners, newsagent staff, dry cleaner staff, shelf stackers, courier delivery drivers - are on NMW (or even less if the poor buggers are immigrants)

£60k a year puts that person in the top 5% in the country
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/3-3table-feb2012.pdf
Do not argue with me.
Just accept it and be more polite to the plebs from now on.

Our income is about £60k. We live in London. It's plenty. We're rich. I hate it when people consider it isn't. You chooseyour outgoings beyond a certain level.

You more have the same amount of spare cash left over if you earn £60k as someone on £25 but that doesn't mean you aren't comfortable. The quality of goods and services bought will generally be of higher quality, the area lived in will generally be nicer or more spacious and there is room for economising.

So yes at 60k I have very little cash left at the end of the month. But I have the option available to me of downsizing, food shopping more frugally or stopping smoking. To a great many people on even the national average wage there is no option to cut back. There is no scope to cutback.

Yes I (and all my friends who earn broadly similar amounts) live to our means but it is a comfortable life in the scheme of things. And for that I am grateful. I think people look to their friends and extrapolate out to the rest of the area they live in. The stats show that although you think everyone living in is earning bucket loads in reality very few people are. I am always surprised when reminded that I am in the top 10% of earners and that my DH (who I think is terribly underpaid) earns just less than national average.

I earn a bit more than that (c.£70-80k). It is undeniably a lot of money. As of pay day on Wed I will have paid off all of my debts inc student debt and overdraft and I expect it will feel like even more although I should then start saving for a deposit for a house. I have been working for less than 4years though and have a DD and a DP in a low paying job. We probably have a comparable household income to 2* single earners on 30k each.

If you bought a house 12 years ago for 45k then a 60k salary (now) is a lot of money.

If you're just starting out on 60k and maybe have an expensive commute, or need to live in an expensive area to be near family (childcare) or work, then 60k suddenly doesn't go that far.

Its all relative innit?

CaptainVonTrapp
NO IT IS NOT.
£60k puts you on more than 95% of the population who have to find the SAME BILLS out of much less money.

The cleaners in Canary Wharf get paid as cleaners, yet magically have to get to Canary Wharf each day.
The House of Commons only grudgingly pays its cleaners £9 an hour - out of which they need Zone 1 tube passes ....
The people working in Pret in Regents street are not paid more just because their stuck up customers are.

As people have said it is a decent salary, but as has been said we tend to live to our means, so if our pay got slashed to £60k we would have to sell our house or take the kids out of childcare to send them up chimneys

No, a 60 year-old on 60K who has a teeny mortgage as they bought when houses were cheap does not have to pay the same bills as a 25 year old with no chance of property ownership anytime soon and some of the highest rents in real terms for decades.

When I earned £60k per year, I paid about £20k in income tax. So after a few years I downsized and now earn less but take home proportionately more due to not paying higher rate tax.

Higher rate tax in this country is a real disincentive to bother with the stress of a high paid job, paying 42% tax makes it pointless. First world problem I know!

loobydooby
hogwash. If you earned £60k a year, your after tax income was more than the before tax income of 75% of the population
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/3-3table-feb2012.pdf

the perceptions of the rich about what is "essential" are VERY distorted.

"the perceptions of the rich about what is "essential" are VERY distorted."

well the poor had better stop wingeing then, as housing and tranport are obviously non-essentials.

i dont think hrt makes employment pointless.

it certainly means your never likly to have your card declined in the supermarket when trying to buy a loaf of bread, a regular occurance for a few people i know who earn under the average salery

I earn considerably more than that (stealth boast? ) and I still think that £60K a year is a lot of money.

Most of my family and friends earn less that £60K. We live in london and a few of DH's friends are bus drivers who earn a lot less than that. Most people have to manage on an awful lot less.