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?!

MrsBucketxx - Sorry, I'm not judging you at all, please don't think I am!

HALF of the country earn less than £18,000
62% earn less than the "average" of £26,000
90% earn less than £47,000

A before tax income of £63,200 puts you in the top 5%
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/3-1table-feb2012.pdf

Thank you Talkin'.

It depends where you live. £60k in London and the S East is very different to £60k in the North East.

I wonder what the average regional salaries are.

Thanks to insane house price inflation, its a necessary wage to get a family home round here - until sanity inevitably returns that is. However, to all the posters who say 'people live to their means' i'd argue there are plenty of exceptions to that rule. My living standards haven't changed an iota since I started earning more, because I don't feel the need to keep up with the Jones or buy thing I don't actually need. Thus the excess is all being saved. I think of this as ny revenge in policy makers who want us all to mindlessly consume, and be fuelled by debt.

65,000 - not 60,000 - is the MINIMUM income Wandsworth Council will accept for its shared ownership list in 2012-13.

But they do allow a couple to make that between them. If you're single or a lone parent you still have to make that 65k pa.

Mrsbucket we're the same; my husband works abroad for 9 weeks out of 12, he nearly didn't go back the other day as he doesn't want to be away from our DTs (7 months), but what else can we do, theres no jobs round here.

Not sure by region,
but by band of income you can see how few really well paid people there are
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/3-4table-feb2012.pdf

It is all relative to your outgoings, where you live etc.

Personally, I don't think £60k is a huge amount.

HERE WE GO
Earnings by region
find out if you are representative or not ...
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/table-3-13-mar2012.pdf

London, median income £23,400 ........ half of Londoners earn less than that .....

It sounds a lot (almost twice my wages) but it wouldn't buy a lot where I live - thankfully DH earns more than that.

Are those full time wages or just anything over the income tax threshhold? If you work 20 hours a week then you might look lower paid IYSWIM but pro rata be doing much better.

everlong
No, outgoings rise to meet the income.

Look at the statistics I've linked to from HMRC
£60k is a HUGE salary compared to what 85% of the country earn.

Narked
They are from HMRC figures. What people are ACTUALLY earning
livingthings
then you are the 1% - no criticism, but remember that fact.

I earn more than that

I realise I am highly paid but I would not say I am rich. God knows how but we still struggle sometimes. I can understand people saying its not a lot - especially if you are in London and have a family. £3500 a month won't go far if you have a London rent and childcare to pay.

I do appreciate I am very lucky and I have been bone crunchingly skint so I know what that's like and how hard it is and I never forget that or take for granted where I am now. Where we struggle now is not in the same league as when we literally couldn't eat or put gas on the meter.

I do work bloody hard but I appreciate other people work harder for less. I have been lucky.

It would be interesting to see household income by region.

Don't confuse salary with income, either.

I always do because I've never had anything I haven't earned myself, like a lot of us on here, but most other people have: whether it's a bonus or an inheritance or a wedding cheque, there are more ways to get an income than to earn it.

In London it isn't a lot. It's roughly 3,500 a month. But then take out up to nearly 2k a month for 3 bed flat and council tax you haven't got a lot left. Then average childminder is £80 a day here, which is 10 hours. Ok could move out of London, but not really cost effective by the time you then add travel.
But then I have family up north on this and they have loads of disposable income because living costs are cheaper. So it's all relative to where you live.

It depends on a lot of things.

60K salary with a student loan means a take home pay of £38K out of that they would probably have a mortgage and childcare to pay and wouldn't be getting any benefits (obviously).

Someone on £25K would be bringing home £19K and would be entitled to more help with childcare.

So two people in a household earning £25K each would work out more than one person on £60K

london has got big swathes of local authority housing and innercity areas, with people im sure earning "normal" salaries.

£60,000 is a very good income by any measure, it may not allow you to live like a king but you shouldn't be worrying about how to pay your gas bill.

I know it's relative, I KNOW. DH earns a stupidly good salary, a few times that & I know how easy it is to become divorced from reality when your income is way above the average, my sister & her DH earn a multiple above us & I always feel like the 'poor relation' when we go & visit.

Then I come & look at the threads on here & the outside world & realise I am being a complete knob.

Anyone who's struggling on or moaning about 60k needs to have a word really.

It depends on your outgoings. If one person earned £60,000 I doubt it would be enough to buy a house in London or send children to private school. But if you lived in a less expensive area and no school fees you could live very well on that.