To want to know what you consider a good salary?

[Llanali]

I'm relatively new to MN, and I keep seeing this phrase " XXX earns a good salary" so I am intrigued! What is a good salary ? £20k? 30k ? £100k?!

Is there an official guide to such definitions somewhere? I wouldn't ask my friends or family a personal question such as their salary, so the idea of what is good isn't one I have really considered.

I think anything over 30k is good, over 40k is rolling in it.

My dp earns £31k and although we are not 'loaded' I do consider this to be a good wage especially when taking what he does for a living into account.

In general terms when ever someone mentions someone else being on a 'good wage' I automatically assume they are earning at least £40k plus.

Does depend on what you do. 40k is extremely low in my field, over 60k would be average, 80k good.

Where I worked before, 25k would be low, 35k average, and 40k good.

A good salary generally? Or a good salary for a particular role?

In my profession, for the kind of job I do, and the level of experience I have, I told a headhunter that the salary quoted for a job spec he sent me was below what I'd expect. For the level I'm at, in the industry I'm in, £70-90,000 was not what I'd consider a good salary for the role in question.

Do I think it's a good salary in the grand scheme of things - of course.

Do I think it's a good salary compared to what I get paid currently for a similar role and what other roles pay? No.

Do I think it's fair that nurses and care workers get paid a pittance when they add far more value to society than what I get paid for consultancy work to make websites? No.

So depends what the context is for 'good'

bct23 I imagine most of your retired clients also have no mortgage and no dependant children too which makes a big difference!

As well as no mortgage and no dependent children a lot of retired people will have grown up in the second world war or post war rationing period so frugality is ingrained in many of that age and a lot of things that younger people see as essential will be considered unaffordable luxuries to the older people, either because they have managed perfectly well without them for much of their lives so it doesn't occur to them to buy them, or they just consider that way of spending 'not for the likes of them', such as disposable fashion, cocktails, takeaways latest, high end smartphones with big data allowances, designer brands, etc.

Not saying no older people spend on these things, but spending is probably much lower. Retired people probably also likely to have more time to cook simple traditional meals which will be cheaper than prepared food.

Where I live, in my field :

25k low
40k average
60k good

Where I grew up, in my field:

15k low
25k average
30k good

I'm always boggled by these threads.

The average salary is about 25K. That's the average.

I live in a fairly affluent part of the country and get 34K and that's a good wage here. I earn far more than most of the people I know, only a few friends earn more, one double my salary. The average salary of my facebook friends is probably about 25K, the same as the national average.

The people who think 100K is about right need to mix more with the rest of the population to get some perspective

The average salary is about 25K.

That doesn't mean anything. The question is not if people earn more or less than the average, but what is a good salary. Expecting to afford a house and a couple of holidays on a "good" salary is not unrealistic at all.

To get some perspective, you should have a look at the average house price, for an average size house in an area. Not a mansion, a small 3 or 4 bed detached, just somewhere to live. You will understand quickly why £100k is about right. Whatever amount you have, if you are struggling to pay the bills, then you don't have a "good" salary.
Don't forget that people with a bit more than average no longer qualify for child benefit, for the full childcare vouchers or anything else. They pay more tax, but receive not help in our totally unfair system.

A 'small 3 or 4 bed detached, just somewhere to live' is not an average house though. I'd say an average house was a 2 or 3 bed semi or a spacious 2 or 3 bed flat. A small house would be a small flat or a one bed house, 4 bed houses and detached are above average in cost and size.

But then, if I can only afford to squeeze my kids in a box room, I don't earn a "good" salary. I said house, but nice flats are even more expensive than houses in my area. Property prices here are above the national average, which means you need an above average salary to live anyway.

Location makes such a difference, I am in a job which has the same salary across the country. I am on the outskirts of London but do not fall into the London weighting area. So I get paid the same as someone in a much cheaper to live area.

In comparison to locals I would say my salary is definitely at the bottom end of the scale, if I worked where I grew up in a very rural area I would be one of the highest earners.

Depends where you live, how old you are and what job you're doing. Plus level of service within company, pay rises usually annual and indexed to inflation, you want to be sticking at jobs a fair few years unless it's ghastly. The more jobs on your CV the less likely you'll look committed.

In general 'non' London, 30 something, professional, I'd say £30k is good, £35k is really good. This would be a job that you've got experience in, possible senior, pre management. If an unskilled job like Admin/Call Centre you'd expect a manager to get £30k plus. Team Leader £25k plus. Senior Admin Asst / Senior Call Centre Op £18k plus.

Personally I would index it with age so 20 something would be looking £20k - £30k - so you're looking at good degree specific to an industry, entry level, starting above £20k & progressing onwards. You could hit £30k in a few years depending on experience and promotions, plus yearly inflation indexed pay increase.

First job between £12k & £18k depending on whether you have a specific degree for where you're working. If it's an internship more towards the top end, if a trainee more towards the bottom. Obviously YTS you're looking at minimum wage for your age group. Some do pay more and pay for qualifications including a degree, so you should take the £9k saving into account. Or if a HND/ONC however much that is.

Teenage children that don't thrive academically should look for YTS and stick at it till fully qualified. Yes the pay is crap compared to going in as say Admin/Call Centre work. But in your early 20's you'll be hitting £24k plus as a salary with all qualifications and extensive experience. If you start as an Office Junior you want direction so Accounts/Marketing/Sales, that way you have a speciality, you have training and experience, again early 20's you'll be looking st £20k plus, but in Sales you get a basic salary that is topped up with commission from sales you make. So if you are bubbly and have the personality / skills you could be an area manager in your early 20's with company car, decent basic + commission.

When I was young career education was crap, the jobs I was interested in, the advisor hadn't got a clue. If you know for definite what you want that's good. Generic degrees are only really useful for teaching, you'll need to pass a post grad course so they let you loose on children, unless you opt to study directly for Primary Schools which is a specific degree, incorporating training.

Dh earns 45k and I earn nothing as I'm a sahm. Our mortgage on a 4 bed is less than £200 a month and we drive 2 crappy cars. We also live in Scotland.

We can't afford to do things like home improvements which really need done (eg our shower is broken).

We prioritise things like holidays but only UK ones and we get cheap deals when we can.

We spend a fair bit on kids activities and clubs etc.

So, what I'm trying to say is that I feel like 45k should leave us comfortably off but I don't feel it does really at all. I'm very lucky to have the option to be at home with the kids though.

The people who think 100K is about right need to mix more with the rest of the population to get some perspective

I don't think less than 100k isn't a good salary.

I do think for what I do, and the industry norms for what roles like mine with a given level of experience pay, that a role paying £90k is on the low side, as that's below market rate. So £100k+ is about right for what the going rate is. It's about context.

I think my salary is very good for my job (Nanny) 31k. But not compared to my bf's which is 60k and I do more hours.

The people who think 100K is about right need to mix more with the rest of the population to get some perspective

But the question wasn't "what do you think is about right?" The question was, "what do you think is a good salary".

I'd say £50 k plus. I earn £35 k gross which I think is a decent wage but I don't run a car or have holidays and there's never anything left at the end of the month. I am paying almost £300 a month in pension and £200 a month on debt though.

It depends on the importance of the job and the hours worked. For a full-time employee, I'd say £20k was good for an inexperienced person who has just started in the role but was committed. £30k is good for a "standard" employee, ie works hard, does their job, but is not outstanding. £40k is good for higher management, and anything much more than that is hard to justify for any role (and is therefore fantastic if you can get it).

These salaries are subjective of course. For someone on the minimum wage they will seem like a distant dream. I've never got above 27k even in a managerial role, and right now I wish I was earning that again!

It also depends on your definition of "good" in this context. Some people will think "good" means the average salary for their role. Others will think it means above-average, others still will just consider their salary "good" if they have money left over after rent, bills and food are paid for each month.

When I was 25 (no dependents) I landed a job paying £45k, I was still calling my parents at the end of every month needing help to pay my phone bill.

It all depends on your lifestyle.

In London I'd consider anything £80k+ as "good"

It depends on your age, your level of attainment and experience, the profession, the potential for future earnings etc etc. I think my three eldest are on good salaries (24 year old £38k but potential for much higher after GP training , 22 year old £36k with armed forces benefits and additional pay when deployed, 21 year old on graduate programme in specialist field on £29k but very high prospective earnings). Husband has silly money salary now but that has not always been the case and we've worked hard to get there.

bct23' I wouldn't consider 10k to be a good pension either, even with low outgoings (no mortgage or dependent children). They may manage perfectly well but not much room for fun there.

My 72 year old father spent two weeks rock-climbing in South Africa in September, just had a weekend in Berlin and is off to Italy skiing for a fortnight next week.

Not loaded but 40 years in academia and a baby-boomer, I have no idea of his exact financial circumstances but he ain't on 10k a year.

I guess a 'good' income is entirely subjective but to me it means enough to meet your needs and then have to meet some of your desires on top.

Lol what a hilarious thread. 'good salary' is a solid reliable one that you can raise a family on. We have joint salaries of over 90k and a very financially comfortable life. But apparently our salaries aren't 'good' according to many 😂😂

I bet most people in the real world would think otherwise. Or perhaps I'm just deluded, of low expectation and too easily satisfied with what I have in life.

You don't seem to have read the thread, where most posters agree it depends on so many factors, location, age etc.. so "good" will mean different things to different people.
You know. lol.

I have read the thread mam, the whole of it.