Page 16 | To consider £60-70k a high salary?

rebsemmie · 2018-04-05T14:10:24+00:00

Just that really, I just had a general chat with a few friends about work and salaries (not talking about our own salaries, just chatting in general). We are all in our late 20s, unmarried and childfree, so we were not discussing in terms of household incomes, just in terms of single people's income. Much to my surprise, some of my friends did not consider a salary in the range of £60-70k (for one single person) to be very high, they though it was "alright". One of them said you "come on, you can barely afford to rent a place on your own with that income!" [shock] I was a bit surprised as my salary is well over 30% lower than that, and I considered myself quite fortunate and well-off! Granted, we are in London which is very expensive, but still.. AIBU to think my friends are a bit detached from reality if they think a salary of £60-70k is just "alright" for one person??

catinapoolofsunshine · 07/04/2018 15:36

PaulDacreRimsGeese the people in the OP are unmarried and child free, so tax credits etc are irrelevant.

PaulDacreRimsGeese · 07/04/2018 15:58

Yes, but then someone brought families into it. Also you can get benefits as a single person- though not on 60k lol.

bananafish81 · 07/04/2018 16:35

With childcare for two in nursery at £25k easy (based on my peers - we can't have DC, £50,000 of my overly inflated salary went on failed fertility treatment), you don't have to live in the lap of luxury with expensive cars to see where a £60k salary would go with children

Original poster

rebsemmie · 07/04/2018 16:38

Just to answer to some PP, the friends I was talking to are all degree-educated professionals.

One works in IT, one works in Marketing for a big multinational, one works in Management Consulting and one is a Project Manager at a big company. They all have around roughly 4-5 years of work experience.

OP posts:

puppower · 07/04/2018 16:52

My neighbours/friends are surgeons, barristers, doctors, analysts etc. Hardly anyone drives a “flash” new cash. The ones that do are the retirees or the single bachelor types. The richest person I know (multi millionaire) drives a prius!

bananafish I’m sorry.

catinapoolofsunshine · 07/04/2018 19:51

pupp what does that have to do with anything - that's also choice. We choose what to spend our money on. If we have enough money to have any choice. That includes choice of where to live, that's the biggest one. It also includes choice over whether both parents work - for some people it really isn't a genuine choice, and that works both ways (given the average post tax household income in the UK is something like 23k most people genuinely couldn't pay nursery fees of 25k, as somebody mentioned - to be able to afford something most people can't means you are on a good wage, surely!).

puppower · 07/04/2018 20:17

catinapoolofsunshine because there seems to be a narrative that someone earning a good salary is living it up in a great home & driving new cars. That is the not the reality for a large swathe of higher rate tax payers. Once again I have never said it’s not a good wage my point has been that to earn that wage you generally live in an expensive city which leaves you with less disposable income particularly if you have a family, many people assume it makes you rich. And yes where you live is often a choice but what if your from that area & have elderly relatives or if your a midwife or a bus driver?

catinapoolofsunshine · 07/04/2018 21:33

pupppower I'm not saying it makes you rich. We have a joint income in that ballpark and we are not rich. We are well enough off to have choices though. It is a good amount. If you are a midwife or a bis driver you are not earning 70k but still have the same limits on your choices as the surgeon or management consultant who does earn that money.

You might choose to drive a prius (but that's not a cheap car anyway) if you are a millionaire or a 20 year old land rover if you are the Earl of Wherevershire, that doesn't mean you are, or are not rich. However if you can choose whether to spend your money on living in a nice 2 bed flat in zone 2 without a car or living in Surrey in a 3 bed detached with a clapped out car, or living in Leicester in a 5 bed with double garage and a granny flat and driving something flash, you have choices.

You are on a good wage if your wage gives you choices.

I hate it when people pretend they "can't afford" things they could afford if they made different choices. Its a lie. Some people really genuinely can't afford to pay 25k in childcare or 2k a month on a mortgage because they don't have that much altogether in the first place, to cover everything.

I know people who whinge that money is tight but have a menagerie of expensive to feed and insure pets (including a horse in one case, but in the other case multiple dogs and cats). Its a choice too.

Hernameislola · 07/04/2018 21:39

YANBU Jesus, what is it with some people? Do they have no sense of most people's reality? It's a high salary, the national average is £29K. Big cities like London are a bubble, however, my brother and sis-in-law manage perfectly well having bought in the capital recently and bringing up a child on a combined income of way less than £60K. I do similar in Cheshire - professional single mum, two happy kids doing v well at school, income less than £35K. Normal.

alldaysleeper · 07/04/2018 22:02

Me and DH would not know what to do with that kind of salary, we've never earned half that amount combined ever but its all relative and we do ok. SIL family earn double but always seem to struggle, we're just philosophical about it and it doesn't affect our relationship so why worry.

puppower · 07/04/2018 23:14

catinapoolofsunshine

But someone earning 60k is not going to have much choice over where they live or have a choice about if they can get on the property ladder these days.

Some people really genuinely can't afford to pay 25k in childcare Of course, hardly anyone can which is why the age of parents is increasing & family size is decreasing.

It clearly is a race to the bottom!

catinapoolofsunshine · 07/04/2018 23:46

Of course you have a choice about where to live if you earn 60k pupp - a choice doesn't mean unlimited choice. Most certainly 60k gives you more choices than the midwife or bus driver.

puppower · 08/04/2018 00:19

I said much choice but whatever.

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 08/04/2018 00:20

For London it’s a very decent salary

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 08/04/2018 00:20

Outside of a London a very very decent salary !!

sunshinemode · 08/04/2018 08:12

All of you saying this is a pittance stop and think that nurses and social workers and teachers and even fire fighters earn half of that. If you earn that much money at least have the decency to acknowledge that it is a decent salary

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 08/04/2018 19:43

pupp
That income gives you the choice of living most of the UK outside of the M25 and a few other hotspots like parts of Oxford.

Not being able to shell out vast sums on childcare is hardly a race to the bottom.

I agree with a PP that it is commom for people to confuse discretionary spending with necessary spending. I don’t get to complain about being short of cash when I’m paying two sets of school fees. There is a free alternative.

Pardalis · 08/04/2018 22:27

Largely repeating here but I do wish I earned my salary and lived in a cheaper part of the country to enjoy the extra cash. I'm zone 5 London. The cheapest part. The only wage earner so there's a whole personal tax allowance going to waste.

Rent is 1400
Travel to city for work £200 per month

Of course all the usual bills. One car

Maintenance paid by me to DP's ex

We have one DC. House is big enough for SDCs to stay. Plus travel costs to get them.

I'm not moaning about my lot. But I'm not loaded. Will never be able to save for a deposit for a property. Can't even cope with unexpected bills. Choose to live in the here and now. Spend the small amount extra on living instead of trying to squirrel it away and not enjoying the day to day. The amount I would be able to put away wouldn't be enough to do anything much with anyway!

Might as well enjoy the extras!

Pardalis · 08/04/2018 22:27

Largely repeating here but I do wish I earned my salary and lived in a cheaper part of the country to enjoy the extra cash. I'm zone 5 London. The cheapest part. The only wage earner so there's a whole personal tax allowance going to waste.

Rent is 1400
Travel to city for work £200 per month

Of course all the usual bills. One car

Maintenance paid by me to DP's ex

We have one DC. House is big enough for SDCs to stay. Plus travel costs to get them.

I'm not moaning about my lot. But I'm not loaded. Will never be able to save for a deposit for a property. Can't even cope with unexpected bills. Choose to live in the here and now. Spend the small amount extra on living instead of trying to squirrel it away and not enjoying the day to day. The amount I would be able to put away wouldn't be enough to do anything much with anyway!

Might as well enjoy the extras!

dayinlifeof · 09/04/2018 04:19

All of you saying this is a pittance stop and think that nurses and social workers and teachers and even fire fighters earn half of that. If you earn that much money at least have the decency to acknowledge that it is a decent salary

and then some, I know nurses and teachers who earn a third of that and then auxiliary staff on less than 10k full time.

BarbaraofSevillle · 09/04/2018 06:45

and then auxiliary staff on less than 10k full time

If that's in the UK in 2018 they need to report their employer to HMRC for paying less than the NMW, which is £11.5k for 18 YOs up to £15.3k pa for those over 25.

Agree that spending all your money on what appears like boring essentials (childcare, travel, a house in an expensive location) does not make a high earner not well off because people on low to middle incomes simply can't afford those things at all.

fruitcider · 09/04/2018 08:48

and then auxiliary staff on less than 10k full time

Now let's not lie to make a point. As a staff nurse I get £27000 not even 2 years after I have qualified. That seems a lot, but when you see my world it seems like nothing at all... pay is all relative. Would you attend cell extractions, roof top protests, fires, hostage situations, deliberate self harm incidents, hangings and deaths for £27k? Its a nice sum until you add in the context...

Don't watch the video if you are troubled easily. It will give you nightmares.

dayinlifeof · 09/04/2018 10:46

If that's in the UK in 2018 they need to report their employer to HMRC for paying less than the NMW, which is £11.5k for 18 YOs up to £15.3k pa for those over 25.

I know people working the maximum hours in their job who earn less than 10k. That's for a 28 hour week.

BarbaraofSevillle · 09/04/2018 10:49

Well that's not full time then is it?

dayinlifeof · 09/04/2018 11:14

If it's the maximum number of hours possible then it's full time.