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AIBU?

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Original poster

To consider £60-70k a high salary?

403 replies

rebsemmie · 05/04/2018 15:10

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??

OP posts:
RB68 · 05/04/2018 17:44

Surely its a "it depends" situation. What jobs are we talking about - are they all post grads with a few years top name experience then no not a bad salary - but remember that it drops you into 40% tax bracket so you don't have quite as much to play with as you might think. I would say - for London - its a reasonable salary for a Masters or Dr in a second tier type organisation - general work rather than specialist etc.

No quals and working in retail and I get a whole other feel to it

BasilThirty · 05/04/2018 18:00

@kikashi that's a very different experience to me. I'm a chartered accountant at a law firm in London. None of the accountants I trained with, or work with now, and none of the lawyers I work with earn £40-50k apart from those newly qualified, so generally aged up to 25ish. All those the same age/experience as me (31) are on £70k plus, a lot earn far more than that.

spudfield · 05/04/2018 18:04

It would be more than 3 times the median salary where I live, so yes - to me it's a lot of money. (We as a family of 4 live on about half that and we manage, but aren't quite rolling in it - on 70k we could live like kings!)

merrymouse · 05/04/2018 18:04

Yes, of course it is a high salary. Most people earn less, even in London. Of course it’s a comparatively low salary in some sectors, but very few people work in those sectors.

AngeloMysterioso · 05/04/2018 18:13

I’m 32, live in London and can only dream of having a salary that high!

BitchQueen90 · 05/04/2018 18:15

head the point Is, it's still a high wage. People make out it's not because they have high outgoings, but it is still a high wage regardless of whether your outgoings are high.

Some people have to be near London to do their jobs but again that's a career choice. I'm not bashing it but we choose what careers we want. Living in a more expensive city to do a particular job vs a different career that can be done anywhere for maybe less pay. Sacrifices are always made.

coffeeforone · 05/04/2018 18:15

For a single person in their 20s it’s definitely a very good salary!

But it’s all relative, if they were a single earner supporting a whole family with a mortgage etc, then it probably wouldn’t be enough in London.

coffeeforone · 05/04/2018 18:24

It also depends on what field they work in. E.g. a lawyer at a decent firm in London would earn that when they are newly qualified, so will seem low compared to colleagues with a few years PQE.

0h · 05/04/2018 18:24

I consider that Fucking Loaded. And I'm talking about for a family of 4.

We live off £19,000 (4 of us) and manage okay. £60,000 would be living a dream lifestyle!

I don't care where you live in the UK, £60,000 is big bucks and if 1 person is struggling on that then you need to give your head a wobble! All this ooh but costs are so high is such bullshit. Live within your means. Don't buy the fanciest of everything and then insist you MUST keep this standard of living.

CobaltRose · 05/04/2018 18:25

I think it's pretty decent even for a family. For a single person it's a HUGE amount of money IMO.

puppower · 05/04/2018 18:34

Just had a conversation with my neighbour. She’s a doctor but thinking about relocating to Australia as she’s late 20s, single & struggling to get on the property ladder. She was telling me her brother (12 years older than her) has just put a offer of 1.1m on a new house in Surrey. Him & his wife earns less than her (teacher & pt admin) but they have enormous equity simply because he was born earlier, was lent 5 x his salary with a tiny deposit & has had years of low interest rates. That is the issue for many young professionals in the SE.

puppower · 05/04/2018 18:43

Live within your means. Don't buy the fanciest of everything and then insist you MUST keep this standard of living

Does this house count as fancy living?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63178769.html

Dingdong1975 · 05/04/2018 18:47

To op, are your friends earning near that amount?

Depends how you look at it, it is high salary compare to most people's earning but you dont have much left to spend after all the bills and children to pay.

0h · 05/04/2018 18:49

Yes pup, that's mega fancy to me. I'm confused, your post makes it seem like I shouldn't find that fancy? It's a big fancy house with 4 bedrooms. Confused

puppower · 05/04/2018 18:50

So your think it’s worth 900k?

puppower · 05/04/2018 18:51

Someone earning 60/70k could never afford a 900k property.

himalayansalt · 05/04/2018 18:52

Yanbu. Of course it is a good salary and anyone who says otherwise is a cunt.

0h · 05/04/2018 18:53

Well a single person on £60,000 has no need for a 4 bed house. Which is exactly what I mean by living within your means.

DairyisClosed · 05/04/2018 18:53

I wouldn't consider that a high salary. To out it into perspective for you that is less than some law firms offer trainees I E. Someone straight out of university. I would consider that very much an OK salary (I would say anything above £50k is OK) but no where near a high salary. A high salary in my mind is enough to live a pleasant life without relying on government handouts so roughly enough to singlehandedly afford two children (fully afford with private health insurance, private school, no free hours childcare etc). So these days you would be looking at above £200k as a starting point.

puppower · 05/04/2018 18:56

0h

A family with both parents earning 60k are unlikely to get a mortgage for 900k. That’s clearly what I meant.

moofolk · 05/04/2018 18:56

It's loads!

grasspigeons · 05/04/2018 18:56

I don't understand how a salary that only the top 10% of earners in the country earn can be perceived as anything other than better than 90% of people get? I understand you can wrap yourself in a professional environment and a wealthy area and think that its the norm but you must know deep down surely?

21% of London employees are paid below the London living wage

0h · 05/04/2018 18:57

Most of us want private schools, big houses, nice cars and fancy holidays. Just because you can't afford all that (or the top of the range versions) doesn't make you poor or struggling.

If you can only afford a modest house, week abroad and state schools then that's still great!

People DO need to get some perspective.

hibbledibble · 05/04/2018 18:57

oh when a 3 bed terrace in a rough part of London will set you back at least 700k, it's not a choice of 'living within your means'.

I'm guessing you are fortunate enough to live in a very cheap part of the country, and if you have children would get a lot of benefits on that income.

CottonSock · 05/04/2018 18:59

I will never earn that, but we have a higher combined family income. Starting wage in my profession is about £18k. 60k is loads

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