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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 05/04/2018 19:32

Objectively its a high salary. People in certain circles in London get into a bit of a bubble and lose touch with what is normal. Part of that is due to the ridiculous property prices and partly because people who earn higher salaries often mix with people who earn similar so it becomes the norm. (I am a higher earner in London with 2 DC in private school but I have family in another part of the country where £60K is close to the value of a house - so I can see both sides).

hibbledibble · 05/04/2018 19:33

oh moving to a cheaper area in London isn't an option, as there just aren't any cheap areas left. Commuting from outside London still means an expensive house, then a fortune spent on travel cards.

Have a look at Rightmove at what you perceive to be a very tough area, and see what a 3 bed terrace costs.

merrymouse · 05/04/2018 19:34

flowers, alot of people are talking about relative salaries in industries or sectors where very few people work.

Teateaandmoretea · 05/04/2018 19:36

Or you could get a job that isn't in London hibble. Most people don't work in London but bizarrely most people who do think they absolutely have to Confused

EscapingAdultLife · 05/04/2018 19:37

I work for an international company. I'm based on London and as a manager I earn a lower.wage than 60k. My wage is on line with the industry I work in. The whole London being high wage thing is crap. You only need to look at jobsite to see that. Not everyone working in London is a CEO

DiegoMadonna · 05/04/2018 19:41

people who earn higher salaries often mix with people who earn similar so it becomes the norm

This. Most of my friends and family live in London. Some earn 60k or more, most don't. Most earn 30-40k and live a very comfortable, middle-class lifestyle with regular holidays abroad. You absolutely do not need to earn 60k+ in order to scrape by, even in London.

RulaLenskasHair · 05/04/2018 19:41

I live in London. About to take a pay cut to £23k.

Would love to know what to do to work towards a higher salary.

RulaLenskasHair · 05/04/2018 19:43

I also have friends like this who are shocked when they find out what I earn. I don't know how they have all done it.

Some are professionals (lawyers, bankers) but some just seem to earn loads of money with minimal academic/specific skill (varying consultants)

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 05/04/2018 19:44

flowers
Looking at the stats linked to above less than 10% of the population earn £60K+. Around 2/3s of the population earn half that or less.

£60K+ are outliers not the norm.

RulaLenskasHair · 05/04/2018 19:44

When DH and I graduated we had the choice of looking at jobs in London on good salaries but living in a shoebox, or going regional and earning less but having the potential to live somewhere bigger (etc). We chose differently from some of our peers so perhaps they earn twice what we do but we have a house in the countryside with garden/wildlife/clean air or whatever.

I don't know if I made a choice. I looked for any job and there were more in London.

areyoubeingserviced · 05/04/2018 19:46

How many people actually earn that amount of money?
Not many, I can assure you

randomthoughts · 05/04/2018 19:46

I’m earning £60k as an accountant in the north. I have to travel so my husband works self-employed part time (about £6k per year). It’s a comfortable household income here, but our 4 bed detached was under £250k and my commuting costs are £650 per annum. I couldn’t imagine trying to live on this income in London, but equally don’t think we could have a similar quality of life for twice the salary. Also despite the travel I work 37 hours per week and have a good pension. The most frustrating thing is child benefit, but at least we have sufficient income to make additional pension contributions.

Teateaandmoretea · 05/04/2018 19:47

Have a look at Rightmove at what you perceive to be a very tough area, and see what a 3 bed terrace costs.

Whathamstow 400k a way off the 900 being quoted upthread.

merrymouse · 05/04/2018 19:48

I don't know if I made a choice. I looked for any job and there were more in London.

Agree.

puppower · 05/04/2018 19:49

I personally think a lot of feeling like it’s a good salary (which I never said it wasn’t) is when & if you got on the property ladder.

Teateaandmoretea · 05/04/2018 19:50

But the choice is to stay surely.

strawberry1122 · 05/04/2018 19:51

Too right its a lot of money. Average salary here is £25k.

London is like a bubble. I genuinely believe people who live there probably think the rest of the UK is just like London with its high salaries, great public transport infrastructure and entertainment facilities.

Birdshitbridgegotme · 05/04/2018 19:51

Gees id be rolling in it if i earnt that much

merrymouse · 05/04/2018 19:53

But the choice is to stay surely.

Not really - there are limited jobs to move to elsewhere.

merrymouse · 05/04/2018 19:56

I genuinely believe people who live there probably think the rest of the UK is just like London with its high salaries, great public transport infrastructure and entertainment facilities.

A lot of people work and live in the outskirts of London. Public transport infrastructure is better than elsewhere, but travel times can be longer. Most people aren’t on massively high salaries, they just need jobs.

Teateaandmoretea · 05/04/2018 19:56

Merry this is my exact point, people who work in London for some reason think they have no option. DH is from the southeast and I was Confused the first time I came across this mindset amongst his friends. It's just bizarre to me.

puppower · 05/04/2018 19:57

Whathamstow 400k a way off the 900 being quoted upthread.

I gauge at those prices it would be in the Higham Hill area, there are plenty of Walthamstow properties for sale 700k plus.

Fuckoffunicorn · 05/04/2018 19:59

No not everyone HAS to live in London but many people want to because it’s a fucking fantastic place to live and bring up children. But it’s expensive. So our combined salary of £140k means we’re comfortable but not loaded. It means we live in a (very) modest 3 bed with a mortgage of £2k a month. It means we both need to earn at least £60k for this fairly normal lifestyle.

I’m not sure why the fact you need to earn a lot more in London is making some people so angry?!

Teateaandmoretea · 05/04/2018 19:59

Quite possibly pup I just did as instructed upthread.....

treaclesoda · 05/04/2018 20:00

Well it’s a funny old thing. My DP and best friend graduated last year and their salary goes up to £50k next year, they won’t even be 25.they’re both training as accountants.

On the other hand, where I live newly qualified accountants would be earning maybe 25k. Still have to pay the same fees to do the training though, unfortunately.