To consider £60-70k a high salary?

[rebsemmie]

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!"

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??

And what about nurses, bus drivers, police or anyone else who has to do night shifts? Should they have to commute from outside London?

It's a bit of a myth that nobody outside of London earns high salaries. NHS consultants live all over the country. Many companies have their head offices outside London and their top execs will be earning six figures. Pilots, air traffic controllers, entrepreneurs - all found across the UK.

It may be true that there is a higher proportion of high earners in London, but with so many banks based there it's hardly surprising. And yes prices are higher for houses, we all know that.

But let's not paint the UK outside the M25 as some sort of work wilderness where we're all earning tuppence ha'penny a week down t'pit or at t'mill. I know lots of people earning above the £60 - £70k bracket (some well above) and we're 400 miles from London. And because in Glasgow you can very easily get a 4 bed house for less than £250k, those sort of salaries go a lot further.

For someone in their late 20s that's an excellent salary. Bearing in mind you've got 40+ years before you retire that figure will go up significantly.

A lot of people who work in the consulting industry might consider it average or low but people who work in those industries are a bit detached from reality based on those I've met.

Living outside London and having to travel in every day is not really cheaper. I paid £5k plus £25 a week in car parking to live outside London and travel in.

Now I £140 a month to travel everywhere in London all the time - so it’s a seventh of what I was spending before

I had more disposable income 12 years ago at a third of my current salary.

Exactly fleur that is my experience also but 100 miles away rather than 400.

Teateaandmoretea I’m confused, 400k is still a lot of money for a 3 bed (doubt you would get a 4 bed for that) in a rough area.

Before children me and DH combined income was £70k in living in zone 2 London. I used to save £1000 a month because didn't need anywhere near that amount to live on. Now we've got a combined income of £50k and we're not rolling in it but we're not struggling to get by either. It's all relative.

Well yes, pup but not 900. It is the same as my house is worth which is a small 4-bed way outside the capital.

I agree with that FleurDelacoeur & think we will see more young people shifting to other cities or bypassing London in the future. One of my friends who left is a surgeon and her salary was only 10% lower.

I think its making people irritated because the fact you need to earn a lot in London to live a modest lifestyle doesn't make it not a lot of money

you get something for your money beyond the 'modest' lifestyle -as you say its a fantastic place to live and bring up children - which most people cant afford - so if you are one of the ones that can you are doing better than most. being able to have a modest lifestyle in an amazing, expensive city is a huge success

other people live in London in inadequate social housing, in places I am literally scared to walk through or stop at one child or leave the city

60-70k is high even by London standards. Most of the London based first time buyers I know earn around 30k as a single salary (so 60ish between two); most are able to buy a flat or a small (2 bed) house around zone 6.

Tea, no, there are not as many jobs outside London. Everyone in London could not just choose to work somewhere else. It’s possible to have a good life style on a comparatively low but good salary in Leeds and be in as much of a bubble as a lawyer living in Chiswick.

For comparison, we live in the North West. I'm self employed and my income is around 12k. My partner works a 40 hour week and picks up £15k a year. We have three kids. So for us, £70k for one person is an insane amount of money.

Teateaandmoretea For what you get & the locations both are a waste of money.

There is no way I would be able to afford our property today so I really feel for others.

But Merry there is a lower concentration of people outside London so of course there are fewer jobs. It doesn't mean that an individual currently in London couldn't get one, however. I don't see everyone moving out in the near future but a few can be accommodated unless they like London of course and are there for other, perfectly sensible reasons such as family.

I remember taking to DH'S mate from school years ago and it was like he thought the only jobs outside the M25 were in Asda. I've never forgotten the conversation I was .

TeateaandmoreteaFor what you get & the locations both are a waste of money.

Wtaf....?

Teateaandmoretea what’s the problem?

its a fantastic place to live and bring up children

Well you can argue until the cows come home about whether London is the best place to live and bring up children - personally I think it's fine to visit but I could never live there and certainly wouldn't want my kids growing up there.

Not everyone sees living in London as the ultimate thing to aspire to.

You seem to be suggesting pup that any house purchase other than prime posh London is a waste of money. Unless I've misunderstood?

I'm from London, although I now live in Kent, and I would love that salary. I think it is actually a really good salary, and I know of only one person earning anywhere near that. My partner and I earn 60k jointly. Just an extra £10k a year and we'd be laughing.

I also meant to add that if companies within the M25 start to struggle to attract staff as people can't afford to live in London, they will move out. BBC has already relocated lots of jobs to Manchester. HSBC's UK head office will be in Birmingham. Channel 4 has discussed a move to Liverpool.

It will come a point where businesses will realise that they can't continue in a cycle of having to pay people more in London, which drives up house prices, which leads people to demand more money and so on and more companies will be following suit and moving to Newcastle, Derby, Belfast or Glasgow where there are just as many talented people.

After tax, student loan, and a 5% pension contribution that is £3,154 a month. A small 3 bedroom flat in zone 3 would cost more than £2K a month, and childcare for 1 in nursery full time is around £1,200-1,400. It's really not that much if you have children. If you are single however, it's pretty good.

London is just so expensive though. So much of your income is sucked up in other ways, long commutes, huge transport costs, childcare costs etc cost so much more.
Even the supermarkets, I shop in our local big Tesco (in a slightly cheaper area, so much cheaper than Sainsbury’s/Waitrose) I went into a Tesco 2 miles further out and everything way so much cheaper, for the same exact product breadsticks 50p cheaper, wine £1 a bottle cheaper. A lot is very unfair :(

In London I would say that’s ok but not huge. Elsewhere it’s a lot.

Tea your DH’s mate might be a complete idiot but most people living in London weren’t born there and know perfectly well what it’s like to live elsewhere.