Moaning about being ‘poor’ when rich

[freetone]

AIBU to think if you are childless, go on 3 holidays abroad per year and live in a 4 bed detached house on a private road then you don’t have the right to moan about being ‘poor’? My DF and his wife have been like this recently. He earns over £150k a year. It shows how far away from reality they are imo. Really gets on my nerves when there are millions of people genuinely struggling. Anyone else experienced people like my Father?

@ElinoristhenewEnid
^People who are really poor dont talk about lack of money. Those who talk abiut lack of money just want more^

Absolute rubbish - being really poor meant I thought of nothing but money, Constant checking of electric meter, planning meals out of cupboard leftover, how to juggle bills. Not something I think about now I’m better off. Also wanting more money whether you are skint or rich shouldn't be something to be ashamed of.

£100K is obviously a much higher than average wage or even household income, but if you are earning that much you are probably comparing yourself to your bosses earning £500K plus and feeling sorry for yourself because you are getting a tax kicking that barely affects them. You are probably also expecting to have to provide for yourself in your old age and doing that at a cost to your current lifestyle, whereas people on a lower salary are probably just hoping that they will be able to manage on the state pension and care or die before they get that old. There does seem to be a trend in London to have a cleaner, which I don’t quite understand when people living in London without the commuting time have more time to do clearing... As a commuter I feel reasonably comfortable on my salary (not £100K!) but our house with garden would cost the same to rent as a bedroom in a flat share in London, which is less than ideal when you are middle aged. Obviously we have extra travel costs, which feels like a lot of money, but wouldn’t touch the sides in terms of rent. Because of various reasons including commuting I don’t go out as much as my London-dwelling chums, so I’m not routinely dropping £50 on a round of drinks either. So of course you can live in London on a lower wage to an extent, but it will probably be a miserable existence in substandard rented accommodation and no money at all for any kind of fun apart from visiting a park or a free museum. A one-bedroom flat in zone four might set you back around £1,000 a month. On £100K you might have slightly more acceptable rented accommodation, but I don’t think you would be looking at a nice little house with a garden suitable for a family without swallowing a significant part of your monthly budget. You will certainly not be buying anything like that. And remember that a single earner on £100K will be less well off than two earners with a combined income of £100K.

I also meant to say thatliving outside of lLondon and commuting is not always an always an option. For example, if you work in some government roles or in the healthcare sector or the police or fire brigade, yours shift pattern might make that difficult and some roles may require you to be in central London within less than an hour. Train and bus drivers too. Tube drivers are often said to have good salaries, but they basically do need to live quite close to the depot.

On £100K you might have slightly more acceptable rented accommodation, but I don’t think you would be looking at a nice little house with a garden suitable for a family without swallowing a significant part of your monthly budget.

😂 on £100k you’re earning over five grand per month. Absolute lol at the ‘without swallowing a significant part of your monthly budget’, as if that’s something unusual. EVERYONE has to spend on accommodation. On lower incomes there is no choice. It’s a given that a huge chunk of your income goes on rent or a mortgage. When you earn more you have more options regarding where to live and a hell of a lot more cash left over once you’ve paid rent. The average rent in London in 2018 was £1500. On £100k you’re earning £5k per month.

So of course you can live in London on a lower wage to an extent, but it will probably be a miserable existence in substandard rented accommodation and no money at all for any kind of fun apart from visiting a park or a free museum.

On ‘lower than £100k’ as if £100k is both necessary for an adequate non miserable quality of life but also somehow not much at all. As if a salary of £75k or £50k means you can’t afford anything other than free days out.

Oh, and poor people just hope to die before needing a pension so it’s less worrying for them than it is for wealthy people who have to worry about living longer to enjoy time not working and with family before dying. Your comment says it all really, thanks for the laugh. It’s quite difficult to believe you’re not on the wind up with this.

@silvercuckoo, what your SIL does sound like fraud.

are probably also expecting to have to provide for yourself in your old age and doing that at a cost to your current lifestyle, whereas people on a lower salary are probably just hoping that they will be able to manage on the state pension and care or die before they get that old

Fucking hell.

Us lower earners eh? Living our rich lifestyle with no thought to supporting ourselves in old age. Better just give up and die so we don’t cost the state.

As far as i understand everyone who pays NI gets a state pension. If you are paying shitloads into a private pension it is a choice still, less money now vs more money in retirement. That applies whatever your income.

Bottom line is someone on 150k is not poor. If their spending choices- housing, kids, pension, takes up their salary, it is still a choice. I changed my mortgage to interest only while my kids were in childcare as it meant i could make ends meet.

Those who are on £100k (in London or anywhere) else and say they can’t manage or have very little at the end of the month, don’t seem to get that they can adjust their lifestyles. They could downsize, change childcare arrangements (yes you bloody can, we’ve done all sorts of things with patched childcare when we’ve had to tighten our belts). Being poor means you simply can’t. You don’t have any options to downsize, take in a lodger, etc. All options and control have been removed from you and your effective only choice is often food or heat.
To the poster saying that you have multi-millions and are ‘comfortable’. Fuck me, that’s rich by any standards.

A one-bedroom flat in zone four might set you back around £1,000 a month. On £100K you might have slightly more acceptable rented accommodation, but I don’t think you would be looking at a nice little house with a garden suitable for a family without swallowing a significant part of your monthly budget.

Here you go splodge. £1500 per month for a two bedroomed house and garden in London, it’s a big place of course but this is about a 25 minute drive from Camden Town and less than an hour’s commute on public transport.

Still leaves you with £3.5k left per month for bills, food, clothes, childcare etc. Which no doubt you’ll consider to be insufficient 😂 yet somehow people manage on much much less. With much more stress. You do make me chuckle.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-55843125.html

As far as i understand everyone who pays NI gets a state pension. If you are paying shitloads into a private pension it is a choice still, less money now vs more money in retirement. That applies whatever your income.

Of course Micah. Some people seem to fail to understand that even being in a position to pay significantly into a private pension is enormously privileged. Something you just can’t do if you don’t earn enough to live on here and now. It’s a totally different kettle of fish. Honestly had no idea people could be so dim.

Wow a lot of hate for the high earners in this thread

I am going to start a business consulting to those in poverty on 150k.

If I can manage reasonably well on less than 25k, that’s 125k that I have no clue what they are doing with. Pretty sure I can secure them housing, childcare and commuting with enough left over for pension contributions without being overdrawn each month.

These people may be clever and important enough to draw in 150k jobs, but they need some lessons on financial management.

Going on the posts here I’d have plenty of clients!

Do you think people earning 25k somehow have access to special cheap rents or mortgages that don’t “swallow significant parts of the monthly budget”? Housing costs the same whatever you earn...

Hope you’re not talking about me Mortgages. Zero hate for high earners. Well done to them (sure some would probably consider my household in that bracket).

People are rightly calling out the total and utter idiocy of people parroting how hard it is on £100k with zero recognition of the fact that it places them in the top 5% of earners and gives them a far easier, less stressful, more secure life than the millions of people on much less who also have obligations and outgoings.

My husband and myself both work full time , have two children and live payday to payday . Never really have any spare money in our bank accounts . All bills are paid , food on the table , toys for the kids to play with , clean clothes , warm home . And most importantly a loving family . I find myself far from poor . We have an income of £16,000 per year so to hear people with £100k a year moaning they are poor disgusts me . They have no idea . They need to live in the real world. That is 5 times what we earn and if we can enjoy life and not feel like we are going without then so should they

@bluebluezoo
Yep, your post highlights exactly what I meant. I am aware how a single parent on low wage + welfare in London lives and it is a better life financially than the one I have. I can't wait when I qualify for the indefinite leave to remain in the UK and there will be no immigration requirement to work full time, will definitely drop down to 16 hours and spend more time with my kids.

Do you think people earning 25k somehow have access to special cheap rents or mortgages that don’t “swallow significant parts of the monthly budget”? Housing costs the same whatever you earn...

But in some areas they do? Certainly in mine, their are two schemes that are specifically for people working and earning under a certain amount.

Also key worker housing schemes and social housing is income dependent.

The same with university loans for students which vary according to parents income or marital status.

Tax credits? Child care help?

Let’s not pretend that 100k isn’t a lot of money but conversely there are people claiming to manage on 7k a year without any assistance.

Even the hospital accommodation that I linked to earlier gives priority on the waiting list to those earning under a certain amount.

The comments about flying lessons and private schools to people on 100k are just ridiculous, the ONS figures for 2018 salaries can be found quite easily.

Two full time workers earning the median salary and living together would not be bringing home (net) a huge amount less than a single earner with children, no child benefit and higher tax bracket. It’s hardly multi millionaire territory.

I am sure most people appreciate what they have, be it good health, children or money. Or all three.

There’s always someone worse off then the next person. Which means no one in the U.K. should be moaning when we compare living standards here to lots of worse off countries

Mortgages I’m a high earner, as is dh. Sometimes we struggle to make ends meet at the end of the month, but we are comfortably off. We can cut back in areas of spending if we need to. No hate for high earners, but high earners are not poor! And there is too much self-justification here from posters who are not poor at all!
Being poor removes all choices. On 100k, wherever you live, you have choices.

I haven't RTFT yet - saving that for tonight, but I think it is all relative, but no less insulting.

I think it's because almost everyone lives at the very limits of their income these days.

An old line manager once moved his family in with some wealthy friends for a month while some essential works were done on his house.

They were both surgeons and earned a fortune, but were in a lot of debt as they kept overspending on unnecessary and often ridiculous upgrades to their huge home. He was shocked.

bluebluezoo

I wouldn’t want to live in shared, subsidised hospital accommodation with a family. Consultants are shift workers too, doesn’t just apply to juniors. With private work on top, many earn £100k plus (and I think deserve every penny). They need to live in zone 1. They are not rich.

Yes, cleaners, porters, HCAs , nurses, admin and more junior staff earn less. Rather than decrying higher earners, shouldn’t people be more incensed that others are on such a disgraceful wage? It’s not a competition or a race to the bottom.

@bluebluezoo

‘These people may be clever and important enough to draw in 150k jobs, but they need some lessons on financial management.
Going on the posts here I’d have plenty of clients!’

We have an income of £16,000 per year

2 full time incomes and you earn a combined amount of 16k! That's very low.

Isn't that below minimum wage?

Of course I understand that paying into a pension is a choice, but I don’t think that there will be a state pension in twenty or thirty years time and if there is there will certainly be an expectation that if you were on £100K in your prime you should have put money aside yourself and you won’t get any help if you haven’t. Please don’t twist my words. I am simply saying that this is not something that low earners can afford to think about.

I am surprised to see that you can get a reasonably decent looking rental house in London with garden for £1500 a month, but that is still a large amount of money compared to outside within commutable distance where you could get something similar for half that.

Some people on household incomes of £28k also have children who would like to go to university.
Even poor people! Amazing huh?

Unless you're in someone else's shoes, you don't know where it pinches.

There's always someone better or worse off than you are... that doesn't mean you aren't strapped for cash to do the things you need to do....not the things you want to do.

I'm well aware there are many people less fortunate than us financially... but that doesn't make me rich. There's a difference between poor, managing ok, and rich.

Assuming that someone else is rich, just because they have more than you, or earn a certain salary or go on holidays is an incorrect assumption.

A fair few on this thread don't seem to take tax/NI/pension/contributions into account when calculating peoples monthly salary either.

Yep, your post highlights exactly what I meant. I am aware how a single parent on low wage + welfare in London lives and it is a better life financially than the one I have. I can't wait when I qualify for the indefinite leave to remain in the UK and there will be no immigration requirement to work full time, will definitely drop down to 16 hours and spend more time with my kids

You seriously think you will be better off on 12k + benefits than 150k salary?

We live in London w two teen SCs, don’t earn £100k and id say we were comfortably off. Not as rich as some - we don’t generally do the mega-holidays and we have crap cars, but we shop where we like, have a cleaner, the teens do classes etc. Maybe we don’t live in the best house/area but it’s not awful either. We could never have afforded private school, not sure how people do. There has to be two 3-figure salaries for that.