Do you think £100,000 a year household income is a lot of money?

[SleepDreamThinkHuge]

I think it is a lot of money even in London where I live. When I hear people say things like "£100,000 is not enough to live on even in London" I think to myself what are they talking about. I have a family of four and we can only dream of earning that amount. The maximum I can see us earning is about £60k if we are lucky. Currently on over £40k combined income with still a relatively high rent and everything does go on bills and other necessities. But sometimes we are lucky and manage to save some money a year. Luckily no debt. I just think to myself £100,000 would be life changing even in London.

What are your thoughts? What do you consider to be average and above average in London and the city you are from?

Dictionary definitions of privilege:

"a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group

or

If you talk about privilege, you are talking about the power and advantage that only a small group of people have, usually because of their wealth or their high social class"

Having a choice is not the definition of having privilege. There are always choices, very few people in this country truly have no choice. If we take the second definition, are you suggesting that having a garden is only available to the wealthiest 1%/5% of people? That clearly isn't true and therefore having a garden is not a privilege

We earn a little over that in the north. We are comfortable but don’t feel rich. We are unsure whether we could easily afford a baby mostly due to house prices. We are early 30s so I think if we were 10 years older we’d feel a lot richer as house prices have risen here so quickly.

🤣🤣🤣 yes, I am dim

I did a quick search and didn't read the details. Which I have admitted.

My main point being that the average (mean I assume?) cost of property is irrelevant compared to the lowest price available.

After that it is about choice

And choice = privilege

We probably have a slightly smaller income than you do. A substantially higher mortgage, pay for one set of private school fees and go on at least two foreign holidays a year. What are you doing with your money??

But acknowledge that £100,000pa is unusually well off

Where have I said 100k pa is not a good salary @Runnerbeansflower? the op is talking about household income though! And as I keep saying you can't look at income alone to determine how well off someone is.

Yes, the idea that everyone with ability has the opportunity to study hard in this country is just plain bollocks.

@CupcakesK I agree with you. the idea that any choice equals privilege is completely regressive.

I'm laughing at the shit university/degree comments.

My DH doesn't have a degree, and has pretty ropey A levels. I have a Masters (distinction) in my professional area, and he outearns me significantly.

He's on over 100k with bonuses at the moment and his next career step will easily put him in the 150-200k bracket.

@Runnerbeansflower everyone has choices

Choices don't = privilege

It definitely depends where you live. If we had a joint income of £100k we'd be very comfortable
Our joint is approx £73k but I only work 19 hours over 3 days at the moment and we no longer pay any childcare
We live in a 4 bed detached house in a lovely village in Worcestershire. We are early 40s though so been on the ladder for a while now and prices have gone up massively since we moved here 4 years ago
Mortgage is just over £900 a month
CT and energy bills are high as we are in top banding
We have 4 children eldest is 13
Youngest starts school September
We spend a lot on food and clubs/ activities and have spent thousands on childcare over the years
We both have crap cars owned outright so don't spend money there
Go abroad for 2 weeks once a year spend loads on Xmas and birthdays and clothes etc but all at state school so no fees there
Spend a bit on holiday childcare
We both work pretty much 90% from home now too so fuel costs are minimal
We manage to save about £10k a year ish
If I was full time we'd be able to save loads more but even if I went full time we wouldn't be on £100k more like £90k
If we were in London or the SE I imagine we'd find things very difficult
We did struggle through the childcare years but I suspect our childcare costs would have been substantially higher in a different area
It also depends on when you bought your house. We were able to put down a £100k deposit on our current house as owned previously but if we were buying it now as first time buyers with a smaller deposit and with the increase in prices then we'd have a much higher mortgage

Are you somewhere quite expensive?

"Yeah as I keep saying. I have a degree (that I studied for and did while working full time) I work 12 hour days in an incredibly stressful role

I dont earn 100k."

But so what? You seem to be arguing that because you don't earn £100k, nobody else is allowed to.

@Runnerbeansflower are there still 3 beds for 400k where you are? And as I said above you need a income close to 100k to buy that if like most ftbs you have a small income.

Generational inequality is a separate issue. There are many families of the same generation/age with household incomes far below £100k.

I know it's something unheard of on MN, but not everyone earns 6 figures or receives huge bonuses. There are plenty of working age cleaners, teachers, nurses (and no they don't all earn £40/50k+), delivery drivers, retail workers, bus drivers, carers etc etc, who earn £20/30k so have a household income of £50/60k who would very much think that a household income of £100k was 'a lot of money'.

I think what’s shit is the stagnation of wages combined with rising cost of literally everything. So even if you grew up privileged – I did – you’re actually worse off than your parents. And not your parents now, sitting on a lifetime of boomer wealth, but your parents then. My parents had three under five, each in full-time nursery, bedroom each, big garden and detached house, car, one parent FT and one PT and studying, on a much smaller income than £100k. Money was considered - holidays were ferry, drive, self-cater – but they happened. You wouldn’t touch the sides of that quality of life on £100k.

Generational inequality is a separate issue.

I disagree, I think it's completely relevant when looking at cost of living & income for younger generations.

I realise this thread is pages long but this is rubbish I’m afraid. Our household income is £100k, we live in Surrey (most expensive county outside of London), we have 3 kids with multiple hobbies, we’re going on 3 holidays this year. We have no debt other than mortgage. We have no family around for childcare so we pay for it. £100k is masses and we are incredibly grateful for it! Anyone saying £100k isn’t enough really needs some perspective imo.

Surprisingly difficult to find out to date accurate and reliable figures for median household income for different regions (mean figures are fairly pointless I think). Apparently in London in 2013 it was 39k. So I guess now it’s probably low 40s. Regardless - 100k is definitely high.

data.london.gov.uk/blog/gla-household-income-estimates/

Dunno. I live in a city almost as expensive as London for around 24k (net). Small flat, nice but 7 year old car and no holidays except for visiting family. I do prioritise good food.

My ex had put himself into a situation with his mortgage (borrowing on it when the prices were still increasing loads) where he needs to earn 70k just to cover the basics.

Two kids at private school would be at least 25k.

Though obviously rent alone for a reasonable 2/3 bed place in a desirable bit of London might set you back 30k+. So I’d say in that context 100k (approx 60k after tax?) is decent, but not amazing.

@stuntbubbles that's a huge part of the problem. Most generations improve quality of life on the one before them but that's not happening now.

@MassiveSalad22 how much did you pay for your home, how long ago and what are your mortgage repayments

So did I and I earn a good salary although my ex-wife didn't. And yes, the difference between the two of us was that I did a degree and professional qualifications and she stopped studying at 18 and had more leisure time.

However, my ex-wife and I are a very small sample. Adding you and your partner into the mix is still a small sample. And the problem is twofold.

First, there are not enough opportunities in the UK. There's a lot of low paid work and there's a lot of underemployment. We can be satisfied at our own progress without judging others or why they are not earning the same.

Second, a lot of jobs that were previously well paid if not at the £100k mark or historic equivalent are no longer as well paid as they were. I have an aunt who was a nurse who never progressed into any level of management and never paid the higher band tax rates and she was able to buy a house in Surrey that sold for £700k last year. In contrast, I also know friends from school who became nurses. One of them relies on foodbanks. The reason for that is because nurses pay has not kept up with the rise in the cost of living.

There are a lot of formerly well paid professions like this including teachers, nurses and even junior doctors, clerical staff in corporate environments, accountants outside of the FTSE 350 or equivalent large firms, middle ranking civil servants, lawyers who specialise in criminal or family law who just don't earn the same in real terms as they once would have. No one can say they didn't or don't work hard, all you can really accuse them of is choosing the wrong essential occupation.

In my opinion yes, but it's all about perspectives I think. My husband and I are on 87k combined income and we live in a 2 bed house, no kids, one dog and both working from home so minimal expenses really, when compared with others. We have enough income to save a third of it every month, treats and meals out but nothing crazy. We feel financially stable and comfortable now. If we ever hit 100k, I feel like we'd be rolling in it.

By contrast my boss who owns my company has way more income, of course. 2 kids, both in private school, in a large 4 bed house with huge garden to maintain, dog, and a lot of very, very rich friends who are far richer than her. She feels far less wealthy compared to them because these other families have some SERIOUS money. She is self-aware and knows that it's about her perspective, and that her financial situation is very good.

@theworldhas does household income measure disposable or all income?