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?

As a household no, that's 2 people earning 50k which is hardly high baller territory.

Especially in cities that are more expensive to live in.

We are very comfortable on a third of that.

I’ve managed on a tenth of that but it was very tight and there was a lot of bill juggling.

We have gross combined income of £130k~ including bonuses. We used to live in East London in a large 2 bed flat with a garden and large mortgage and still managed to put away £2-2.5k a month in savings. We now live in Yorkshire (moved during the pandemic), same income, smaller mortgage but substantial renovation fees (circa £30k since we moved in with lots more to do). We also now have a child in daycare with another on the way and I'd say money is a lot tighter, to the point that I'm a bit worried about affording even 6 months of maternity leave (my company don't offer any enhanced benefits). I don't feel like we're not well off exactly, but compared to lots of our friends - especially the ones still in London - we seem to have a lot less disposable income. Family support and inheritances obviously play a huge part, and I'd say wealth is way more important for feeling comfortable and well off than income. We have great salaries really, but not much wealth and the difference there is really obvious to us.

No-one NEEDS a house with a garden instead of a flat.

You don't NEED a room for each child of the same sex plus a spare.

You don't NEED overseas holidays.

Yes, all are lovely to have, but are luxuries.

I am lucky enough to be able to afford a house with a garden, but the consequences of that choice include UK cheap camping holidays. Which are out of reach for many other people, and DD and DDog love.

If you struggle on £100,000 then you have a very distorted view of what is necessary.

As I tell teenage DD, 'want' is not the same as 'need'

We take home about 6k after pensions. Modest house, 2nd hand old car, shop in aldi etc, uk holidays. That's the reality for most young families on that income. School fees & maldives holidays are for those on a lot more or with family money.

We are on that. We live in a small three bed terrace in a fairly expensive commuter town near London and to move into something bigger would cost us close to a million. We drive a ten year old second hand car, and take one holiday a year.

We don't eat out often, and we can pay our bills, save a bit and live comfortably, but we're not wealthy.

@SleepDreamThinkHuge You do realise that anyone earning £100K pays 50% tax ( income and NI) so although it sounds a lot, anything above the basic tax threshold is taxed at 20%.

My DH earned a 6-figure sum and his tax bill was more than people learn-almost £30K pa.

Oh, and we couldn't afford private education even if we wanted it.

We have great salaries really, but not much wealth and the difference there is really obvious to us.

I agree

Yes, it's a lot of money. I am a single parent on a part time salary topped up with UC which amounts to about 25k. 2 children and a mortgage. I manage fine, so I have no sympathy with people saying 100k isn't a lot.

It's sad you consider basics as luxuries

A garden, a bedroom each, those are all things children should have access to.

This is why we made damn sure we didn't start trying until our household income was over what the OP has listed. As its a bit shit bringing a child into the world and make them think having their own bedroom is a luxury.

We earn just over £100,000 combined. I get it's a load more than the average person but some months we spend £2,600 on childcare and mortgage combined so that's a huge chunk already. We were only able to afford a 2 bed terraced house in London due to a 5% deposit as didn't have anyone to help us, so our mortgage is £1,343 a month. Factor in other costs we don't have masses to play with.

20 years ago when I started my career, earning £13,500 a year, just the thought of earning around £25k a year seemed an impossible dream.

now I’m in the £100,000 earnings category, life is much much easier of course. But It’s not some life of luxury that I always assumed it would be I.e I assumed I would be off jet setting around the world lol.

i am extremely grateful for my life, I appreciate my life very much. £100k doesn’t buy u a luxury lifestyle but it does buy you breathing room to not always be fretting about the bills (been there done that; I remember pulling apart the sofas to find 50p to buy my baby milk). It’s that that I’m most grateful for

what I struggle with, tbh, is how my corporate job is paid in comparison to what vital public service jobs are paid, my best friend is a childrens services social worker and she earns 25% of what I do for incredibly incredibly important work. Her work changes lives (and saves lives), mine just makes a corporate company money. Hate that imbalance

We have an income of £50k in retirement, a mortgage free house worth about £400k and savings/investments/inheritance of around £600k and feel very comfortable. However we have no children and don't have a lavish lifestyle though we do enjoy travel.

So yes £100k a year seems a lot to me.

🤣

If you struggle on £100,000 then you have a very distorted view of what is necessary.

@Runnerbeansflower

I suggest you educate yourself on the cost of housing in the SE.

In north London a tiny 2-bed Victorian conversion flat will cost around £600K. How is someone on £100K going to afford that? 6 x their salary?

In my town- commuter belt- 3-bed semis are the same, but add on to that several hundred a month for commuting £3K pa and station car parking £3kpa.

Honestly, you have no idea.

Depends where in London mainly. I live zone 4 and household of £100k would be manageable with a mortgage for a 3 bed semi. Zone 2 (or 1!) £100k really wouldn't get you anywhere without a housing association place. If you're then paying nursery fee's, £100k really wouldn't go very far.

It seems like a lot to me but I guess it's all relative. Depends on cost of mortgage/rent, childcare etc. I find it hard to believe it would be a struggle though.

100k might offer a good standard of living if you don’t live an area with high property prices, have a large mortgage, many children, childcare or school fees. It might be very tight if you do.

100k is a comparatively high income, but we would have to tighten our belts a lot to manage on it, and we are not in London.

@BarbaraofSeville - I guess it’s about trade offs. Not all indie and state schools are the same. Some state schools are better than indies but the cost of the houses in the area may be more than indie school fees (plus some indies have a longer day so have to pay for less childcare). So the person in the north with kids in state school might be getting a better education than the person who pays for an indie in London - just depends.

you could say it is a choice to have children earlier before having saved for a mortgage. But people might have health conditions or don’t want to risk leaving it later.

sometime the hours you work for £100k joint salary may mean that you don’t have time to optimise your spending so pick more expensive convenience things.

Mmm wealth and income really not the same thing. Which takes us to the generational financial inequality point again. Certainly there are poor people in every age band, but there's no denying that stability is harder to acquire for younger generations.

If you read my post you would see I live in SW London.

@Runnerbeansflower when did you buy?

And 2 bedroom flats start at £150,000, within 15 minutes walk of z Tube Station

the vast majority of people in London and the south east manage to live , many happy and fulfilled lives , on significantly less than 100k

Less than half that

And no most don't rely on inheritance and family to fund their lifestyle

The manage because they have to

2 years ago. The prices I quoted were off Rightmove this morning.