Is £85k a good salary in London (family)?

[SleepDreamThinkHuge]

You may have been aware of a recent Twitter post where one guy was saying £85k a year in London for a family means you will still struggle. Other posters were saying it is not comfortable and definitely not rich. Others were also saying that £85k means your income is higher than 95 percent of the population in the UK. And some have mentioned just because you are £85k you do not need to send your child to private school it is a choice or buy a financed car.

Where do you stand? I can see both arguments but as someone who lives in London how I would love to earn £50k+ let alone £85k. Working in the public sector in a job I like means I earn just over £32k. In the near future, could earn closer to £50k in the next 5 years if I train, and take a more team leader/management responsibility. I think I am not the only one. A lot of people assume just because you live in London you are guaranteed to earn over £50k easily. Many professions are earning less than £50k in London (nurses, teachers, some doctors, police, public sector workers, banking staff in branches etc...

@Botw1 well do tell us where all these cheap rental properties and childcare places are in London if you’re such an expert!!! I’m sure that there are loads of people who would love to choose them!!!

Earn a bit more than that as a joint income but we have a relatively small mortgage due to redevelopment and only 1 child in nursery. We couldn’t buy a comparably property at todays prices and have 2 kids or even a more expensive nursery on 85k.

@Dibblydoodahdah

I haven't mentioned childcare.

And I'm sure most people on 85k wouldn't choose the cheapest places in London.

That's kind of the point.

I don't think I'd be able to be comfortable on that salary in London with a family (2 DS) and a DH, especially if that was the only salary. However, if you can increase it by training, going for promotion etc then it would definitely be worth it.

Not really, how many people who haven't experienced it understand the loss of personal allowance between £100K and 120K ? Or that you can't just "stick more in your pension" to avoid the tax if that is already at the tax free limit. I have said this before but I moved from a £120K to a £150K job 10 months ago. I see £200 a month extra, granted I am making more pension contributions but still....

How on Earth do you do it? Honestly, what’s your secret? DD and I are in a tiny 2 up 2 down on the border of a dodgy part of London, with no tube station, and my mortgage alone is £1,800 a month. After bills and school wrap around care (so I can work) I have £500 a month left for food, fun, savings, house repairs etc., and I am earning more than you and only have one child!

Oh we don’t go on holidays because I can’t afford it!

Ok.

From googling the highest rates possible I could only get that figure by factoring it for a couple living in Greater London. The probability of someone living in Greater London and qualifying for top rate everything and happening to tell you all this on a forum implies to me either you’ve been trolled or it’s a family that genuinely needs that kind of figure due to serious disabilities/illness and will have to factor in paying someone else’s wages for caring duties/equipment.

Its not really a situation comparable with your average working family tbh.

@Dyslexicwonder

But still what?

You earn more, you pay more.

Anyone could get by in London on that salary but if you wanted to save money, have extras for the kids (sport, theatre, dance, etc), save for uni, go in family holidays, have take seats, etc it would be very very tight.

*take aways

@TrueScrumptious @ibis17 how do you actually manage on those salaries, because even in the cheaper areas of London you're either paying huge amounts on rent or a mortgage. That is unless you bought a property over 15yrs ago when normal family housing was still just about affordable. Or if you live in a council / HA property.

I disagree, if you’re on 85k joint income you can only afford to rent or buy a house in one of the cheapest areas.

This is a prime example of why the tax system is collapsing. People think it’s ok to earn £30k and see £2400 of that money.still shouting pay me more. Absolutely bonkers.

@Botw1 you’re showing that you have no idea. A family isn’t going to choose a flat share (which would be the cheapest option in London) but a very basic flat in a not particularly nice area of London can easily cost £1500 per month.

And the OP mentioned a family, so childcare needs to be discussed. So you’ve admitted that you hadn’t factored in childcare. Well that’s £1500 to £2000 per month!

@Lostinalibrary

Ah.

Now I can see why you think people don't understand tax. You're people

£85k a year is £4,862 a month after tax. I used to earn that much but after deductions for things like health insurance (v important as I have problematic health and even my NHS doctor told me to for goodness sake get private health insurance, and it’s the only thing that’s kept me alive and functioning) it was more like £4,600. Nursery when DF was younger, just for a half decent local nursery, not even the most expensive one, was £2,000. My mortgage was only £1,500 before rates went up, but after bills I still had about £700 a month for food, nappies, DD’s specialist milk and food (allergies and can’t have dairy products), emergency care when the nursery wouldn’t take DD as she’d been unwell etc. Do tell me how that made me rich? And no this wasn’t in a big fancy house in a fancy area, it’s a tiny place nowhere near a tube station in an ok-ish part of town. I earn less now due to aforementioned health reasons and if I still had to pay for nursery? I’d have lost my home.

That made no sense.

@Dibblydoodahdah

I havent not factored it in

Full time childcare is a short term expense.

Plus the op didn't specify 1 wage of 85 k (no childcare, unless a single parent) or 2 wages of of 42 each in which case less tax and more top ups.

@Lostinalibrary

You're moaning about people not understanding tax when you clearly don't.

I think I do. I can also critically think and I understand other people’s circumstances - what do I win?

@AllTheChaos

Where did I say it made anyone rich?

Do you think everyone with your condition can afford private medical treatment?

I earn that as a single person outside of London. It is not a struggle no, I save a good proportion of my earnings into an ISA each month and ultimately have enough money in my budget to fund the running of my 3 bed home, enjoy a couple of holidays a year and treat myself to any clothes, electronics etc I may want. But if it had to support a family then yes that would be much more difficult and adding the additional cost of London rent/mortgag I think it would be pretty crap actually!

@Lostinalibrary

You clearly don't.

And you keep making up odd scenarios that really don't show critical thinking.

Tax isn't personally taken from individual higher earners and given to individual lower earners

Marginal tax rates