100k+ salary, is it worth it?

[Goingtogetslated]

For the record…Not trying to be insensitive…

partner and I both earn approx 150k each. Working long and unpredictable hours with high levels of stress and responsibility.

Yet here we are living in a 3 bed terrace in the east end of london, a basic car, neither of us into high end expenses/dining out/clothes. We used to holiday a lot pre children, I guess would classify as our major expenditure in the past.

But is it actually worth it? A decent 4/5 bed house (with kerb appeal I admit) in the commuter belt seems to be coming in at 1.5 million minimum. Add the commuting costs/ extended nursery hours, paid help required theres barely anything left - relatively speaking.

Would we not be better off sacking it all in, moving to the countryside and earning enough to pay the bills?

We appear to be stuck in this middle ground where we earn too much to have any allowances from the state, contribute a lot to the government yet not enough for any real benefits in lifestyle

Jesus. You're combined earning approx 300k, and you're whinging that you don't get any help from the government? Erm, check your privilege.

You earn £300k and you don’t think you have any lifestyle benefits?! Really?!

Poor iccle things...

And no, you’re really, really not “stuck in the middle ground”

I think Justin Timberlake said it best; cry me a river.

you are not in the “ middle ground “

We have the same household income and have an amazing quality of life and lifestyle.

If you’re not able to do that on £300k, you’re going massively wrong somewhere.

A combined income of £300k and you're feeling hard done by? You are either terrible at managing your money or you have completely lost touch with reality.

Yeah you're right. You should totally give up your high paying jobs, move to nowheresville, buy a house for £250k and live on NMW jobs and claim UC. Transition would be utterly seamless

I knew I would get slated hence the username.….
We don’t need to worry about paying bills no, but I suppose my issue is that I’ve followed this career with the end game of having a lovely family home, a few nice holidays and outgoings, yet this seems beyond our reach.

im not asking for help from the government, just stating that we don’t get any allowances….20% tax free childcare adds up

Sorry, I was prepared to be sympathetic as I am I’m a ‘higher earner’ with a few close relatives in social housing/ receiving benefits who believe I should be living like a Kardashian… but crying poverty on 300k is simply astonishing. Honestly have a look at yourself.

OP o get where you are coming from - after tax you have £130K left or £10 K a month. For the mortgage , bills childcare and some Isa contributions … probably all gone!

Where does your money go then?
How big is your mortgage?
I hope you have enough to buy yourself a hard hat that you're going to need!

£10k a month, my heart bleeds!

And no your not in middle ground.

You don’t and shouldn’t need “ allowances “
You come across as extremely entitled

Are you complaining about the income or the stressful lifestyle to maintain that income?

Err…

you should deffo leave it all behind & live in a tent

I can see the type of responses you're getting..but I do understand where you're coming from.

We earn approx half of what you do, and we don't live in London but elsewhere in the southeast. But we have the same problem as you - currently live in an extended 3-bed semi in a nice village. We have a decent amount of spare money each month, but surprisingly not enough to get us a 4 bed detached house in the area we live in - for that we would need to increase our mortgage by 400k. It really makes me wonder what is the point in working FT as it's hard work and we'd have pretty much the same lifestyle if I worked 3 days a week.

So income of £120K plus means you are paying 60% tax because you lose the allowances. No child benefit and no nursery help. If you have 2 children in nursery that could be as much as £3K a month. Talking 8-6pm plus the mortgage and the bills . What I think the OP means is what seems like a huge fortune means no time with her kids and a life that whilst comfortable , eg no ironing / cleaning , isn’t super luxurious either. I actually enjoyed ironing this afternoon whilst listening to me 2 kids 5 and 10 playing with their cousin .

Well I’m a middle leader teacher and my dh is a project manager, we have several degrees and post grad quals and we earn much less than half of you together. We do feel like we don’t have much leftover at the end of the month, but we are still not poor at all…. Imagine wanting government help at your pay levels? I agree you must pay a lot of tax but still…. You must be profligate spenders so I can’t imagine you would be happy in your imagined scenario in ‘the countryside’.

We moved out of East London and it was the best decision we ever made. We have a four bedroom with a huge garden and less than one hour commute into Central London. We also work from home a lot so don't even need to go in much. Make a big change because right now it's not working for you.

I’ve worked up too, end game the same, a nice home with enough money for repairs and to keep it safe and pleasant, some holidays, some nice things. I’ve been working for 25 years now, I’ve worked hard. I’m happy to say I’ve achieved my aims, I own my home, I own a car, I have enough money for hot water and food and petrol, I don’t claim anything from the government other than standard child benefit. We have holidays, albeit short and not very swanky ones. But my household income is a tenth of yours. What are you doing with your money?

A decent family home within commuting distance to London ~1.5 million could easily be 6k a month on mortgage.
Childcare 2k, commuting for 2 £500?
so yes, even if we earn 10k a month post tax we could be left with £1500 for bills/food/life

I didn't read it that way, rather that OP isn't seeing any of the lifestyle benefits that you'd think would go with being nearly-1%-ers.

@Goingtogetslated - I'd say...no, it's absolutely not worth it. You don't even have to be out in the countryside - I live in an affluent town in the Midlands, and while it's not cheap to live here, it's an order of magnitude cheaper than living in London.

There are plenty of towns which have such good rail services to London that it's actually faster to get to Shoreditch from 50 miles away than it is to get there from parts of London itself. I'm guessing that a £150k/yr job can relatively easily be done remotely these days, with occasional travel to the office...if that's the case, then just get the hell out of there and live a better life.