175k salary and all gone

[175allgone]

This will ruffle some feathers, but after tax, mortgage , childcare, living expenses….there doesn’t seem much left. SE London, commuting, wrap around care. Whilst I appreciate I’m not having to watch my bills I’m hardly living an extravagant lifestyle.

Which it will if you don't live in London. Also as soon as her kids start school they will be rolling in it

There is an article in the Financial Times about why newly qualified top lawyers need high salaries and I agree with it. Everything has gone up.

My advice to women has always been if it is not enough earn more. That is what I always did (I stopped supporting my last 2 children in January after 40 years of putting a lot of money into them including 50% of each of our next salaries on full time childcare (daily nanny plus her tax, NI etc) starting in 1984.

Tax is far too high. This tory party has made the state huge with massive taxes and highest tax burden for 70 years. Labour will be worse.

Maybe you can't afford all that you own , just take a step back and think maybe I'm trying to afford a lifestyle I can't afford I can't afford all this anymore.

@Differentstarts i expect on 175k that private school should be an option

I’m not sure anyone cares TBH

Yanbu, same boat here. And private school is NOT an option. People who live outside the SE/London can sneer all they want, the childcare/mortgage costs can be huge. Short term it can hurt but obviously I do agree we can’t whine too much as we do make our choices to live SE/take the jobs in or near London and once the mortgage is paid off we will have a huge asset.
But it’s not the case that people on that salary are always swimming in money.

But that's a choice

Incorrect. Childcare enables you to work so you can save money to buy a new car or go on a holiday in a different country, while no such luxuries are granted to the rest of us. It's MY taxes that are being used to fund other people's children, so it's not benefitting me.

Those who don’t earn that get free childcare hours, and some get UC. So their childcare costs will be lower, assuming they are even working full time. People earning over 100K like OP get zero free childcare hours.
She is paying bang average childcare cost in London.

Here are this year’s costs for monkey puzzle chain which is a regular nursery, not a posh one:

2K for 5 days full time

Where did I say they are 'worth' more than anyone else? It's pretty simple economics and we do not live in a communist society where everyone earns the same take home pay. Or is that what you think we should do?

Those on higher salaries have more money, it's simple. If they end up paying so much in tax that they do not have more money, they will simply not work to achieve that high salary as they would not see any benefit from it. Equally, if those on lower salaries are 'topped up' by benefits and tax relief so that they basically net the equivalent take home cash, those on high salaries feel it is pointless trying to succeed further in their career and earning potential. Then what do we do?

Yes it is - sorry. I was typing in a rush and messed up my maths!

That's OK, maths are clearly not the strong point of people in this thread earning whopping 175k salaries either.

Anyone who cares about the economy in this country should care. If someone with £175k household income is not feeling wealthy because they spend half their income on childcare, that is a pretty bad sign

Key words “a few years ago”.
our nursery few years ago was £1400 full time. Now 2K

Has anyone submitted this thread to "clown planet" yet?

We live in London and DH and I both earn about 45K so joint income is 90K. We have a house worth about 650K and about 200K of that is mortgaged. We were incredibly fortunate to have grandparents and other family help for childcare when the DC were young and we use state schools. We pay a lot for extra tutoring and extra curricular stuff but we make ends meet, slightly overpay the mortgage and we are able to make what should hopefully be adequate pension arrangements if we keep healthy and are able to stay in our jobs. We do get child benefit. We don't ever go on holiday. If we hadn't had the family help we would be in a small flat not a 3 bed house and we'd not manage the extra curriculars, the pensions and the mortgage overpayment.

Who is left for people like me ?...I have lost both parents and my sister. I also lost my closest friend last year. My children live abroad. I am married. My mother in law is dying though. I see my husband and his brother doing all the things I did for them. If my husband dies before me and I get sick, what happens to people like me ? I can't expect my stepchildren to do it...although they would..and friends. So what happens when there is no one left to advocate/care for you ?

@Differentstarts sure. But a choice you SHOULD be able to have on 175k!

I don’t even know where to start with this. I think you need to start by googling things like “how is the state pension funded” and “why is the UK’s declining birth rate a problem”.

Aside from that, speaking personally, last year I paid over £100k in tax. I also paid my nanny’s salary, including taxes, out of my post tax income. Unless you are in the tiny minority of people who earns more than me, you are a directly benefitting from the fact that I have childcare which enables me to work.

If you have never been poor, please try and really imagine what that actually means.

Being poor is not failing to understand where your £1k disposable income a month is going. When you are poor you literally know where every penny goes.

OP's post is thoughtless. I think it's awareness of the thoughtlessness of it rather than envy that is annoying other mners.

Yep it’s all collapsing, that said, OP can make what choices she wants.

Sorry are you under some weird impression that people with children don’t pay tax?

So incredibly sick of the child-free bleating on like they are hard done by, no one gives a fuck.

I doubt that OP is talking bollocks as you put it.

That is pretty much the take home pay of someone earning 175,000 after tax and NI. I doubt she is paying much in pension based on that take home. No incentive to earn more than that if you only get to keep barely half of your pay for every extra pound earned.

It is a shocking amount of tax and NI she is paying. Definitely a net contributor rather than net takers like the majority of the population.

Why should people earning a lot less who also have to pay for childcare that OP doesn't feel wealthy? There are probably multimillionaires who don't think they are wealthy. Some people are never satisfied with how much they have got. OP is temporarily having to spend a lot on childcare like most other working people have to. Once her children are at school she will be very well off, assuming she chooses a state school.

@Grinchinlaws I don’t even know where to start with this. I think you need to start by googling things like “how is the state pension funded” and “why is the UK’s declining birth rate a problem”.

Your children will look after you first and foremost. They will do nothing for me apart from paying taxes, a very tiny fraction of which will benefit me. I can fund my own pension by saving, and it will be easier for me to save if I stop funding your children and let you fund them instead.

Aside from that, speaking personally, last year I paid over £100kin tax. I also paid my nanny’s salary, including taxes, out of mypost taxincome.

Yes, when you buy stuff, you do so using your post tax income because income tax is paid first. That's how tax works.

Unless you are in the tiny minority of people who earns more than me, you are a directly benefitting from the fact that I have childcare which enables me to work.

I am not benefitting from your grotesque salary in any way, and I will politely ask you to show more consideration towards people who earn normal salaries and lead normal lives.