What do you think is a ‘good’ income these days for…

[Greenlp]

Two adults and one child?

I am constantly being told that our income is very good (from online sources, media etc, small talk with friends who don’t know our earnings but make general comments on income/standard of living). I feel like our income is not good enough for a good standard of living. We constantly have to cut back.

It’s all relative. I earn 67k and I do think it’s a fairly decent salary but I live in the South East. I’ve got 3 kids, 2 adults (one living elsewhere and working), one at Uni and one of 16. I am a single parent and can only afford to rent in the South East. In 2yrs I’ll move north, and there I’ll be able to buy myself a house and have more spare money. People in my team think I’m rich as I earn more than them, so expect me to pay for things, but they have more disposable income than I have

@CRD67 usually just how people justify hoarding more wealth, eventually you must run out of normal stuff to spend money on.

I don't think it is a particularly high sum of money to live on if you didn't have help but I will still concede that my DH is on that level of salary and I am on 46k and even with our london 2 bed flat housing costs, we are top 9% of the country for a couple.

What it reflects though is that younger people (below 40) nowadays need help to live the life their parents had sustainably which is beyond a salaried income.. Capital > salary.. we had help too, rent free living for 3 years and I had no student loans and parents paid my rent in uni, dh never rented in uk so saved 70k at least in rental costs?

We are a one salary household. £145k plus bonus which is circa 40k. It feels like a lot to me but we don't pay for private school. Our mortgage is 2.3k a month though.

over half your income is taken in mortgage and school fee’s so that is stretching yourself. If that’s what is important then I guess you’re going to have to tighten your belt to pay for it. Thankfully I live in an area of good schools, which is why I’m staying here renting until my daughter goes to Uni. It’s been a big sacrifice for me as I want to buy and I’m not getting any younger but my kids have had amazing results and I couldn’t risk moving them and disrupting that. If you genuinely can’t move areas then guess you have to manage it for a number of years

I’m wondering why you haven’t chosen a better area (and slightly higher mortgage maybe) over private school, for primary at least?

They only have one child, though.

this is literally an expense we have to have due to where we are based

You don’t “have to”. There will be plenty of local kids in those terrible schools. You have made a choice, and been in a position to do so. Nothing wrong with that, but you can’t present it as a necessary expense.

You don't HAVE to send your kids to private school. What do all the other local parents do? Do all their children come out without a proper education.
You have decided to dedicate a large slice of your income on private schooling your kids. Your decision of course but you could send them to the local state school and put your efforts into improving what you see as the school's shortcomings and encouraging your kids to do well.
That's what we did (despite the offer of free public schooling from a relative on the board) and our kids have turned out beautifully. They are well rounded human beings and have very successful careers.

We have an income of £95k for two adults which is fine. If we still had one of the kids at home then I’d probably want about £125k.

Do these snide remarks do anything for you?

Because I find them completely unhelpfull. You could have also just disagreed with me. That way we could have had a discussion about this. Instead you just decided to be sarcastic and thereby shutting down debates and contributing to the ever growing toxicity you find online.

Why are you here if you hate it so much?

Did it even occur to you that we may not live in the same zipcode? Or even the same country? And the amount of money which would provide you with a comfortable lifestyle would not cut it where I live?

It depends whereabouts in the country you live. We live in NE which yet again come out with lowest GCSE grades in the country this year (alongside the Midlands). So in some regions state schools really don't get the best outcomes for kids. I won't risk that for my child so choose private.

A joint income of £350k

It’s all relative. We make about 115k about £7000 a month but have 5 kids and live in an expensive area, we have 1 holiday a year and do a lot of our clothes shopping on 2nd hand selling sites. We don’t pay for any schools though.

We have £4k after tax and don't save anything other than for holidays as it all goes on big mortgage, bills, childcare and food - couldn't afford school fees

Also if you’re paying private for primary I really would reconsider that and sending them to private when they are at minimum year 5. It’s an awful lot of money and with 5k a month it’s going to be very tight. I guess that’s fine if you want to prioritise school, but holidays etc will have to be sacrificed. A state school and tutor would be more affordable but many kids come out of poor state schools with good results.

I am a single parent with four teenage children working full-time and earning less than £20k. Income is topped-up with UC and children all have free school meals. Private school fees are a choice not a necessity. I was told when I applied for help from my local council support fund when they assessed my finances that my £6.99 National Trust membership was not a necessity. Apparently taking the children for a day trip is the preserve of people who are on a reasonable income.

I’m actually laughing that someone would pay £600k for a house in an area so shit you can’t even send your kids to a school there 😂 I’ll never understand people.

We have just started paying school fees and if I had gone with the MN advice we wouldn't have started. So many out there who wouldn't consider private school unless they're on at least £300k. I imagine those same people have huge mortgages, have to drive a Range Rover and holiday multiple times a year.
We live a modest life with one basic car and can easily afford school fees as a result. We have a mortgage. We holiday but nothing extravagant.
It really is relative to your lifestyle. Most of my friends use state school but their lives are so much more extravagant than ours. Each to their own.

People make their own choices (when they earn enough to have any choice at all). I was happy to pay school fees and currently happy to house 2 adult children rent free and others would not make those choices. I think most people know these days what is high income and what is not as you can find out in seconds on google. The top 10% currently have the highest tax burden for 70 years due to Tory tax increases, sadly, whereas since 2010 the other 90% have had a few tax reductions - NI etc.

I don’t know how you manage. That’s not a lot left after mortgage and school fees.

Regardless whether you want to risk it or not, it is still a choice.

Yep just like whether to buy a new car or not. Except for some reason Labour have created a narrative whereby it is more acceptable to buy a new car than invest in your child's education. A narrative that doesn't exist in the rest of Europe.

£100k pa and state school for our DC. We live in South East.

I manage a small mortgage in Central London on £38k gross.