Anyone else lost a bit of ambition now they’ve been taxed to the brink?

[Peasontoastt]

I used to be extremely ambitious and was really eager to reach some sort of financial security. As a consequence, I’m in what’s considered a highly paid career, I work hard and it took me many years to train.

Just as I paid off my student loan (which took many years), I then had a baby and returned to work to be stuck with the childcare dilemma. I struggled through that phase and have come out the other side but being taxed so much, no child benefit, still paying for nursery even though dd has ‘free’ hours now. It’s likely that savings are going to be bashed next, so what’s the point in even putting anything aside when there’s likely going to be a 4K cap on ISAs.

I used to feel so ambitious and of course I know money isn’t everything, not by a long shot. But having worked my way up the ladder and with huge responsibilities only to feel penalised financially for doing so…what is the point? Yes I have more financial security than someone claiming benefits but equally, I am not being flippant when I say a few years of resting and being at home and being frugal is starting to seem so much more attractive. Has anyone else started feeling this way? I feel taken the piss out of by every financial angle!

As a school governor I can see that over the past year funding has gone down in real terms, they are much worse off than when Tories were in.

Some of this is because of falling rolls though because people stopped having or had fewer dc.

Dropping down your days and adding more to your pension to bring your tax bill lower seems like the simple answer.

It is what it is.

There is always a choice. So those moaning who think paying tax etc because they want to keep more to fund their luxury lifestyle - swap it for a life of benefits. You don’t realise how lucky you are to physically and mentally work to such a standard where you are in the higher tax band. Be thankful. Not everyone is benefits scum! If you lose your job and claim, it’s what you will be classed as…or will it not because you’re better than everyone else?! People who earn more mortgage themselves up to the hilt, new cars, etc etc. it’s bad money management that makes things tough, not that you are not earning enough. You’re one diagnosis/ accident away from being too ill to work…how would you feel about your life being turned upside down and being classed as scum?!
Aim your anger at the governments that have led to this feeling, not the people who are on the same receiving end as you.

Listening to news headline on Reeves blaming welfare rebels for tax rises. Whether they’ll break their manifesto pledge we’ll see.

No and many people were in negative equity on their houses and mortgage rates were 15%.

Yes it is tough now but it was also tough then. We didnt pay for childcare because it didnt exist in the same way. Many families had one person working dayshift and one working nights to survive. People paid mortgages by having two jobs.

She's got to get the money from somewhere.

i dont blame anyone for leaving this country

If you have ambition and want to get on in life just do it

The privilege thing. I think it comes down to the British mindset which is in large swathes very sneering towards wealth and ambition. If every high earner stopped tomorrow, we'd be fucked. When you see large groups of high earners complain, rather than rolling your eyes and getting out your 'world's smallest violin', it's time to worry.

Social mobility is hard - very hard. Loads don't manage it, some with very good reason (disability springs to mind), but it's doable and a higher income should be seen as aspirational rather than privileged.

Not everyone who does well is born with a silver spoon. Many people make their own luck in life.

I was pregnant at 16 alone in a dingy flat. A write off on paper. Started working while pregnant, continued after thanks to working family tax credit (or something along those lines), built successful businesses in my 20s, did a nursing degree and worked in the NHS in my 30s/40s (alongside my businesses) almost exclusively to physically 'give back'.

I have and do pay large amounts of tax. Seven digits + by my 40th when you include my business VAT and corp tax. I think things could be changed to make everyone's lives better and we won't do that by disincentivising high earners. We want them to keep going. We want them to earn more. Cheer those fuckers on, don't denigrate them.

I am privileged in that I wasn't born with a disability, and I have not developed a life limiting illness. But many of the people here using the term privileged won't have those issues either.

They should gain some marketable skills then so they can move to a better paying job.

No and many people were in negative equity on their houses and mortgage rates were 15%.

When was this because real wages only really stopped growing post 08 crash?

When you factor in house prices the 5/6% today are similar to 15%...

People paid mortgages by having two jobs.

People with 2 jobs won't likely have a mortgage these days but paying rent.

Yes it is tough now but it was also tough then.

I didn't say otherwise?

Be thankful? Why are you not thankful that you are receiving benefit money as a result of net contributors instead of begrudging us enjoying any of our money.

The majority of net contributors are happy to pay their fair share of tax but it’s increasingly unfair. Are we supposed to smile quietly and hand over increasing amounts of money whilst seeing decreasing return?

The country cannot survive at the rate it’s going, squeezing a dwindling group to pay an expanding group.

Also if nobody bought any non essential items, what do you think would happen to the economy?

No, I’m sure you don’t. Privileged people often fail to recognise their privilege.

I’m sure you do work hard for your £100k plus. There are lots of people who ‘bust their arses’ in minimum wage jobs and could only dream of your ‘slightly worse’ quality of life. Try telling them you’re not privileged.

We certainly aren’t anymore. Our overall tax burden is equivalent to or higher than many developed economies, and higher than some of the G7.

Really? Maybe we are not as much of a high tax economy as you might think.

I’m older and retired early as have many of my friends, all older Gen X. These households were all net contributors and they retired early because they could afford it. There has been a max exodus of people retiring at 55 or asap after that age, this government and the previous one are ebbing the flow by raising pension access to 57 soon. So we were ambitious and it paid off, I can sort of see where the original poster is coming from. At least we knew we could have decent retirements, it’s much harder for younger people.

I do understand why there is no sympathy for HRT from many but that’s not the debate here. Plenty of poorly paid people work very hard but this is about tax paid.

Mind set is the key thing. There are people in this country who moan about people coming to the UK in small boats taking their jobs whilst at the same time not applying for the jobs because the bus doesn't stop immediately outside their house. It's bullshit.

We are a low tax economy for low/mid earners (many of whom are topped up on UC and other benefits), sadly that means we are a very high tax economy for higher rate tax payers. There are too few net contributors, which is why our public services are such a mess.

And why did your mum choose the factory career path then?

They should get some skills and work a better paying job then. No-one is owed anything. If you're physically healthy, make your own success.

The only certainties in life are death and taxes. I'm in the same boat, but it's driving me to get above this and earn more so the tax becomes irrelevant. Stick at it and you'll be above the most.

Actually that's another point of privilege I missed. Being born in the UK.

I think you might start to be troubled if there was no one left to do the low skilled jobs.

This is a really original and inspiring take on it! Gosh, I wonder why they’ve (I’ve) never thought of that.

They should get some skills and work a better paying job then. No-one is owed anything. If you're physically healthy, make your own success.

I think this is simplistic tbh. There is an issue with social mobility in this country & I think it's gotten worse. My parents were immigrants like most in the part of London I grew up in. The vast majority had one parent working a decent but not high flier job but they all owned family homes & had 2 dc minimum from a young age. It's very difficult to achieve that these days particularly without a leg up.

Quite. Being born in the UK already puts you near the top of the advantage scale. You get free education, it is easy to set up businesses, you just need to put energy into the right things. Not netflix and Xbox (probably not mumsnet either but there we all have our weaknesses).