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!

Like I said, no clues .......

You know, I would far rather be friends with a minimal wage worker doing the work you look down on than associate with someone as unpleasant as you. You might be hoping for the best for your kids - but I actually feel very sorry for them to have such a snob for a parent, and hope that they are bright enough to see beyond your stupidity. Having a well paid job doesn't automatically make you clever - as your posts prove.

@OntheBorder1 having a well paid or indeed a low paid job, doesn’t “make” you anything. It’s the job that you do and you can be a horrible person irrespective of salary. But I don’t think the generalisations on here help anyone. “The poor” are not all “dosers” and “the rich” are not all tax avoiders. I think most people are doing the best they can, for themselves and their families. There are however issues with fraudulent benefit claims and tax avoiders and they both need to be addressed.

I do realise that your salary does not "make" you anything, but I despise people such as that particular poster who assign worth to people based on the money they earn. I have worked with both high and low earners, and by and large the lower earners were nicer people - maybe because they weren't feeling superior to everyone else.

Really? I don’t think income comes into it that much. I know some smug entitled lower earners and some bitter, envious higher earners and vice versa. In my experience, if you are an asshole, you are an asshole, irrespective of salary.

Once again, I am mainly talking about one particular poster on here. As for smug, entitled lower earners, or even bitter, envious higher earners - I don't think I've ever met any, but then I don't live in the UK.

In fact I haven't ever heard anyone with this superior "I am so much better than you because I earn more" attitude either, other than on MN - maybe I need to get out more. Anyone who does have that attitude is liable to be cut down to size here - or ignored.

I'm definitely with you on this, I work part time for nhs in a job I (mostly) love. I don't work full time as it doesn't make financial sense for me to do so, plus like you I want to be able to do some school pick ups, drop offs, attend some school events etc. Our cars are old but still works fine, we holiday in UK, we don't need any designer stuff

I am fine with paying tax, we all need to contribute. What I'm not ok with is paying more and more whilst seeing funding for my daughters primary school go down, it's so much worse than 2 years ago and I can't see any hope of improvement in current government plans. Our local comp is so bad that we are spending 5k next year on 11+ tutoring to try to get DD1 into grammer. This is not a fair or equal system but ultimately I will put my morals aside for the good of my children.

@Bushmillsbabe We sent DS to the bad comp close to us he got all top grade GCSE grades and A level grades. We both worked in education so knew he would be ok. If your DD needs tutoring but is enthusiastic and gets a place she should be fine. But the one area she could need further tutoring in if it’s a weak subject is maths.

Out of interest how bad is the local comp? I just checked and at DS school 49% got 5 A to C grades the year he took his. National average is 61%.

Factors that feature heavily with results though there are always outliers. Parental input, the educational level of the Mother, socio economic status, peer groups and ethnicity. I studied educational outcomes and socio economic status many years ago. Always interested in peoples attitudes to education especially if they are making sacrifices for their children. Your DD has engaged parents and that’s worth more than any amount of money.

I always thought that supermarket jobs can be done by teens working part time for extra cash.

And you were wrong.

I never said anyone was a better person for earning more. My main point was that you are the driver of your own success.

You said "sucks to be you I guess" to someone who'd said that they hadn't been able to do well academically and felt they had no skills or prospects other than minimum wage work. That was really unpleasant.

Nothing stopping teens doing just that.
You seem to look down on older people doing the same, like they have failed somehow.

Pretty much most of those jobs are done by parents or more older people. They are actually quite sought after jobs.

Because it earns around £20k p.a.

If someone does it, fine by them. It's not a career path I want for my children. I want them to utilise their brains to the best of their ability. And yes I want them to make as much money as they can for their skills.

If I'm completely getting the pay structure wrong then, that's on me. I always assumed the pay was quite low.

Disgusting comment.

When I worked in a supermarket much of the shelf stacking and checkout work was done by students (16+ at school and university) with some mums who wanted part time work and some older ladies who wanted a wind down job before retirement. No one was using it as their main source of income to support a family.

I don't work full time as it doesn't make financial sense for me to do so

And that's the crux of it.

It doesn't make financial sense at all level to work more and to try harder. At a low level it makes a better financial sense to stay on benefits, mid earners better not get caught in 40% tax, at higher end it's just stupid to go above 100k. And it also doesn't make sense to save or invest much.

Dead spiral.

What government should have done is to borrow and build cheaper housing in abundance, yes, build, not play with commercial developer. Establish state childcare, cheap and affordable, not for profit. And drastically reduce taxes and benefits simultaneously.
But hey, let's squeeze anyone who has tried and has two pennies to rub together so they only have one left.

No it does not "suck" to be me, I know that i am loved by my little family and small group of friends. I know that I am someone who other people feel that they can trust, I am someone who is generally kind and supportive and does her best to be positive and see the good in others. Despite not being conventionally intelligent, which has meant I do not have the brains to persue well renumerated career I read extensively, have many interests and am something of an autodidact. School was appalling for me, there is no doubt that it damaged me. Another family member went to the same school and was expelled at age 15 after making an attempt on their life, it was a horrible place. What it did teach me was that they way we speak to children can make or mar them so this has always informed my parenting.

It was me that this comment was aimed at. Guess the difference between me and the person who posted it is that I hopefully have the self-awareness and emotional intelligence even to think like that, let alone go online and say it. It speaks volumes about an individual when they seem to get satisfaction from being unpleasant to a total stranger.

I'd seriously question your self assessment.
Stupid people never admit they are stupid.
Stupid people never admit that they lack of success is their own fault.
I'd imagine you are not conventionally academic but based on your posts you're unlikely to have that low IQ you're claiming and you def have other talents.

ETA: and here's another point - there are millions of jobs and trades which don't require academic type of intelligence and can be very well paid, but kids who don't excel at school are completely ignored. I hate Labour passionately but I'll give them credit if their apprenticeship drive will work and give ambition and future to these non academic youngsters.

Exactly! Thank you for understanding. This is what I meant.

It's not really about the grades, it's about the behaviour. A smart hard working child will do OK in most schools, but this school has huge issues with drugs, sexual assaults, violence, is on its 3rd headteacher this academic year, lots if subjects dont have permenant teachers, staff leaving in droves and cant recruit. If the behaviour was good I wouldn't be that bothered about the academic results, as you say, can get a tutor.

More than getting the top grades, I want my girls to have a happy, positive, supportive school experience, where they are supported to acheive the best they can, but also to develop as a rounded person. They are fairly quiet and likely to get lost in a school where the main focus is on crowd control, one is ?ND and struggles with lots of noise and chaos and shuts down, so they need an environment where children want to be there - and getting into grammar requires lots of work so the children there have put the effort in to get their place.

What are you talking about? PAYE is THE single biggest source of govnt receipts. Quick search reveals: Income Tax

• The largest single source of government income each year
• Paid by individuals on their earnings, pensions, and some savings.
• Raises around £275–300 billion per year.

PAYE Income Tax:

• Makes up the majority of income tax receipts.
• Of the roughly £275–300 billion collected in total income tax, about two-thirds comes via PAYE, since most employees are taxed this way (the rest comes from self-assessment for self-employed and other income).
• That means PAYE alone brings in around £180–200 billion per year in income tax.

PAYE National Insurance:

• Under PAYE, employees also have their National Insurance automatically deducted.
• Out of the roughly £175–200 billion raised through total NICs, the employee portion collected via PAYE accounts for around £120–140 billion.

So if you put those together, PAYE is responsible for collecting roughly £300–340 billion a year from employees, combining income tax and employee NICs — making it by far the most important revenue channel for HMRC.