Money

[twinklebiglight]

If you have £2000 left over every month after all expenditure you are very fortunate? Please settle a discussion!

Personally I’d want more then that at that stage of life.

Does she still work full time? That could cause resentment. Or can she also go part time?

2k after all expenses is pretty good. Easily live a decent but not lavish life on that

£2000k is £2million. So you’d feel very fortunate.

Yes very fortunate to have that money left each month

If they are in the habit of spending 3k on incidentals - clothes , holidays whatever , then 2k is a big hit in lifestyle

for more normal folk it’s a wow level of spare cash

Going against the grain.

First of all I’d love to have 2K left every month, definitely don’t have anywhere near that.

But

It sounds like your friend has been used to getting a large amount more left per month so TO HER £2K isn’t a large amount left.

On paper yes she’s fortunate, but any drop in income is a drop in income

this

What does that even mean?! Other than being a huge generalisation.

A couple with a moderate income, whose children have left home (or don’t have children), could be in this situation especially if they only have a few years left on their mortgage.

How much would they have left over each month if she went part time too?

It sounds like the partner made the part time decision on his own without considering her. You can only do that if your lifestyle is not dependent on the other person working to cover your bills. If he covers his half of the bills, then she is being unreasonable.

She has been part time for years

Kids are grown up and no mortgage or debt

She has been part time for years and now she resents him working less at 61? She needs to give her head a wobble... Several friends have lost their husbands before they were 60 - let the guy enjoy life a little and if she wants a higher income then SHE can return to full time work!

£2,000/m after all pension contributions, budgeting for holidays, pensions, car repairs, house maintenance etc and discretionary spends = pretty comfortable.

£2,000 a month after housing/utilities only, where all other things still need to be paid/budgeted for = manageable, not so comfortable.

Regardless, any big financial decisions should have been agreed on jointly, and she absolutely has the right to be upset if he unilaterally made a decision which impacted on her in a significant negative financial way.

Me and DH have a lot more than that spare per month after bills. I don't know whether I'd describe it as 'fortunate' but certainly 'comfortable'.

We're early 40s so looking at finances very differently from the couple you mentioned, though.

Yes. But.
If you have children who will have very reduced chances (compared to my generation) and may need help to find university/house deposit etc, those savings will be easily eaten into.
If you’re saving for your old age and relying on that (if Reeves does it steal it all) then those savings have to last.
Fortunate to have it, but it could all be “spoken for”.

We have £2k left in an average month after all expenditure and don't feel fortunate.

It's not enough to fill all our ISAs. It's enough for the 4 of us to go on holiday but that would mean little to no savings that year. My kids are young but I stress how will I save enough to pay their university living costs, their wedding etc as mine and DH's parents did for us.

Yes we are comfortable but we are not well off.

So they are now both part time? As long as housework etc is equal then it seems OK to me.

If she wants more money she's got the time to work for it

Seems very grasping to expect your partner to work full time when you're part time, when a part time wage for both gives a comfortable life

If she's so worried about money, maybe she could work full-time for a change.

Going part-time at the age of 61 with adult children and a paid off mortgage sounds fine to me.

So surely your friend is not happy because they used to have more than £2K left each month, which means they now can't spend on something they used to do?

Saying "but £2K is loads" is not the point.

If there had previously been £1K left each month but a new job meant there was now £2K, she would feel entirely differently.

I would literally feel like I’d won the lottery every month if we had £2000 between us left every month 🙈