Absolutely rinsed in this budget - almost £1k a year worse off.

[Mushroo]

Honestly in despair at this government. On a very high level calc, we are so much worse off!

We both pay a lot into pensions, so the NI change is about £700 a year worse off.

We have an EV car, so based on our 4k a year mileage, it’s about £120 a year. (Although how it will be enforced I have no idea).

Stagnating tax thresholds, probably about £100 a year between us.

Council tax F house (4 bed end terrace, not a mansion, needs renovating). So risk of revaluation after having paid a fortune in stamp duty. We didn’t get first time buyer stamp duty relief because we bought about 2 years too early, and we moved before Covid so no relief there either. So overall we’ve paid about £30k in stamp duty already over our lifetime.

Weve already had the private school hit (which is a separate debate and we’ve accepted that) but wow, we are just being kicked on all sides.

We are classic ‘middle earners’ - earn about £70k each, but have mahoosive mortgage and pay over £2k a month in nursery fees already.

Every measure just seems to have a negative effect on our lifestyle, which is ‘comfortable’ but increasingly squeezed.

No that’s actually life. You get good years and you get bad years and sometimes you get dealt a raw deal in life which is not the fault of the Taxpayer who seems to be the whipping of so many people
on this thread.. But again another huge assumption that you think I don’t volunteer which is laughable becomes I already do. Do you?

Im with you OP. This budget has made my family worse off too.

I'm on your side OP. Labour just hate to see people doing well.

Good for you. Are you a young family with a mortgage?

There's a great bit of research somewhere - can't be arsed to try and find it but look it up - that said the vast majority women CEO's in the top 100 companies believed that they were there by luck, and the vast majority of male CEO's in the top 100 companies believed they were there due to ability and hard work. Read into that what you will. I always believed I got to the top of my field by luck and the majority of women directors I mixed with felt the same.

£400k pa.

Now that is a high earner!

Statistically £140k pa combined salary might be a high earner, but with a big mortgage and nursery fees it's unlikely to feel like it.

I think I’ll wait to see research.

I imagine that’s from choice not necessity.

Maybe those are factors, but I suspect it’s primarily the rocketing CoL over the last few years and stagnant wages making their income feel like it is less and less month after month after month.

This is what we have to go through because the previous governments haven't properly funded prisons, schools, hospitals, police force, legal system etc etc..

On this combined income you must surely feel awful for those on low incomes. Stay strong.

I knew a couple like this, many years ago, they were always so poor, despite being very highly paid Consultant Doctors, true there were "poor" huge amounts of salary being paid into pensions.

The sad thing is that one of them died in her 50s, she never saw her pension.

This is an excellent post and I hope thought-provoking for those crowing about higher earners not paying their 'fair share'. I am also horrified by the amount of tax I pay in (upper five figures) vs the quality of public services. I am also outside of London and it is really shocking.

I spent a few years living abroad in a country with a 9% tax liability and fantastic quality of life and public services. It is possible. I am expecting to give birth in the spring, at which point I will likely be requesting a transfer through my employer. I do not see good reasons to stay in the UK and continue to pay huge levels of tax here.

It's an interesting thread. 20 years ago I was earning 45k as a single person 30's owning a flat with average mortgage in a lovely area of the Home Counties. I had a very nice lifestyle but would not have considered myself particularly well off. So fast forward to now, a family income of c. 140k even though it sounds substantial, is not enough to cover what so many people in Mumsnet are expecting. Private schools, huge mortgages, expensive holidays are not possible on these salaries and no matter how hard people work, there needs to be a reality check and readjustment of expectations.

If you bring in £140k and pay 2 sets of school fees, lease 2 cars, and have a huge mortgage to live in a nice area commutable to the job you choose then you are not squeezed. You can only spend it once, so make different choices to free some of it up or accept that your current choices leave you with less left over than you would like.

The government spends £18k per person so anyone who is paying less than this in taxes per household member/ dependent is not paying their “fair share” based simply on the numbers.

I think the point some posters are making is that the sort of lifestyle you describe isn't possible on £140k a year.

To those participating in the bun fight about whether being successful has anything to do with luck - it’s an interesting debate, ignoring the personal insults my tuppence is of course it does.

Depends of how you view “luck”, yes you went to university and chose a good course, worked hard, made sacrifices and that’s all admirable and necessary for success. But take it down to a basic level, could you have done this if you’d had ill health, been born into a family who didn’t support your education, lived in a time when women weren’t “allowed” to even go to university and needed to raise help their younger siblings instead. Most successful people I know are not arrogant enough to think they have been 100% masters of their own destiny - and luck - however they define it - has come into play.

You should brush up on your comprehension skills because you misread my posts.

No assumption about who you mix with - how the hell do I know, you’re a stranger. But if you think successful people don’t cite luck then you don’t mix with enough of them. That’s a conclusion, based on what you have written, not an assumption.

My point stands though that every household has financial decisions to make. Our income is similar and we drive old cars, take small holidays etc because we choose to float 2 kids through uni and contribute to an elderly relative’s care. That doesn’t mean we’re squeezed, though it feels that way sometimes. Squeezed is choosing between feeding your kids or turning the heating on.

Cool your jets, Ebenezer. You’re a fictional character.

Bizarre comment

There was already a rape clause for those people.

So the point still stands. Everyone on benefits got free money today, and everyone paying for it, making better choices got clobbered.

Why yet another assault on private sector pensioners with DC pensions while doing absolutely nothing to reduce our costs as taxpayers of funding the enormous liabilities attached to unfunded public sector pension schemes?

I agree with your comment first. All this sanctimonious stuff about "yes I want to pay more". You can donate to HMRC..if you want to make real impact. You can actually donate to charitable stuff in Ur local level. Poor person doesn't have shoes. Give them shoes with your money.

Yes there are, my husband has one