AIBU to feel deflated after payday despite a decent salary?

[Wtfisisfor]

Do you ever just get paid and think seriously is this it… I got paid this morning 3100 was put into my account, I transferred 1400 to the joint for bills and household expenses. And I’m left with the rest, but when I look at it, I just think, is this it? Anyone else? Just feeling a bit defeated today! I know to some people this is a lot of money. But these days it really doesn’t feel like it. Come and join for a moan

I do think what is difficult is the numbers have all become meaningless

What matters is what it buys.

There's no doubt about it, for the equivalent wages it buys a lot less than it did 30 years ago.

The worst things cost wise are:

• rents/house prices
• holidays
• energy bills

My parents lived really well off jobs (teaching and engineering) that these days pay half what I earn

I know exactly what you mean. I’ve just received my payslip for this year’s bonus and see that of the 20k awarded I have lost 14.2k of it in stoppages.

What is the point of working hard to achieve a bonus and then end up with just 5.8k out of 20k?

Don't get me wrong, I am well paid but at the peak of my career I’m now looking at ways to work less due to the tax structure. That’s a ridiculous situation that benefits nobody.

I'm sorry? How on earth are you paying that much tax on a bonus?

You lose your personal allowance over £100k - which creates an effective 62% tax rate up to £125k of income inc NI.

So probably that.

That’s about my salary but I just think it’s quite good compared to my husband’s 🤷‍♀️

@MidnightPatrol ahh yes, bit silly of the workplace to pay it all in one salary payment. Still there should be the option of bunging a fair bit in to your pension to avoid that.

That plus student loan = 71% stoppages on the next 25k I earn.

It’s irrelevant how and when it’s paid, the tax is the same. I won’t get any of it back.

I’ve already maxed out my pension so have to take the bonus as cash and suffer losing 71% of it.

So you are left with 1700 pounds in your own account after paying bills to the joint and I imagine your dh is left with money in his account too. I think you're doing pretty well. What are you saving each month? Have you not built up a savings account with decent money in it that you can look at if its making you feel down being left with 1700.

I worked in the public sector all my life. I dealt with very difficult people, who were in very difficult situations. I never got a bonus. I did get my pension, which is about half of my final salary, which I paid into. If I got extra I would have been delighted.

You end up paying the same amount of tax no matter how it’s paid.

It’s stupid to force people into pension contributions because of an anomalous tax threshold where the rate goes up before then dropping again.

Let’s be grateful we can pay our bills.

I will try to save the 700. Yes we have savings but I don’t see them as mine to use for living as such. They are there for emergencies. I know it seems like a lot of money but right now it really isn’t. It’s so disheartening.

@Wtfisisfor so you have £1700 left to play with after bills? Doesn't seem so bad to me!

For this, I am very grateful. But I can’t always see the positive sometimes I just feel defeated.

To play with yes, I suppose, I have to save pretty much half of that. We have 2 DC. So one thing that they need comes out of that. I just expected at this point in life to have a little bit more leftover. And it’s not even , I know it’s a lot it’s just that right now with how things are it doesn’t feel like a lot.

The problem these days is that the more you earn you don’t feel proportionately better off. If you earn 60k and double that to 120k you are of course better off in absolute terms but by nowhere near as much as you might expect once you factor in 62% marginal tax rates, loss of funded childcare, loss of access to tax free childcare, removal of child benefit etc.

The system stifles ambition and causes resentment.

When higher earners are incentivised to work less then you know the system is broken.

It's never too late to move into the corporate sector, I moved in to it from the charity sector where I never got a bonus and barely a pay rise to getting both yearly but found myself working a lot harder for it.

My Mum worked in the public sector all her life, my SIL still does and she hates it. We have talked many times about all the other things she could do and she's reluctant to leave because of her pension....jobs that pay bonuses are open to everyone to apply to including people who have worked in the public sector.

Let’s be grateful?

No. Sorry, I’m not grateful that the harder I work to further my career there is no reward for it. With higher pay often comes a lot more stress, responsibility and accountability and I think it’s okay to want to see that reflected in your earnings.

With that £1400 you get a home, food, heating etc so don't disregard that. You have a home paid for AND £1700 to play with, it's not just about what's left over.

YANBU. In general, wages have not kept pace with inflation. We’re expected to work even harder for a more basic lifestyle than a few years ago.

Ffs, have you any idea what post most people could do with £5k???

to minimise tax, pay it into pension!

Meh. Just try to ignore the pre-tax amount; it's not really meaningful.

You have an extra £5.8k. That's quite a nice free holiday, several quite luxurious weekends away, or a decent meal out every week or two all year. A really decent bonus.

Agreed.

I think the problem is now that the ‘additional earnings to reflect harder work’ post tax, benefits etc might be… a couple of hundred quid a month. It doesn’t buy you very much.

Particularly painful for those with student loans / hitting the higher tax threshold - and if both they’ll have a 51% rate on every extra penny they earn.

We were the same. My partners bonus was a little more and I had my eye on a garden office as I currently work from the corner of my living room. After all the deductions it was less than £10k so my bubble was popped.