Starting a family with 110k combined income in London

[socialmedia23]

How comfortable would it be?
Net income £6100 as I don't have student loan.
Based on the rates of a local childminder, childcare would be £1600 excluding tax free childcare (mother in law has also agreed to help when she can)
Current mortgage is £1020 but our 2 bed flat is teeny and we are looking to move to a 3 bed flat which would probably increase mortgage by £700 per month. Current flat is on the market and I am paranoid that I can't move once I TTC.
Current service charge is £150 per month, would be £200 in the new flat
No car. we use public transport and bike.
We could move to a big flat in St Albans for the same price as our london flat but probably would not have MIL's childcare support and DH & I both work in the London office quite a lot so even the season ticket costs would add up quite a bit (and St A's transports costs are quite low for a Home Counties town).

I just got a new job offer verbally (which is what this figure is based on) and DH is looking for a new role (expecting to get an increase in salary as well).

I am 30 and DH is 32
Just interested to know everyone's views.

inequality. We are not well paid for our sector at all. But even an executive assistant in a hedge fund can earn up to 90k these days so total compensation is probably 100k with bonus. I am sure that they do work very hard and the office politics would probably be off the scale but I am not sure it is harder than being a midwife or being a nurse. In fact it is definitely not harder. A nurse needs a degree and years of training. The executive assistant often doesn't need a degree but would probably need years of experience (though it is probably possible to get 8 years by age 30 if you consistently worked in the field).

I guess if you feed at the lion's table, even the scraps are worth something.

Are you eligible to get a HDB flat if you are high earners in Singapore ? DHs family have landed houses , one of his cousin's has a condo. I do know Singapore are wanting people to have babies so are throwing in incentives.

Yep. For resale flats, there is no income cap. For new flats, we would have earned below the income cap of SGD 12,000 per month or £84000 when we bought our flat 3 years ago. I think for executive condos, the income cap is as much as SGD 14k per month.

Most high earners have bought hdb flats. What matters is your income when you buy. Very few people start off in graduate jobs that pay more than 12k per month, even for two salaries. And for resale there is no income cap, the president herself lived in one before she became President.

i grew up in a landed house myself but that is because my dad bought with my grandparents. People who don't live with parents tend to buy government flats and get maximum subsidy when they are relative low earners, then move onto condo. Several of my sister's friend in medical school were buying government flats so they could qualify for maximum subsidy with 0 income. They were basically home owners as soon as they graduated from university.

To be honest if you are Singaporean. I would go back there to start a family. It's very family friendly and the healthcare was top notch. When DD fell ill over there she was seen straightaway and it was very affordable that just doesn't happen in the UK. You can get a maid to help with childcare and chores. Getting full time childcare and a cleaner is more expensive here. Culturally I'm not Singaporean so I wouldn't be able to settle there as it's too different to what I'm used too. I think Singapore is a much better safer place to bring up children Vs London. I live rurally in the UK, I like Singapore but culturally it's not the right fit for me.

Unrelated to OP, but look at this! the $$$$ you save if you buy at the right time before you hit the income cap....

Its been mentioned before but its not worth moving unless you are going to stay in your new home for 5+ years due to costs of moving, stamp duty etc. So consider a home where your future DC will spend most of the primary school years, if possible. Check out catchment areas carefully and make sure its got good community facilities and public transport.

Some people think about the baby years without thinking about the child as they grow up, and then find themselves living in a flat with no garden, miles from a decent park, with a 3 year old that gets cabin fever from being indoors too much.

Regarding funding, full time nursery is only for 2 or 3 years at most. From age 3 you get funded hours and once DC start school they will only need breakfast club/afterschool and holidays. Having family nearby helps a lot if kids are home with illness or if you want a social life.

the work hours are dreadful though. My mum worked from 9 am to 11 pm everyday when I was growing up. it is easier when the kids are little (and from a financial POV), but long term it is very difficult. she only stopped working those crazy hours when I was in my teens. My cousins are all working till 11 pm or 3 am.

New flat does have a lovely communal garden with lots of play equipment. Grew up in a place where 95% of kids don't have gardens and never used mine anyway so not as bothered.

But would like extra space. The new flat is in catchment of coleridge primary which is quite a good primary.

You will be fine.

The bigger issue imo is that you may want to reduce your hours once baby is here. Plus it's hard once they are in school & juggling holidays etc. DH does 50/50 wfh & I have been 3 days for years.

that's nothing wrong with asking for advice on a good income!

are you need a good primary now?

Have you also looked where the next nearest schools are? Being catchment now doesn't mean to say you still would be when the time comes nor if you'd even want to use that school.
Thameslink is generally a good service from the St Albans/Park Street area

I don't actually know anyone in my situation. The people I know who have had babies in London around my age have much higher incomes or they have had circumstances that mean that their living costs are lower than it should be i.e. my friend who is spending her whole income on childcare is married to a much older man who bought his flat 20 years ago (so has much more equity even if they bought a house). He also probably has more savings. I know another lady trying for a baby,she has a small mortgage as flat was gifted.

My husband's sisters have both left London for another country, one has a baby but the local circumstances are completely different.

the trouble the OP faces is huge housing costs & childcare costs which eat massively into that 110k

It doesn’t really though as the OP has a large amount of disposable income

We had a similar income when we lived in London and no childcare support from family and it was fine. We had a bigger mortgage too.

I love St Albans and it’s good for schools etc but it’s just as expensive as London for childcare (nursery fees, activities etc) and I think the transport costs would really start to add up if you have to be in London most days.

I am very tempted to consider St Albans as the flat there is basically the same price as my current flat and it has 4 good sized bedrooms (so MIL can stay the night but she is basically a few stops from St A on thameslink). But I cannot mentally face the fact of paying more than £400 for transport for each of us. We would have to go into the office.

Honestly DH is quite against moving out of London. to be fair, he is very ambitious and he is probably likely to earn more in future which would cover the increased mortgage. He is also not really fussed about where he lives (as long as it is in London and within commuting distance of his work). He says he spent the first 6 years of his life in a 1 bed flat with parents and 2 siblings so our child is way luckier than him in that regard.

This!

Children can cost as much or as little as you choose to.

If you want to spend a lot of time eating out, going to expensive baby classes, buying branded pre prepared food, expensive clothing, full time childcare, and still maintaining your pre-baby lifestyle then you're going to find money gets tight. It doesn't mean people can't raise a family on more than £100k though.

You need to decide your priorities and draw up a budget.

isn't large amount relative. I thought Mumsnet was supposed to have a lot of MC people. By definition, MC income means above average right? Or it should given that 25%-30% of the country are in poverty. Probably the same percentage are 'just managing' i.e. managing to eat, heat, buy clothes but only on strict budget. So you would have to be signficantly above average to feel comfortable.

I wish it wasn't this way but it is. Also particularly in a place like London where there are so many genuinely rich people.

Season ticket prices will only ever go up whereas your mortgage amount will reduce as it's paid.
There's also the cost of parking at the station if you aren't in walking distance too and thst only goes up too. It used to cost us £500 per month for travel into London and parking a few years back on Thameslink.

@socialmedia23 i'm older late 30s & but had dc early 30s. Our income was less but likely on par with inflation. I ended up quitting my job as it was too much for me personally.

erm. I don't think its anything to brag about.

if you look up jobs in london on indeed, you would find that a business analyst can earn £67 k on average. An executive assistant in a hedge fund can earn 50k or up to 90k (if experienced)

www.totaljobs.com/salary-checker/average-business-analyst-salary-london

That is more than our combined income. Those are not our jobs but if you met a couple who is a business analyst and an executive assistant at a party, would you think 'wow these are some rich, successful people?' You would probably think they are average, and thats what we are.

If it is anew job
How long do you need to be there before maternity pay kicks in ? What is the maternity pay deal ?
How much % of salary for how long?
Are you a buy the latest model person or happy to clothe a baby in charity shop finds? And a second hand pram ?
You can go and cost up nappies and formula on tesco.com

We earn similar you you now though & ly moved to z4 to buy a house as couldn't afford what we wanted in 2/3 plus I did not want a huge mortgage. But as I said I work locally & DH is hybrid.