[Finance] Does earning 100k a year make you feel well off these days?

Stato · Friday at 11:14 AM

Have never had a household income on that level, not mortgage free, but feeling a lot better off because the kids are grown up. Nursery Fees in this country are crazy, but then this is a country that voted out the architect of Sure Start because he seemed grumpy and called someone who said something that sounded awfully bigoted, bigoted. As Mr Weller put it 'The public gets what the public wants.'

Gwylan · Friday at 11:14 AM

Mellor 3 Ward 4 said:
Depends.

If that's joint income, you have a couple of children requiring childcare, a £300k mortgage and two cars to run, still commute 5 days a week to London, then no.

If that's a single income, paid off mortgage, children off the books, then yes

But that's bonkers money. OK, my mortgage is paid off now but at it's highest it was £700 and no child care costs as my wife didn't work. I did have to cough up a monkey to commute to London but very manageable. And I earned less than half £100k.

Blue3 · Friday at 11:15 AM

It’s an interesting question I voted yes but that’s because I am retired and have no mortgage to pay we could live all be it a bit Spartan on £34,000 so £100,000 would be amazing but if we were a young couple with a mortgage and a couple of kids then I think life would be quite tight

GT49er · Friday at 11:17 AM

dwayne said:
In London nursery fees are £1500 a month aren't they ? 2 kids - 3k. Average mortgage 2.5k .... Other bills and outgoings 1k. Salary gone if one earner !

Then don't send the kids to nursery! There's £3K a month saved already.

Eeyore · Friday at 11:18 AM

Frutos said:
Depends where you live - up here you'd be pretty comfortable to say the least on 100k.

Down there, probably not so much.

There are some lovely places to live where you are with nice houses at about 100k !

hans kraay fan club · Friday at 11:25 AM

dwayne said:
In London nursery fees are £1500 a month aren't they ? 2 kids - 3k. Average mortgage 2.5k .... Other bills and outgoings 1k. Salary gone if one earner !

Well, if the £100k is JOINT income from two salaries, and assuming that they each earn exactly half of that (which is unlikley), then there is one individual taking home £35k or less.

If in your scenario, their childcare costs are £1.5 x 2 x 12 = £36k.

The lower earning partner in the household clearly needs to take a career break until at least one of the children starts school.

Instantly they are significantly better off financially, and the kids enjoy some hands on parenting.

Please let me know where to send my invoice.

thanks

dwayne · Friday at 11:34 AM

hans kraay fan club said:
Well, if the £100k is JOINT income from two salaries, and assuming that they each earn exactly half of that (which is unlikley), then there is one individual taking home £35k or less.

If in your scenario, their childcare costs are £1.5 x 2 x 12 = £36k.

The lower earning partner in the household clearly needs to take a career break until at least one of the children starts school.

Instantly they are significantly better off financially, and the kids enjoy some hands on parenting.

Please let me know where to send my invoice.

thanks

I would never spend that on nursery fees!

Just playing devil's advocate.

LamieRobertson · Friday at 11:46 AM

dwayne said:
Yep that's where I'm at. Lots of nieces and nephews but don't feel the need to have a family, perfectly happy with just me and the Mrs. Nice long sleeps at night and no money troubles.

Gen z is swaying this way as well. And a lot of my mates who regret having a family and are broke every month (despite earning big bucks) after trying to keep up with the Joneses and the unattainable insta dream life !

I’ve never ever been in big money….definitely experienced being broke when bringing the kids up (not rolling in it now)..but I have never regretted having children

Herr Tubthumper · Friday at 11:59 AM

dwayne said:
In London nursery fees are £1500 a month aren't they ? 2 kids - 3k. Average mortgage 2.5k .... Other bills and outgoings 1k. Salary gone if one earner !

Put a couple of cars in the mix and that's a small fortune every year to run and depreciate.

Sorrel · Friday at 11:59 AM

After tax, yes. Before tax: no.

Arkwright · Friday at 12:00 PM

That's well out of my price range.
I suppose what makes folk happy is disposable income.

Herr Tubthumper · Friday at 12:05 PM

Arkwright said:
I suppose what makes folk happy is disposable income.

It certainly takes the sting out of being poor.

rippleman · Friday at 12:05 PM

I have absolutely no idea. But I wouldn't mind the opportunity to find out!

keaton · Friday at 12:23 PM

Seagull27 said:
And there's the difference. If you had a mortgage of £1500+ a month (for borrowing around £300k) and two kids at nursery at £1000+ a month per child for 4 or 5 days, as per the question in the OP, you might feel differently!

Edit - still wouldn't expect someone to be struggling as such, but it's certainly not wealthy these days for a household income

Take home pay calculator would have someone on £100k having £68,557 after tax. Minus £42k ( your £1500pm mortgage and £2kpm nursery) would leave then £26,515pm

Or just over £2k a month for pension, savings, utilities, holidays, shopping. And that's only for the handful of years both kids would be in nursery.

I think I'd feel more than fairly well off

BrickTamland · Friday at 12:24 PM

For a family in south east, no. You wouldn’t be able to afford half the stuff most people would consider making you ‘rich’. More just standard family life (roof over your heads, a car to get around and decent food on the table).

Things have shifted massively in last few years. If you’re under 35 just attaining the above means earning big money assuming no financial help from family

Gwylan · Friday at 12:26 PM

I can only assume that the people who have said that they wouldn't be well off, have a serious drug habit

BrickTamland · Friday at 12:41 PM

Gwylan said:
I can only assume that the people who have said that they wouldn't be well off, have a serious drug habit

No just dealing with house prices and mortgages as they currently are. Not all of us got on the housing ladder for 50p and packet of crisps

Bakero · Friday at 12:41 PM

I always find these discussions a bit distasteful when about half the country earn less than a third of that.

Anyone on that kind of figure would do well to remember they're bringing in more than 96% of workers. If it's your household income, it puts you in the top 5%.

Herr Tubthumper · Friday at 12:45 PM

Gwylan said:
I can only assume that the people who have said that they wouldn't be well off, have a serious drug habit

If you earn 100k a year, it's an option I guess.

Commander · Friday at 12:51 PM

Gwylan said:
Blimey, I'm earning a lot less than that and struggle to find things to spend money on. £100k, I'd consider as almost Croesus levels of wealth

What else do I need? I live in a nice 4-bed house in Brighton, a few hundred metres from the edge of the South Downs National Park. I don't have to worry about heating bills or having enough to eat. I go to the Albion, the theatre or concerts a couple times a month. Why would I want anything more?

EDIT: I should add that my mortgage is paid off and the kids are grown up but even when that wasn't the case, we weren't struggling - although the concerts and theatre went out of the window!

And THERE lies the problem with the property market in the UK.

I’m not ashamed to say I earn six figures. Can I afford a nice 4 bed house in Brighton by the South Downs? Nope. Not without massively over committing on a mortgage and making big sacrifices anyway that would hugely affect my kids day to day lives.

Yet if I’d earnt what I earn (or the equivalent of) in the 80s / 90s I’d be in a massive detached house with a swimming pool now.

And it’s even harder for the generations below me. The wealth gap in this country between the Boomer generation and the rest isn’t spoken about enough. So many in this generation are sat in big 4 or 5 bed houses with 3 empty rooms while most of Gen Z have virtually no hope of owning a property at all, unless they inherit one. It’s f***ed up.

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