Mortgage Rate Rises

Yeah, my dad considers himself working class due to his upbrining, even though he was a chief engineer in the merchant navy. I see myself as being the classic sort of middle class due to my upbringing and being a degree qualified professional even though we both worked/work similar roles. I see him as middle class despite how he sees himself and despite my grandparents being fairly middle class in their own right (pharmacist and naval engineer). I think a lot of it stems from him growing up in a council house which is itself probably a reasonable take on it.

How long can we keep this going until someone busts out the Ronnies/cleese sketch?

As they rightly said, I know my place.
 
£12,500 a month take home (£150k a year, after tax right?), surely with like £8k a month after £4500 monthly mortgage payment is enough to live on? Things like electric, water, child care, cars doesn’t go up (like an interest payment on a million quid house) because you moved house?

Or do you mean £150k before tax?

Before tax. If it was after we would easily be able to afford it.
 
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You haven’t posted any commentary with this, and the applicable time period isn’t clear, but isn’t that showing that the younger generation is the fittest out of all age groups around now, by far?

Obviously, it’s not showing information across generations (I.e. teens in the 90s vs. 2000s).
 
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That's a myth I'm afraid. Torynomics has eroded what many people thought middle class is/was. Country is rigged. 6 figures year dosent change your life to "king status" it just gives you a little breathing room & contingency funds. you still feel rate rises and living increases but you're not on the edge. You get a little more slack before fubar territory but by no means king like. If your salaried and pay income tax it's all giant soup.
 
That's a myth I'm afraid. Torynomics has eroded what many people thought middle class is/was. Country is rigged. 6 figures year dosent change your life to "king status" it just gives you a little breathing room & contingency funds. you still feel rate rises and living increases but you're not on the edge. You get a little more slack before fubar territory but by no means king like. If your salaried and pay income tax it's all giant soup.

I was going to mention that middle class and working class is all basically the same now. Middle class living down south paying 2k mortgage a month is no different to working class paying 500 quid a month on a mortgage north of Watford.
 
I was going to mention that middle class and working class is all basically the same now. Middle class living down south paying 2k mortgage a month is no different to working class paying 500 quid a month on a mortgage north of Watford.
100% this. 6 figures doesn't mean anything down south. I live in a mid 70's semi (Essex) whilst sis in a 4 bed new build detached up north for same sort of money. Me+misses could sell up, climb the ladder but we haven't got the stomach for getting back in this game, esp now rates are sky high. I'd only move it i could WFH 5 days (no longer having to commute into the City), then i'd be shot of the south in a heartbeat, silly prices for old properties and the new builds are bordering on a million for anything resembling an actual 4 bed detached (eg not a 1 master, 1 okay sized room and remaining basically cupboards).

Now i'm expected to fit solar panels, buy an electric car, fit a heat pump along with all the required work with it, which is going to require extensive stuff to make it worth while. So even if folks down south pay off the mortgage because of high wages you've got the next job of bringing your property up to spec that'll likely cost 1/3rd if not more you payed for the property in the first place.
 
Yeah, my dad considers himself working class due to his upbrining, even though he was a chief engineer in the merchant navy. I see myself as being the classic sort of middle class due to my upbringing and being a degree qualified professional even though we both worked/work similar roles. I see him as middle class despite how he sees himself and despite my grandparents being fairly middle class in their own right (pharmacist and naval engineer). I think a lot of it stems from him growing up in a council house which is itself probably a reasonable take on it.

I think if anything it highlights that the traditional class systems of working/middle etc no longer exist. They've become a lot more convoluted.

Typically you wouldn't expect traditional working class people to have been educated at a degree level. But nowadays a lot of people have degrees but can't even get on the property ladder.

I know there's lots of categories in modern class systems, as you could probably quite easily break these down to about a dozen different categories.
 
But at least when you have an expensive mortgage you are building up a lot of equity you can (if you had to) move and actually live like a king.

That person up north paying 500 a month doesn't have that option.


There are many parts of the country you can live a very very comfortable "no worries" lifestyle on 75k *2



We are on 29 + 55k and we don't have a life of luxury. But we Don't have any money worries. I'd feel even better with that mortgage paid down some though!

On 75k *2...that would be incredible where we live. Would feel like living like a king.

On 75k*2 could pay for a solar panels outright by year end with 0 impact on current spending!
 
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That's a myth I'm afraid. Torynomics has eroded what many people thought middle class is/was. Country is rigged. 6 figures year dosent change your life to "king status" it just gives you a little breathing room & contingency funds. you still feel rate rises and living increases but you're not on the edge. You get a little more slack before fubar territory but by no means king like. If your salaried and pay income tax it's all giant soup.

Surely it's location dependent. £150k in Leeds or somewhere is definitely different to London.

If someone could work remotely, maybe visiting London office weekly /monthly for £75k they would be daft not moving away from London and just moving anywhere within 2-3hrs on the train line. Would have way more disposable income if your mortgage is on a £200k house vs £800k alternative.
 
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If someone could work remotely, maybe visiting London office weekly /monthly for £75k they would be daft not moving away from London and just moving anywhere within 2-3hrs on the train line. Would have way more disposable income if your mortgage is on a £200k house vs £800k alternative.

That’s the situation we’re in.

I run my company entirely from home these days and my wife does a few hours here and there every now and then just to keep her toes dipped in the workplace.

It just seems ridiculous for us to stay where we are given that we could move just an hour or two north and triple/quadruple the square footage of our house.

The only part that worries me is that I want our kids to have the best opportunities possible and I’m so used to the London connections from a work perspective that I worry I’ll be limiting their opportunities.

It’s probably just because it’s all I know.
 
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I think if anything it highlights that the traditional class systems of working/middle etc no longer exist. They've become a lot more convoluted.

Typically you wouldn't expect traditional working class people to have been educated at a degree level. But nowadays a lot of people have degrees but can't even get on the property ladder.

I know there's lots of categories in modern class systems, as you could probably quite easily break these down to about a dozen different categories.


I see a distinct class divide between those who need a job to survive versus those who have a job for a hobby and can just quit. Look at Boris quitting on queue... or TV personalities. The average working person couldn't just do that.
 
I see a distinct class divide between those who need a job to survive versus those who have a job for a hobby and can just quit. Look at Boris quitting on queue... or TV personalities. The average working person couldn't just do that.

I can see your point, but I'd also add that the likes of Boris also has a high demanding lifestyle which is expensive. So whilst he could easily afford to never work again, he'd need to scale back his lifestyle accordingly. The problem with a lot of celebs/sports/film etc is they don't scale back and eventually run out of money. It's also a lot harder to get back into a high paying job if you've not been on the scene for 10-20 years - you almost become a nobody.
 
That's a myth I'm afraid. Torynomics has eroded what many people thought middle class is/was. Country is rigged. 6 figures year dosent change your life to "king status" it just gives you a little breathing room & contingency funds. you still feel rate rises and living increases but you're not on the edge. You get a little more slack before fubar territory but by no means king like. If your salaried and pay income tax it's all giant soup.
£75k p/a x2 is a monthly take home pay of £8000-8500
Problem, when you look at the tax amount it hurts, and 70k *2 it is not a lot really these days.
You need to play around to reduce the tax bill.
 
I was going to mention that middle class and working class is all basically the same now. Middle class living down south paying 2k mortgage a month is no different to working class paying 500 quid a month on a mortgage north of Watford.

No such thing as middle class anymore.
Unemployed class, lower and upper working class and upper and lower none working class.

That is how I see it.
 
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