Same here. I tell people if they ask, but I never ask for anyone else's.
The salary question?
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Same here. I tell people if they ask, but I never ask for anyone else's.
I was going to ask if he lived in London but his location said ‘Somerset’.
London aside, I disagree - if there are two of you, you could easily save £3k a month without really even trying and probably a lot more if you put your mind to it. So that’s basically a year of saving to have a fair deposit for a first home.
Obviously it’s a lot harder by yourself, but I suggest that’s houses being disproportionately expensive rather than it not being a lot of money... if that makes sense. Really, buying a house by yourself without help from parents or whatever is very hard indeed for most people and quite abnormal.
Yeah I get that. If housing was cheap then this would have been a lot of money. But housing is the biggest expense for almost every normal person (excluding super rich folk) and if your most expensive and essential purchase is unaffordable, you can't say you're making a lot of money, if that makes sense!
And yet it's almost double the average salary in the UK.
£50k outside of London gives you a very comfortable life.
Won't be very comfortable. Median house price is £230k, barely in your price range (lenders give 4.5x salary), and you still need to save for years before you have a 20% deposit (to get a good mortgage rate). The fact that it's higher than average means wages are low in general in the country, not that 50k is too much or very comfortable.
Thing is, if you're trying to sort yourself out for retirement and are taking it at all seriously (especially if you've left it a bit late) then a big chunk of that disposable income disappears.
I see hardly any of my disposable income at all because I'm trying to not be so poor in old age that I have to give hand jobs down an alley in order to eat.
I see hardly any of my disposable income at all because I'm trying to not be so poor in old age that I have to give hand jobs down an alley in order to eat.
Thing is, if you're trying to sort yourself out for retirement and are taking it at all seriously (especially if you've left it a bit late) then a big chunk of that disposable income disappears.
I see hardly any of my disposable income at all because I'm trying to not be so poor in old age that I have to give hand jobs down an alley in order to eat.
Same here. 20% is salary sacrificed for retirement and I never see it.
I know what you mean but I think the modern reality is that people typically buy property as a couple. I edited my post with a comment to that effect before you quoted me - see above.
I also think people do not typically save towards getting a better mortgage rate - I would think that it’s typically more beneficial to buy ASAP and ride the gain in capital than it is to save for a better interest rate... or there’s not much in it.
I'm with a few others, if it comes up in conversation then i don't mind sharing, although we very rarely come out with the direct question, it's more as context really.
It's pretty easy to work out most peoples income range based on house/car/holidays etc. Although i'd say my friend group was generally quite conservative with most things.
It's pretty easy to work out most peoples income range based on house/car/holidays etc. Although i'd say my friend group was generally quite conservative with most things.
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I'm not disagreeing salaries could be better across the board but to suggest £50k isn't all that much is entirely perspectival.
On that £230k house price with a 10% deposit, a mortgage would be £1k per month with a 4% rate.
£50k and putting 8% pension would still net you £3k take home each month.
So you've got £500 per week of the month for utilities, food, maintenance, travel costs, and entertainment. That's assuming you live alone, which on a £230k house in a lot of this country suggests you might not.
The above scenario for a couple would be rolling in it, but a single father of three? Of course that's a different story.
50k is tonnes of money down here in somerset, if i earnt that my partner could give up work and we could overpay our mortgage and do the house up, have a few holidays a year and still have enough to buy nice stuff...ryzen setup
Same in the North East but I don't think that needs to be said lol.
Two people up this way earning 30k each puts them in a comfortable position, with plenty of disposable income and the chance to save for things like maternity.
If 50k isn't very comfortable then the majority of the population is screwed financially.
50k? I’m sure I recall @Django x2 saying they could barely survive on 100k.
You'd be comfortable but i think it's misleading to think you're "very" well off. Assuming you live on your own with a mortgage.
As mentioned above the take home is just under £3k, assume 1k for a mortgage on an average house, then another £400 on council tax, utilities, etc. You're then just over £1500. Knock off another £300 for car insurance, car repayments etc and you're at around £1200 or £300 a week with food, petrol etc to pay for.
It's a decent chunk of money, but once you start wanting to put money away into savings, go on holidays, make home improvements, buy luxury items etc it runs out very quickly, especially when you can easily spend £100 on a night out.
It's a comfortable living where you're not panicing about money, but it's not some golden level where you can do anything you want without thinking.
EDIT - Certainly it changes when you're in a couple.
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Depends on your circumstances. I tickle that figure and I'm far from well off due to poor past financial decisions.
That's the thing with this forum, I would guess that if you calculated the average salary of the regular posters here it would be well above the national average so you get a skewed opinion.
Nope, not for me. Though have always been open about finances. I generally don't get asked "what do you earn?" but as other have said if it comes up in context then i'm happy with it. In fact if someone asked my outright, I would say "Why do you want to know?", "What do you earn?"
People tend to ask more about my apartment - how much, mortgage etc. but that's probably because they are interested and about to get a mortgage themselves instead of just being a biy nosy and asking about salary
Exactly the same for me. Open, some friends earn way more (good for them, they tried harder) some way less (good for me, I tried harder)
Personally I think i'm mid ground for my age. Quite a good job, good overtime money but it's not enough to start buying brand new cars or a boats!
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