Income brackets: what is prception of low/middle high

lostinrates

SandC wrote: »

The more I think about it the more confused I am getting actually.

I still maintain I'm middle you see, but I am earning less than £20k. Then again I think the middle range could really be perceived as quite vast.

LOL, sorry to confuse! But the aim of my post, as well as being as I stated in OP was to gt us all thinking about our own perceptions, and challenging ourselves. I have learned a lot from threads that rally get me thinking, and I am incredibly grateful to contributers to this.

I think to get us through the next few years challenging our own rconceptions, and those we hold as a nation will help get us through in part. Assessing what w exect of people, what they expect of themslves and what we expect from society

I actually think all the sections, as I originally perceived :rolleyes: them are bigger, rangier, than I originally thought.

Swans1912

lostinrates wrote: »

I actually think all the sections, as I originally perceived :rolleyes: them are bigger, rangier, than I originally thought.

I agree that it has been VERY interesting to read what everyone thinks!

Another simple way of looking at it:

Low = You
Medium = More than You
High =Much More than You

I think someone posted this further back in the thread?

SingleSue

I am another who agrees that this is a very very interesting and enthralling thread and it is certainly challenging my perceptions.

Plus I am a nosey begger and everyone is telling everyone else what they get!

DirectDebacle

SingleSue wrote: »

I am another who agrees that this is a very very interesting and enthralling thread and it is certainly challenging my perceptions.

Plus I am a nosey begger and everyone is telling everyone else what they get!

Me too. Fascinating and opens up all sorts of topics. Income, tax, benefits and perceptions of wealth.

As a single person with no children at home and an income of £13k I find it interesting and a little mystifying that some of my income tax is supporting the children of someone on over £30k. I qualify for no benefits other than a 25% council tax discount.

lostinrates

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Me too. Fascinating and opens up all sorts of topics. Income, tax, benefits and perceptions of wealth.

As a single person with no children at home and an income of £13k I find it interesting and a little mystifying that some of my income tax is supporting the children of someone on over £30k. I qualify for no benefits other than a 25% council tax discount.

Doesn't it just.

Yes it strikes me as very unfair the current system.

damanpunk

I won't take the !!!! and say I find our joint income of £80-90k middle, it is a hell of alot of money. But its true what people say, the more you have, the more you spend/want.

For me it meant getting onto the property ladder at the wrong time :mad:

You survive on what you have though, I've went through low paid training periods and I managed to save more money then

moneysaving_pharmacist

Very interesting thread, it shows how confused we all are about income levels. It also illustrates how the tax credits systems needs a major review.

I would class myself as a high earner on £47k at the age of 26. I also have free accommodation from my employer worth £7.5k p.a. GF has recently qualified as a teacher and is on £22k, which I would class as medium, and I would say that our combined income is in the high bracket.

For me low is <£17k
medium 17k-37k
high >37k

But how old you are and where you live would impact on these brackets.

Cleaver

You could of course make this conversation even more tricky by applying the low / mid / high argument to a global context.

We have a joint income that I guess is a bit over the national average, are both pretty young, no kids, no loans aside from a small mortgage and don't really have designer clothes / car / shoes habit. We were chatting the other day that, really, there's nothing we can't do or buy if we don't want to (within reason, obviously). We have savings, so if we fancied a week in Tokyo next week, we could. We could pop out and get a 42" plasma tomorrow with no issues. If I fancied learning the drums then I could nip out, buy a kit and book myself in to 20 lessons. All without any real financial consequences as long as we didn't do those types of things all the time. How many people around the globe can say they can do that? Don't get me wrong, it isn't a bragging post. I'm just saying that the average Brit, no matter how hard it can feel sometimes, often doesn't experience the real poverty that can be found in many places around the globe.

Another aspect is the family setting you find yourself in (as I think someone else has mentioned). My Dad is retired with substatial savings (£400k+) and no mortgage on a property worth a decent amount. I wouldn't want to ask him for money, but I know deep down that if the worse came to the worst and my wife and I both lost our jobs he would clear our small mortgage, help us out generally, and we would pay him back when we got back on our feet. Of course, I would be determined never to do that, but it puts a very different perspective on things. A luxury that I'm very thankful for really.

SingleSue

Cleaver - I must admit that for all my moans and groans about being on benefits and things being tight, my parents are always there for me although they know I would never ask for that help and they offer me the help in a way that won't offend me, as in they help out on the understanding it is a loan and not a gift, as they know I would get a little uppity otherwise.

There has been times when the children have wanted to have a MacDonalds to get the latest toy (yes they are getting a wee bit too old for them) and I have told them no, we can't afford it. They usually accept that but my father will, as we are going to the car, try to press some money in my hand to treat the children....I never quite know how to react to be honest apart from embarrassment.

Cleaver

SingleSue wrote: »

Cleaver - I must admit that for all my moans and groans about being on benefits and things being tight, my parents are always there for me although they know I would never ask for that help and they offer me the help in a way that won't offend me, as in they help out on the understanding it is a loan and not a gift, as they know I would get a little uppity otherwise.

There has been times when the children have wanted to have a MacDonalds to get the latest toy (yes they are getting a wee bit too old for them) and I have told them no, we can't afford it. They usually accept that but my father will, as we are going to the car, try to press some money in my hand to treat the children....I never quite know how to react to be honest apart from embarrassment.

Difficult one isn't it? My Dad would pay for absolutely everything if he could. When we go for a meal we simply can't pay, he won't allow it. He came from a childhood on a council estate with no money whatsoever and I think this means he has a very nice attitude with money, which I hope has rubbed off on me. I still maintain that money gives you the most pleasure when you can spend it on others (I'm waiting to be completely shot down for such a namby pamby, cliched statement, but I stand by it! )

P.S. If your Dad wants to treat me to a Maccy D's let me know and I'll message you my address.