Income brackets: PERCEPTIONS of low and high?

Daniel54

Halle71 wrote: »

What better way to help people less fortunate than me, than to take out less than I put in?

Well said.It is a false equivalence to suggest that the more you earn, the more selfish you must be

lostinrates

Daniel54 wrote: »

Well said.It is a false equivalence to suggest that the more you earn, the more selfish you must be

And I would say the same applies to SOME businesses.

One of the things that originally appealed to my husband about his employer was that he was allowed in early years to apply considerable pro bono work and this remains part of his practise even when work pressure is great he can ring fence some pro bono time. (In a way he cannot vacation time :rotfl:).


I actually think generosity is less related to wealth than philosophy. There are plenty of people as ricj as Croesus who seem very un generous and plenty who seem to have little but are generous to a fault.

Bono gigs for fund raising are an interesting way to look at wealth and generosity perhaps?

michaels

tomterm8 wrote: »

I was posting on Tancred's point, Mayonnaise, that everyone on here is rich and therefore their perceptions of income level is incorrect or not interesting information.

I wasn't specifically accusing anyone on this thread or other of any other of lying, just saying that my perception of the probable income level of available participants is far lower than Tancred's.

Not wanting to put words into Tancred's mouth but I think he would see the fact that those who are on above average incomes mis-perceive how lucky they are as entirely relevant, especially as those on above average incomes are also likely to be in decison making / opinion forming positions.

I find LIRs comments about always having unsatisfied wants because we can see the lifestyle others have as interesting. Personally I care not one iota if someone else has a new car or whatever, if I have a car that does what a car needs to do then I am happy. That someone else has a more expensive car does not change that.

MFW_ASAP

lostinrates wrote: »

It has worried at least three other people, one has said they were put off to the point of leaving. We do not know who is discouraged to post on this basis.

I feel we DO need to be polite. I am asking people to do something a little 'odd' to some, and something quite....exposing, to some. If they feel roughed up I don't think that's healthy.

Finally, whatever you or I think michaels, forum rules are to be polite. I rather think that's the trump card!

It's asking for trouble on this particular forum to give any indication of how well you're doing financially. Trolls can dog your steps for weeks afterwards.

lostinrates

MFW_ASAP wrote: »

It's asking for trouble on this particular forum to give any indication of how well you're doing financially. Trolls can dog your steps for weeks afterwards.

Well, please don't become one of them!

Do you have an opinion on the OP? I'd prefer we stick to the subject if possible:)

_Ed

Tancred wrote: »

10 years ago £25k was certainly pretty high for a graduate starting salary. So I suspect you gave up engineering for investment banking or management consulting.



It's a very high though not enormous sum, certainly not in London. Obviously you both work full time in professional jobs. Having said all that, you are still in a very privileged position - similar to two married doctors in their 30s. Your household income must be around £8,000 a month.



Ok, but how would you able to cope on half your current household income? Being able to live in London is now a luxury. You talk about a 3 bedroom terraced in London, but on joint income of £150k you can buy a plush new 1930s styled 4-5 detached house with double garage and large garden on my estate between Wokingham and Bracknell. You have made a choice to live in London but you are not obliged to live there. You might have bought a second hand car but you could easily lease a new Merc - it's what you can do that matters, not what you choose to do.



What's your point? You could go to Skegness or Bognor instead. I'm not trying to be facetious, but why do you feel it necessary to spend thousands on some globetrotting holiday? Not so many years ago Italy was a destination for the very well heeled only.



Roof repairs don't have to be done by you - you can get a roofer to do that. Are you honestly saying that you only have £15k saved up with £8k a month sloshing around in bank accounts? Hmmm. :cool:

Those BMWs and Mercs are probably almost all either company leases or on PCP/hire purchase. It's easy to get finance these days - dealers get commisssion, so they are literally throwing it at pepole. The others will be owned by the well heeled 55+ brigade with no mortgage and at the peak of their careers - or on good final salary pensions. No surprise in that.



I sense that you taking the pi** here. You have made several lifestyle choices which are tying you down to London. So what? Many people on half of your household after tax income survive very well even with jobs in London.

To answer a few of your questions;

No, I'm a chartered engineer, working purely in a technical (non managerial) role. As someone else on the thread pointed out, that salary wouldn't be possible outside of London for my role. It becomes a trade off between salary and cost of living.

Actual cash paid into the bank each month probably closer to 7K with pension contributions/company share scheme/wife's student loan repayments etc. (Share are obviously optional)

We did look out of London when buying and found you have to go a long way out before prices drop significantly. We decided to stay in London to reduce commute times and get the benefits the city offers. Of course, again that was our choice.

With regards to savings, we have just bought a house which needs some work, so no we don't have vast savings sloshing around at the moment. Also my wife is on maternity leave, so currently we are on half income anyway. I could of course pay someone to fix the roof - but I prefer to save the money and learn how to do it myself.

And as for feeling like we need to spend thousands globe trotting, well, we don't. It's not a need; it's something we chose to spend our money on to enjoy. I would add a previous holiday in the UK (a trip to Lewis and Harris) probably cost more than the Sicily trip did.

I've not said any of this was about need, nor that we can't afford to spend more - we can. Also, I didn't want to imply that we're not well off - we are. Only for us, as income increased our perception of wealth changed and that is only the point I was trying to make.

To be honest, when I was a grad on 25K, I lived a much more extravagant life than I do now. Them were the days :beer:

lostinrates

michaels wrote: »

Not wanting to put words into Tancred's mouth but I think he would see the fact that those who are on above average incomes mis-perceive how lucky they are as entirely relevant, especially as those on above average incomes are also likely to be in decison making / opinion forming positions.

I find LIRs comments about always having unsatisfied wants because we can see the lifestyle others have as interesting. Personally I care not one iota if someone else has a new car or whatever, if I have a car that does what a car needs to do then I am happy. That someone else has a more expensive car does not change that.

You have misread ( or I have mistyped) I'll read back my comments,

I don't think I mention others? I said you see what you have and what you haven't or some such I think? I certainly wasn't thinking of others, but a list of personal wants/aspirations/ tick lists /whatever


( yep, just read back, no mention of others at all, which is as I thought because it would have been a hell of a mis type for me, as would not have been either asphasic nor a partial thought from someone else that i recall . ) perhaps your perspective on what you think mine is coloured your interpretation!


I have particularly found your comments on this interesting though michaels. We know how hard you work for your family and choices and that you often refer to your self as ' less well off' yet are now a two house owner in a nice area with a lifestyle many would aspire to.

I am often interested in your perspective.

MFW_ASAP

lostinrates wrote: »

Well, please don't become one of them!

Do you have an opinion on the OP? I'd prefer we stick to the subject if possible:)

My post was on-topic. Your point seemed to be whether people's opinion on what is regarded as a 'high wage earner' is dependant on their own financial circumstances and those of their friends/peers. My point is that if you are a higher than average wage earner and express an opinion, then ON THIS PARTICULAR FORUM, you then open yourself up to claims of bragging or lying.

If certain posters actually do believe what you say about your income, then they can't seem to help themselves and suddenly their sockies (aberdeenangarse, et al) get reactivated and dog your steps around the forum.

That's my experience anyway. I'm happy to prove it. I earn over £80k and I live in Oldham (Northwest England). I work in a technical I.T. role and I am in permanent employment. I work with people who are in the same income bracket or above. I don't believe that £150k is a high enough salary to receive a punitive tax treatment.

lostinrates

MFW_ASAP wrote: »

. I don't believe that £100k is a high salary.

Super, that's the on topic bit for our purposes. The rest simply feeds trolls.


What would you consider a high salary? A low salary?


Edit...oh, (lir pushes back spectacles with delight and wriggles in chair) punitive is a good word for 'perception'.....but tax is another thread.

I don't know about anyone else but I think income of all natures, life changing lump sums etc ...tax might be too much. Another thread on perceptions of tax thresholds and fairness might be fun one day.....I think it would be better to try and get one smooth running thread that's a little less contentious.

ukcarper

When you compare the majority of post with the actual ONS figures it show how shielded a lot of posters are from the reality facing many people. The median full time figure for London is about £32.5k so if people think £80k is low they are out of touch with the majority of people living in London. I accept that to live in some of the better parts of London you would need to be earning in excess of £80k but that doesn't make £80k a low salary. I worked in London for most of my working life, I commuted and my salary was not much higher than the ONS median but I have had what I consider a reasonable life.