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Income brackets: PERCEPTIONS of low and high?
Comments
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A couple of kids at private school at perhaps £4,000 a term each will eat into that disposable income. That reduces the disposable income to £3,500 a month. Upkeep on a house like that would be another grand a month at least (1.5% of the value of the house) so we're down to £2,500.
It's all down to perception and I can see that someone earning that might think they are not comfortable but in reality they are.
The more I read this thread the more I'm convinced you were right and it really does boil down to below what I earn Low and above High it's a simple as that. Most of us live to what we earn and can't see how we could cope on much less but in reality we probably could I took early retirement and reduced by income by over 50% and I have coped.0 -
It's all down to perception and I can see that someone earning that might think they are not comfortable but in reality they are.
The more I read this thread the more I'm convinced you were right and it really does boil down to below what I earn Low and above High it's a simple as that. Most of us live to what we earn and can't see how we could cope on much less but in reality we probably could I took early retirement and reduced by income by over 50% and I have coped.
Reality versus perception really is key I think.
I agree that frankly there is no point in earning above an average wage unless you appreciate a benefit of that. (I mean appreciate in a term of perceive it, not necessarily 'realise' it in terms of make it real) . BUT I'd also suggest that its hard for some one * to perceive the demands of a lifestyle not their own experience. (And that's not unique to the income 'question' but is heated because its where we have to work as a society to draw a line of where we impose lines of where we take and give).
How did you break your entitled to figure down ukcarper? Single earner or two earners?
* Ctually, I feel moved to edit here, There are different learning styles and some rely on different ones more than others. I was scrabbling around to remember that and failed. This is the first link I found on the subject if anyone should be interested. Not all are 'experienced based learners'. There are quizzes one can take to determine the likely hood of the emphasis one puts on different types of learning style. How accurate they are goodness only knows. They form, for example, part of appitude tests of the type one might do at school, such as the Morrisby test. http://www.washington.edu/doit/TeamN/learn.html0 -
chucknorris wrote: »Aren't you just stating the obvious, if you haven't got a large amount of cash (or equity) of course earning £200k isn't going to take you above 'comfortable' (in a nice part of London compared to other parts of the country). But of course it also depends upon what your own individual interpretation of being 'comfortable' is of course, I consider that we are comfortable, others might think otherwise. My definition of comfortable is a very good position to be in.
Well it's not really stating the obvious any more than your perception of amounts is. The thread was asking for percetions about variousl levels, so I added mine ,which is, I fully understand, from reasonably close to one end of the distribution.0 -
lostinrates wrote: »Reality versus perception really is key I think.
I agree that frankly there is no point in earning above an average wage unless you appreciate a benefit of that. (I mean appreciate in a term of perceive it, not necessarily 'realise' it in terms of make it real) . BUT I'd also suggest that its hard for some one to perceive the demands of a lifestyle not their own experience. (And that's not unique to the income 'question' but is heated because its where we have to work as a society to draw a line of where we impose lines of where we take and give).
How did you break your entitled to figure down ukcarper? Single earner or two earners?
For simplicity I did single earner in tax calculations and entitled to. I think the thing that would alter the results the most is if the lower paid person was renting.
I fully appreciate that the lifestyle and expectations of someone earning £200k would be totally different than that of someone on £32k and I have no problem with people earning £200k if they are worth it (not sure they all are but then again I suspect that some on £32k are not worth that). I just find it hard when presented with the facts that they are it the top 1% of earners some seem convinced they are not on a high salary.0 -
Has that not always been the case and that kind of salary will get you a nice house in Surrey even the more expensive parts.
If you read my post you will see I said that to live and work in London you would need to be earning a lot more than a middle salary but that doesn't alter the fact that £80k is a high salary more than 90% of the population earn.
It's high wnen looked at from below, and low when looked at from above, with the difference of perspective rather being what this thread is about, woudln't you say?0 -
lostinrates wrote: »What Impacts top end of achievement has on 'comfort' and income level.
You are seriously asking what achievement level in finance, law, or medicine having on income level?
OK, here goes...
People at the top end in law, finance, or medicine will tend to earn a large amount more than people in those who do not achieve "high flying" status in those professions, or who are still just starting out on that route.0 -
It's high wnen looked at from below, and low when looked at from above, with the difference of perspective rather being what this thread is about, woudln't you say?
The perception whether that high salary is sufficient as apposed to is it a high salary are two different things in my opinion and I would have though that most people would know their salary was high even though they think it is insufficient..0 -
The perception whether that high salary is sufficient as apposed to is it a high salary are two different things in my opinion and I would have though that most people would know their salary was high even though they think it is insufficient..
You are shifting the goalposts here now, and I'm not sure why. I know that my friends salary is high relative to the national median, but the thread is about how that is perceived subjectively. Why do you want to keep disregarding the subjective component when that is the very subject of the discussion?0 -
It's all down to perception and I can see that someone earning that might think they are not comfortable but in reality they are.
The more I read this thread the more I'm convinced you were right and it really does boil down to below what I earn Low and above High it's a simple as that. Most of us live to what we earn and can't see how we could cope on much less but in reality we probably could I took early retirement and reduced by income by over 50% and I have coped.
I think a big part of it is that in the UK, people generally hang out with people that earn to the same level as themselves.
It struck me today: I was chatting to a pretty senior accountant who was telling me about his best mate who is a plumber. There's no way a plumber would hang out with someone who earned as little as a top accountant in Britain.
As a result it becomes reinforcing. When I lived in The Barbican the expectation of what constituted a reasonable standard of living was very different to when I lived in West Norwood. The idea of someone having a flat in the French Alps that you could borrow for a week if you fancied going skiing or cycling would have been an utterly alien concept. Completely bizarre. Even stranger would have been the idea that you'd bought a flat in the Alps and felt that you were settling for second best as you couldn't ski out, it was a 10 minute drive to the lifts.
In The Barbican it was normal. I borrowed my mate's little Alpine flat for a fortnight for some cycling. When we go to Europe this Christmas we'll hopefully borrow it again for a day or two.0 -
Once you get past a certain income level (lets say..£150k) salary becomes just a number to measure 'how great you are'.
People on such high salaries are often motivated to gain more and more; because it becomes a measure of how great they are, to themselves. It's not about it being 'sufficient' or not.
That's why high-end income with run away much faster than inflation - because it's a 'race to the top' - rather than most people's 'race to the bottom' salary. As you get a higher wage, you must jump 'even higher' to make any salary increase worth it.
E.g. when I was starting out, i was pretty happy with a £4k jump in salary between jobs. Now i'm earning better; you'd need to pay me an extra £15k to make me move jobs.
My brother-in-law, who earns mega bucks.. well, you'd need to temp him with at least £50k more and a 'handshake'.0
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