What's your idea of a good salary?
Poll: What's your idea of a good salary?
Total Members Polled: 1325
Discussion
Having just watched episode one of the 2014 series of The Apprentice, I noted a chap who said something along the lines of "I don't want to find myself at age 40 on £50k per year, driving a four year old Toyota". Many people would probably be glad to be earning £50k a year so it got me thinking:
Regardless of how much you currently earn and your position, what in your mind is a 'good' salary?
Regardless of how much you currently earn and your position, what in your mind is a 'good' salary?
CC07 PEU said:
Having just watched episode one of the 2014 series of The Apprentice, I noted a chap who said something along the lines of "I don't want to find myself at age 40 on £50k per year, driving a four year old Toyota". Many people would probably be glad to be earning £50k a year so it got me thinking:
Regardless of how much you currently earn and your position, what in your mind is a 'good' salary?
That opening statement from that guy says everything about him really.Regardless of how much you currently earn and your position, what in your mind is a 'good' salary?
ecs said:
Why should married people get a discount on tax?
Why should two earners making 100k get Child Allowance, but a single earner getting 60k not get some. The tax system is rife with inequality. The best thing to do is to allow individuals to decide how to use there allowances
Fact is, if two people earner 20k each they will pay a lot less than a married couple with one earning 40k
So in fact married people trying to support a non working partner are subsidising singletons....
Surely this is all relative? I have found that it is very easy to spend up to your increased salary. As your career progresses and salary rises, you tend to spend more or at least I have. Stay at home wife to look after kids is expensive these days and I must have really messed up as I have a 7 year old toyota and am nearly 50!
So is £40k a year at age 30 with no kids better or worse than £60k at 40 or £80k at 50 especially with family in tow? It's frightening where money goes with teenage kids learning to drive and heading for uni. How is dad meant ti save for retirement without seeking a wage at the top end of this poll?
So is £40k a year at age 30 with no kids better or worse than £60k at 40 or £80k at 50 especially with family in tow? It's frightening where money goes with teenage kids learning to drive and heading for uni. How is dad meant ti save for retirement without seeking a wage at the top end of this poll?
My basic salary recently crept past the £50k mark. Now I would probably have a different view if I'd been brought up with wealth, but I wasn't, and so that feels like a lot of money to me! From my own experience I'd say £40k is plenty for a comfortable life although more than one child and/or living in the south east would probably stretch that somewhat.
ecs said:
markiii said:
They should bring back married couples allowance and allow the transfer of tax allowances
Why should married people get a discount on tax?So one person gives up a full time job, and the other s
ts their pants with financial worries, and works hard at arse licking the boss to get 3 promotions to cover the lost income. Only problem with this amazing master plan: EVEN if they manage to replace the lost earnings completely, they are still £3.5K down, because they can't use the unused tax allowance. Now, you might ask how I know this, but that's what happened for me and my wife. I was earning £14K in 1993, whilst she earned £12K. She gave up work, we had 2 kids, and I attempted to replace said cash by "taking my career seriously and eventually after 3 job changes, I was earning £25K in 1998.
Now you might say, well women have a right to work. Indeed. It would have been better, if we'd both arranged to go part time, 2.5 days each. She'd still be registered as a nurse, we'd have been better off financially due to the tax laws, and I wouldn't have spent 20 years being referred to as "angry dad"
You might ask why "married" ? Well, because it's a contract in law that binds two people together. Unlike a couple who just live together, and have kids, married people have a pretty damming contract. If you've been married for 2 years, everything you have is theirs and versa vice.
Anyway back to the OP's question. It depends on what you housing costs are (pretty much everything else is the same price wherever you live), and that depends on where you live and work.
IMHO A good salary, pays for a family of 4 to live in a 3 bed semi is a nice part of town, have a car, a holiday and reasonable food. Where I live £35K would do that. Where I work £50K would do that.
jfbrin said:
Surely this is all relative? I have found that it is very easy to spend up to your increased salary. As your career progresses and salary rises, you tend to spend more or at least I have. Stay at home wife to look after kids is expensive these days and I must have really messed up as I have a 7 year old toyota and am nearly 50!
So is £40k a year at age 30 with no kids better or worse than £60k at 40 or £80k at 50 especially with family in tow? It's frightening where money goes with teenage kids learning to drive and heading for uni. How is dad meant ti save forretirement a Ferarri without seeking a wage at the top end of this poll?
EFASo is £40k a year at age 30 with no kids better or worse than £60k at 40 or £80k at 50 especially with family in tow? It's frightening where money goes with teenage kids learning to drive and heading for uni. How is dad meant ti save for
I'm not necessarily driven by salary, but I set myself a target about 10 years ago. This target was to be earning (my age + 10) multiplied by 1000. So earn £40k by the time I turned 30, £50k by the time I turn 40 etc.
My perception is that given my sector that would represent a good level of progression and development and give me a salary in which I could give myself and my family a decent life. So far so good. It's a target to keep myself focused on the next steps. If I didn't do that then I fail to motivate myself.
The biggest thing for me is to change from being a reckless idiot taking out loans and credit cards all the time. We recently bought a house and so managed to sort ourselves out loads in the process- salary is one thing, but what's left after the bills sets the bar on how comfortable you are to do the luxury things, like going on holiday every year.
My perception is that given my sector that would represent a good level of progression and development and give me a salary in which I could give myself and my family a decent life. So far so good. It's a target to keep myself focused on the next steps. If I didn't do that then I fail to motivate myself.
The biggest thing for me is to change from being a reckless idiot taking out loans and credit cards all the time. We recently bought a house and so managed to sort ourselves out loads in the process- salary is one thing, but what's left after the bills sets the bar on how comfortable you are to do the luxury things, like going on holiday every year.
An old mate of mine from Uni said he'd be happy if his salary matched his age, i.e. £30k at 30 years of age. Personally I thought his expectations were quite low.
It's all relative really, you live up to your means and invariably think that a little more would be useful. Problem is once you into the high rate tax bracket a few £k rise on your salary doesn't make a huge difference to your take home.
I'm making around £65k a year at the moment, if I had a £100k I'd be really encouraging the wife to jack in her job as it just seems to be making her miserable at the moment but the money she brings in is useful.
It's all relative really, you live up to your means and invariably think that a little more would be useful. Problem is once you into the high rate tax bracket a few £k rise on your salary doesn't make a huge difference to your take home.
I'm making around £65k a year at the moment, if I had a £100k I'd be really encouraging the wife to jack in her job as it just seems to be making her miserable at the moment but the money she brings in is useful.
ecs said:
markiii said:
They should bring back married couples allowance and allow the transfer of tax allowances
Why should married people get a discount on tax?if both parties work and earn more than their personal allowances then they get an effective tax allowance of 20k
if one party works in a company which both are directors of and the other doesn;twork the effective allowance is still 20 because the second partner draws their income as dividends
if one party works PAYE and the other doesn;t work - tacx allowance halved becasue the other partners is un used or barely touched unless the high risk strategy of putting all assets and interest earning investments in the name of the none working partner.
Edited by mph1977 on Friday 17th October 12:49
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