For comparison purposes, if one wants a benchmark for a top notch salary, then it is common practice to use the salary of the Prime Minister, who earns £142k.
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Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
51–60 of 94 posts
Re: Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
#52Amazing, really tells more about keeping up with the Joneses and the societal pressure to conform to their expectations.
As you earn more money, your social circles change and there is a cost to moving into that circle. You have to live in the right area, dress in the right clothes and drive the right car. So the costs increase to levels that seem exorbitant to people on "average" salaries but really they are just as much slaves to the system as anyone else.
The trick is to earn good money and not spend it on frivolities, but marketeers and advertisers work hard to get people to spend their hard earned cash to great effect.
Re: Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
£20k is a much better estimate. A twentysomething without children can live comfortably on that -- with plenty of money for drinks, gadgets and eating out.
I think that's overstating it. My first job in London I was on £28k and I was ok but wouldn't want to go lower. Take-home pay was about £1800/month, I spent £850/month rent (Zone 3, noisy loft conversion in an old building), maybe £450/month general shopping (food and clothes and the like), £200 going out and the rest on occasional stuff like a computer or holidays. You can live much cheaper - I've seen 11k claimed b…
That's pretty much the average graduate starting salary in London, so plenty of graduates are earning less. I started on £24k in 2008, but I shared a flat within cycling distance of work, which significantly reduced my expenses — £407/month in rent, plus £60/month in bills.
Re: Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
#54I would say 50K is required to live well in London and 20K as a minimum salary. 500K as a minimum is ridiculous.
The article is a bit hyperbole but truthfully folks do think like this. My other half has bought into the private school and insanly priced brands mantra. Everyone successful and older than us is saying you _need_ to send your kids to private school pretty much from the start, but I can't really do the Math and see anything but a life of struggling for money it requires.
Combine this with property prices and I'm actually willing to believe the £500,000 figure isn't far off to have the same life as their parents generation have been able to achieve, but alas I grew up poor and I don't subscribe to needing any of this sillyness.
Re: Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
#55The degree of entitlement evidenced by this article is seriously distasteful. If private school from age 3 is part of a "minimum" lifestyle, exactly how does the author describe the lifestyle of all the kids who go to state schools? Zone 1 indeed.
The author is describing their friends, not themselves. It doesn't sound entitled to me to describe what they're witnessing and wonder about the figures. The discrepancy comes from that being described as a "minimum" (and thus linkbait headline) when really it should be qualified at all levels as minimum for that lifestyle.
Sure, you can minimise the relevance of the "discrepancy" and claim that the author isn't entitled, but the entire enterprise of this article is based on the premise of discovering whether these really are the "minimum" living costs. Is it a "discrepancy" or is it the way the author sees the world?
The end of the article even asks: "Frugalists: With such a cost structure, where would you start saving first?"
Not "lower earners", but "frugalists". That's people who earn £500k but don't necessarily want to spend it all. The author isn't even addressing the paupers who only earn £250k, or the near-beggars who only earn £100k.
Re: Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
#56Tldr: no, but if we redefine "live in London" as "live in Zone 1, take family of four skiing in France four times a year, send kids to private school from age 3, always eat at Michelin starred restaurants, own multiples of everything Apple ever releases, any other stupid consumerism you can think of" then yes.
Exactly. I've got "2.4 family" friends who live in Clapham and Walthamstow, earn about £60K between them and live comfortably. Would they like to have £500K salaries? Of course. Do they need them? Of course not.
Real estate is the biggest struggle.
A 3.5-bed family home in Clapham is around £1m, a 4% payment on which would consume their entire net income!
source - http://www.londonpropertywatch.co.uk/avg_prices.html
Re: Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
#57I just about to buy a house outside of London. I'm also about to send my 2 kids to private school as all the decent local state schools are full with waiting lists (thankfully a lot cheaper than the figures mentioned here). I had a look at one of the options for commuting into London. This is the quickest option from where I am (via HS1). I'm already up to the following monthly expenses: Mortgage: £3200 School Fees:…
School fees for two of £1375 a month seems pretty reasonable compared to what I thought. What kind of standard of school do you get for that? What age? Day or boarding? Does that include things like uniforms, sports and trips?
It's a small independent primary school founded 80 years ago and still located in the original founder's house (and out buildings). It's a non-profit so all fees go to the upkeep of the school. Classes are about 15 students. Those fees don't include any trips or uniforms I don't think, and it's about a mile from the house we're buying so it's definitely day :-)
The main thing that's attractive about it is the focus on the "person development" side of the child's education (in addition to excellent academics). Last time I went to my oldest daughter's parents evening the whole content was: "Well, she's at so-and-so percentile for this subject and such-and-such metric this and that". Nothing at all about how she is as a person, or anything beyond the metrics that Ofstead judges schools on. She's 7!
Re: Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
#58I would asssume that the £30k without paying income tax Very comfortable life: £30k per year. Which still corresponds to £40k gross salary (roughly 1.5x statistical median wage), but with tax-efficient asset allocation you can relatively easily achieve £30k per year without paying any income taxes comes from drawing down savings rather than earning income? At £40k annual income, your effective tax rate is 14.7%[0], s…
£40,000 of salaried income is currently £30,287 net, after £5,880 income tax and £3,832 national insurance.
Re: Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Between £1k and £2k. You'll be a frequent customer of Wonga. Edit Proletariat: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-5304414... Bourgeois: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-5061904...
your Bourgeois link is not even in London.... For a family with Kid, youar completely missing it: Preletariat 4k : http://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/37300477?search_iden... Bourgois: 6.5k: http://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/37341550?search_iden...
It definitely is. If you can vote for the Mayor of London, then you live in London.
Re: Minimum salary required in London: £500k?
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
School fees for two of £1375 a month seems pretty reasonable compared to what I thought. What kind of standard of school do you get for that? What age? Day or boarding? Does that include things like uniforms, sports and trips?
It's a small independent primary school founded 80 years ago and still located in the original founder's house (and out buildings). It's a non-profit so all fees go to the upkeep of the school. Classes are about 15 students. Those fees don't include any trips or uniforms I don't think, and it's about a mile from the house we're buying so it's definitely day :-) The main thing that's attractive about it is the focus o…
I earn 1400euros of net income monthly. My mother earns around 500euros of net income monthly. Thank you for showing me my shitlife in Slovakia :)