What is a good salary?

Enough to live comfortably, paying bills, provinding for family, mortgage and eating well, with occassional treats and hobby activities. Enough to also make financial contributions to society, healthcare and welfare systems. Enough to contribute towards a state pension where you can continue to live comfortably in your retirement years.
 
No matter how bad your boss treats you spare a thought for some workers at York Uni who have received a £0.004 per hour pay rise as a result of minimum wage increases

Colleagues currently on point 12 of the university’s pay spine previously received £11.996 per hour, but the increase has meant staff will receive a raise of 0.004 pence per hour.

You’d surely think they’d just be too embarrassed to actually do this.
That is more than minimum wage so wasn't down to that, and probably on top of their annual uplift.
 
I'm guessing your finances are a long way from the norm. UK average rent is now circa 15k a year. Most people are paying bills over 500 a month, 6k pa which is all your salary just on those.
Yeah, it's a studio apartment so rent is 500 a month. Plus running costs are very low.
Didn't really see the point of going for anything bigger when I live on my own.
 
On 60k .
Misses is on 30.
Mortgage is 1k a month.
Plus bills car etc.
Leaves enough to have one maybe two nice holidays.
5 years left on mortgage then I'm going to hammer the pension for a few years pay in as much as I can possible afford
 
It's honestly tough, bills and train increase in last couple years and my mortgage going up £400 and it's tight.
also, we have to pay back every penny of child benefit as im in a high wage bracket.
That was my point. Looking after your own kids as a choice is way undervalued by Uk society and government policies. My wife looked after our three kids through the 80s and 90s and we managed on my salary but it was tough. Nowadays I don’t think we could do it.
 
Its a particular bugbear of mine how the tax system treats working families. Scandinavia has gone down the route of incentivising people to have kids and providing support to get their birth rate back up. In this country we actually make it much harder for people to have kids and support them, yet we've known for years that the whole population pyramid is broken, so theres not enough people entering the jobs market to support those reaching retirement.

Trying to fix the problem via immigration only works if you can get highly skilled individuals to come to the UK who have properly vetted qualifications and can speak a good standard of English. They then need to remain resident, pay their taxes here and spend their money within the UK economy. Unfortunately based upon my experience at least, we have a knack for making it very difficult for those with the required skill sets to get visas and ILR status, but easy for those who seem to offer little to the UK.
Yes. The Scandinavian model works in a number of different areas. That’s probably why they are always rated very high in the happiness index. They seem to think more beyond the here and now. (Logs onto ‘how to speak finish/swedish/ danish/norwegian in three easy steps’).
 
Yeah, it's a studio apartment so rent is 500 a month. Plus running costs are very low.
Didn't really see the point of going for anything bigger when I live on my own.

Fair play, 500 is a very good rate, even for a studio. Depends on where you live obviously but I was paying 800 in Salford and that was the cheapest I could find without picking somewhere that was falling apart or damp. All the Media City folks drove the prices up like crazy.

I got a phone call from the landlord one day saying the rent was going up by £200 a month. I said “Well then I’m moving”. “Well you’re a good tenant, what can you afford?” “Another £30 a month”. “Deal”. Landlords are just profiteering a lot of the time looking for a quick win from somebody who won’t challenge them. I moved out 6 months later.

London is a whole other story. I was paying 1400 pcm for a shoebox. And that didn’t include any other bills. 21k wouldn’t go far there, can’t imagine anybody living alone there on less than 40k. Want to live outside the city? Well then the trains will cost you 10k a year. I work with young consultants earning 60k+, none of them live alone. Think that says it all.
 
On 60k .
Misses is on 30.
Mortgage is 1k a month.
Plus bills car etc.
Leaves enough to have one maybe two nice holidays.
5 years left on mortgage then I'm going to hammer the pension for a few years pay in as much as I can possible afford
same here, mortgage is a little lower however. I've no kids so will one day in hte next 10 years look to sell up, move abroad and rent for the remainder of my days and maybe freelance a few days per week to keep some income. Currently 46 but hope to retire by 55. Hopefully...
 
Like already mentioned your salary and what’s deemed a comfortable life varies greatly on your personal situation with regards to kids and wife etc.

I personally do okay and make north of 100k, but due to being an idiot and getting lease cars and overspending, plus the cost of childcare etc it means there isn’t much savings and I wouldn’t say I’m particularly well off.

Im genuinely amazed how people on the basic 20k incomes can afford to have a few kids with the cost of living the way it is.

As you get older though you realise happiness isn’t based on wealth but the ones you share and create memories with.

If you earn £100k and don’t feel well off and have significant savings you are monumentally shit at managing your personal finances to the point it should seriously, seriously worry you.
 

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