£100k a year doesn’t go far you know

[GingerTravel]

"I don’t feel guilty for those that didn’t have the same drive to do well or have a different work ethic."
So I am sure you're right, and everyone you grew up with got exactly what they deserved in life based on how hard they worked for it. Given that, I can understand how hard it must be for you to see that your mates stories (and your own) aren't everyone's circumstances. For the Chancellor of the Exchequer of His Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom to say that he thinks an important part of his work in the next few months should be to look at ways of helping families with an income of 100,000 GBP as it doesn't stretch as far as it used to is an amazingly politically inept position to take, at the very least.

Or, perhaps it's a damage limitation exercise for the MP from South West Surrey (one of the few Tories who might survive post election) appealing to his core demographic. It's a ridiculous statement countrywide (£100k up north is a extremely high salary) but I do get the point he was trying to make (badly) - which is that the cost of housing and childcare in a few very expensive areas in the south means that what seems a very high income doesn't go as far as one might think.

 

[festa5]

Or, perhaps it's a damage limitation exercise for the MP from South West Surrey (one of the few Tories who might survive post election).

He's standing down (another ).

Agree there's maybe a valid point in there somewhere although it's still a very good wage and you should still be pretty comfortable even down south. But depends on things like how big your mortgage is of course.

What he fails to mention is most of the factors squeezing people on that wage are down to the government. And those factors will be squeezing those on middle and lower incomes just as much.

No one on £100k is going to be unable to feed their kids.

 

[JM14]

Maybe not but it’s not as ridiculous as some of the posts on a Middlesbrough forum suggesting people on 100k are “not well off”.

It’s all relative or course. I’ve got a decent salary (not 100k) but if I moved to Monaco and tried to buy a yacht I think I’d be struggling a bit.

£100k in the north east would probably give you a very comfortable life. In the south east it really isn’t ridiculous to suggest that some people might be struggling on that, clearly they won’t be struggling to the extent of having to use food banks but £100k will go nowhere in that part of the world. Imagine mortgage costs and child care could take a huge amount of that away before you consider any other bills

 

[Alzi]

£100k in the north east would probably give you a very comfortable life. In the south east it really isn’t ridiculous to suggest that some people might be struggling on that, clearly they won’t be struggling to the extent of having to use food banks but £100k will go nowhere in that part of the world. Imagine mortgage costs and child care could take a huge amount of that away before you consider any other bills

Yes I do agree. Some of the earlier posts weren't being as specific as that and just stating that 100K wasn't that much these days. I imagine 100K in some parts of, for example the SE, equate to roughly a 50k lifestyle in most of the NE.

Not rich but certainly not on the breadline. It was a pretty ill advised comment by Hunt regardless of the context.

 

[Unravel_Morrison]

£100k in the north east would probably give you a very comfortable life.

You think? Flipping hell.

 

[italianjob]

You can only say £100K is a lot/not a lot when you apply it to living in a particular area/town/city?

 

[Unravel_Morrison]

You can only say £100K is a lot/not a lot when you apply it to living in a particular area/town/city?

I live in a fairly nice area on the edge of London. Throw me 100k now.

 

[italianjob]

I live in a fairly nice area on the edge of London. Throw me 100k now.

I'm sure £100K in the Boro would go a lot further?

 

[Chris_Boro]

The massive difference is, if you're struggling on £100k, you're likely to have many options available to recover. If you're struggling on minimum wage, you're not.

 

[JM14]

You think? Flipping hell.

Well it all depends on context. A single person living in Middlesbrough on £100k probably wouldn’t have a single money worry and would be very comfortable.
A £100k wage for a family living in central newcastle clearly wouldn’t give someone a life of luxury

 

[JM14]

.

Not rich but certainly not on the breadline. It was a pretty ill advised comment by Hunt regardless of the context.

definitely agree with this, it’s always something that would be taken out of context to make them look even more out of touch. Plus I’m sure anyone in that situation who is struggling, would likely be due to failures of this current government

 

[Nero]

The massive difference is, if you're struggling on £100k, you're likely to have many options available to recover. If you're struggling on minimum wage, you're not.

That is a very good point.

I use to work with an Engineer offshore who earned over 100k. He bought a massive house and then complained he was skint all the time. The extra mortgage took up loads of disposable income, but at least he could sell and move to a more modest place.

If someone is struggling and not earning much it’s likely to become a spiral that will be tough to get out of.

 

[Nano]

I earn a lot more than I used to earn (still nowhere near £100k!) but it doesn't feel like I have more money and I probably don't. I had a smaller house, my wife was also working full time, our mortgage was smaller, I walked to work so only needed one car, no childcare costs or fees for all their clubs, holidays could be taken outside school holidays etc. It felt like saving money was fairly easy and I could put a decent chunk away each month and still have money left over to go eat out several times a week and have holidays all over the world and just buy stuff.

I am definitely wealthier now because things like my bigger mortgage means I have more equity in my house etc but I don't save as much directly and I have other spending priorities which means the things I could just splurge on in the past I have to think about now. It feels like I have less than I did so context is important.

I am aware though that if I really needed to I could buy a smaller house, go back to one car, not send the kids to all their clubs, cancel TV subscriptions etc. I do have choices that would allow em to be ok if I was forced into it and so do people on £100k in an expensive area. Simple solution is to just move somewhere cheaper. That is not something that is an option for people on low wages.

I think some people think about £100k in the context of what extra they could use that money for in their lifestyle and think of it almost like being able to live the millionaire lifestyle but someone on £100k is far closer to someone on minimum wage in terms of lifestyle than they are to the truly wealthy worth millions or billions.

 

[Jonny_Rondos_Disco_pants]

I earn a lot more than I used to earn (still nowhere near £100k!) but it doesn't feel like I have more money and I probably don't. I had a smaller house, my wife was also working full time, our mortgage was smaller, I walked to work so only needed one car, no childcare costs or fees for all their clubs, holidays could be taken outside school holidays etc. It felt like saving money was fairly easy and I could put a decent chunk away each month and still have money left over to go eat out several times a week and have holidays all over the world and just buy stuff.

I am definitely wealthier now because things like my bigger mortgage means I have more equity in my house etc but I don't save as much directly and I have other spending priorities which means the things I could just splurge on in the past I have to think about now. It feels like I have less than I did so context is important.

I am aware though that if I really needed to I could buy a smaller house, go back to one car, not send the kids to all their clubs, cancel TV subscriptions etc. I do have choices that would allow em to be ok if I was forced into it and so do people on £100k in an expensive area. Simple solution is to just move somewhere cheaper. That is not something that is an option for people on low wages.

I think some people think about £100k in the context of what extra they could use that money for in their lifestyle and think of it almost like being able to live the millionaire lifestyle but someone on £100k is far closer to someone on minimum wage in terms of lifestyle than they are to the truly wealthy worth millions or billions.

This

 

[Unravel_Morrison]

Absolute nonsense. If you earn 100K a year you are in the top 5%.

 

[Nano]

Absolute nonsense. If you earn 100K a year you are in the top 5%.

But it is relative. That puts you in the top 5% in the UK but woldwide even minimum wage gets you in the top 10% and you wouldn't argue they were rich.

 

[The_Lizards_Jumpers]

At least everyone is getting angry at people who earn £100k and not at those millionaires / billionaires influencing policy decisions and avoiding large scale tax.

Good work Hunt.

 

[Chris_Boro]

At least everyone is getting angry at people who earn £100k and not at those millionaires / billionaires influencing policy decisions and avoiding large scale tax.

Good work Hunt.

They are angry at Hunt, the multi millionaire, being out of touch and potentially using tax payers money to assist the lifestyle (in the majority of cases) of people who don't need it.

This isn't some mystical 4D chess being played by Hunt, he's just looking after the demographic that's more likely to look after him (pay his rentals).

 

[The_Lizards_Jumpers]

They are angry at Hunt, the multi millionaire, being out of touch and potentially using tax payers money to assist the lifestyle (in the majority of cases) of people who don't need it.

This isn't some mystical 4D chess being played by Hunt, he's just looking after the demographic that's more likely to look after him (pay his rentals).

No they're not though.

They're focusing on his statement, and getting angry at anyone who suggest that's he may have a some semblance of a point when you look at the cost of things like housing, childcare, transport etc especially in the SE - it's an alternative version of "but they all have big TV's and the latest phones", for example the poster people bringing St Moritiz into it - people earning £100k in Surrey are not hanging with Bezos or skiing in St Moritiz they're not starving either of course.

 

[Glover_elbow]

He's standing down (another ).

Agree there's maybe a valid point in there somewhere although it's still a very good wage and you should still be pretty comfortable even down south. But depends on things like how big your mortgage is of course.

What he fails to mention is most of the factors squeezing people on that wage are down to the government. And those factors will be squeezing those on middle and lower incomes just as much.

No one on £100k is going to be unable to feed their kids

100k sounds like a fortune but its comfortable rather than rich. Especially with children, childcare, university costs etc