How much do you need to earn these days for decent life???

[goats]

I have survived on 10k a year (net) and I have survived on 70+. Each time I only spend what I need in order to have a basic life style, work, eat, car, a two holiday a year abroad and the occasional home improvement. Any excess either goes on over paying the mortgage or investments to try and grow the money.
20 years down the line to today - I work because I want to - not have to. There is a rainy day fund and although om paper I have made money due to house price increases - I am concerned about property prices for my kids.

Property is the one area where there money has been poured into because there is no gains to be made from investments / shares / dividends - so yet again the bubble is expanding - and needs to be popped.

Wonder if it will pop when rates go back up to 5%, which they will one day. Interesting to see what people deem important. Happiness and no stress being the main ones, not easily attained in mid mgt level jobs....I was just as happy in my first house which was a wreck, no carpets in most rooms and took years to renovate, little income and spent it all but they were care free days at 23. You might have more cash when older but also more responsibilities like kids/old parents/mgt etc....some people I know have been saying they are "going travelling" forever, mid 40's now and still not gone....and it can never be done as carefree as 23 can it....

[Penarth Blues]

Wonder if it will pop when rates go back up to 5%, which they will one day. Interesting to see what people deem important. Happiness and no stress being the main ones, not easily attained in mid mgt level jobs....I was just as happy in my first house which was a wreck, no carpets in most rooms and took years to renovate, little income and spent it all but they were care free days at 23. You might have more cash when older but also more responsibilities like kids/old parents/mgt etc....some people I know have been saying they are "going travelling" forever, mid 40's now and still not gone....and it can never be done as carefree as 23 can it....

Yours and Lawnmowers views are the ones that resonate most with my views on the world. Money does not make things 'better' generally but does make it different. When you are young everything's possible, which brings contentment, and you're usually achieving progress despite a lack of big money.

I've decided that a decent life comes with health, a loving and supportive environment, but also choices (some of which money is required for). When your choices in life are removed then things become more stressful.

[WJ99mobile]

I think 30k a person. Add 10k for each kid.

[blue matt]

Wonder if it will pop when rates go back up to 5%, which they will one day. Interesting to see what people deem important. Happiness and no stress being the main ones, not easily attained in mid mgt level jobs....I was just as happy in my first house which was a wreck, no carpets in most rooms and took years to renovate, little income and spent it all but they were care free days at 23. You might have more cash when older but also more responsibilities like kids/old parents/mgt etc....some people I know have been saying they are "going travelling" forever, mid 40's now and still not gone....and it can never be done as carefree as 23 can it....

I have mates who were going travelling with me in my early 20's ( around Asia, Australia, then a little of Europe ) , they never made it then back then, but are always talking about the plans to, Christmas time when one of them announced he was getting divorced and was going to drive around Europe then down to Australia ( a trip we had semi planned ) he asked me a convert a LWB sprinter van into a motorhome ( i gave him the plans of it, its a 4 berth plan, but adaptable to suit needs, i gave him the prices and he said " yes great, we will get it started in the new year ) I guess he didnt say which new year and its now about to be May and nothing

as for the bubble, lets hope is doesnt burst, as the people with the 200 - 250 K mortgages will be well and truly knackered

[Heathblue]

Grand a month might cover bills, food is expensive if you like to eat well, 2 grand, 4? Holidays??
Never mind kids.....

Not a lot if you have a good woman and your health.

[insider]

It`s not the money you earn that counts it`s the life you live and the happiness you have that is the real meaning of life.
If you die with nothing but had a great life that is better than dying an unhappy Millionaire.

[J R Hartley]

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...ludeSSTC=false

Houses in Gwent can sell for £35,000. That's £140 a month. Council tax would be about £100 a month. Food - if just you, you could easily eat for £40 a week or £160 a month. £400 a month.

Water rates £50 a month
Electricity and gas, about £80 a month.

£530 a month. Add in house insurance, and a bit for a rainy day, and for £600 a month you could be buying a property in Gwent, eating and living in warmth.

Everything else is, frankly, a luxury. So, it's open to definition of what living comfortably is. I reckon you could live a minimal existence for £8000 per year. And, in 25 years, you'd own your own property. If you could get in a lodger, you could feasibly charge £100-£120 a week for rent and you'd be living on less than £4k a year.

Yeah that sounds a great life. Merely existing.

[Organ Morgan.]

It may have been better if the OP had asked how much disposable income is required for a decent life. After all, those who own their home outright don't have the essential expenditure of servicing a mortgage or paying rent. And what constitutes decent? For a good many it must include at least one holiday each year, while for others' it's no big deal. Few would contend a holiday is a necessity. As one gets older one realises that good health trumps bling of all descriptions.

[ian gibson]

A mate of mine retired at 60, he owned homes in Wales, Spain and Florida, had a tidy sized yacht and plenty of dosh to keep him comfortable in his retirement. He died last year aged 62.

[goats]

A mate of mine retired at 60, he owned homes in Wales, Spain and Florida, had a tidy sized yacht and plenty of dosh to keep him comfortable in his retirement. He died last year aged 62.

Harsh but you often hear of folk popping off soon after retirement. Sounds like he had a lot of good things going, I guess as long as he had lived a full life up until his death that's all you can ask, if he didn't and was waiting to retire to begin living, so to speak, then that's pretty bad. It's not all about cash, if you are happy as a pig in shit in your average house and job then that's all that counts right?

[Ainsley Harriott]

I'd be perfectly happy on £20k a year in south Wales (Barry now, Pontypridd in about 6 months time). That amount rises pretty vastly if I moved to Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, etc

[Tandy]

In this day and age and with the benefit system you can live a decent life without earning a penny.

[Organ Morgan.]

In this day and age and with the benefit system you can live a decent life without earning a penny.

Yeah, I agree. Take Liz Windsor for example. She stuffs £43 million quid in her purse every year courtesy of the Sovereign Grant. Not a bad rate of pay for a spot of occasional half-hearted waving.

[MOZZER2]

some interesting posts on this something i,ve been thinking of for a while

one thing for sure the average person in south wales would not have a chance to work and buy a property in london or even rent a property . ainsley mentioned 20k in south wales but in the south east you wouldn't scratch the surface to survive ! house prices and wages vary from region to region . think the property bubble will burst soon

in terms of money it depends where you live but the most important thing is your health and what you call decent

[Tandy]

Yeah, I agree. Take Liz Windsor for example. She stuffs £43 million quid in her purse every year courtesy of the Sovereign Grant. Not a bad rate of pay for a spot of occasional half-hearted waving.

Liz brings in a few quid in tourism where as Nigel who never done a days work just flew back from Florida with his 6 kids.

[Since64]

Being a few years from retirement l hope **** all as l fully expect after what will be close on fifty years of working and paying tax and NI that the state will keep me,l won't hold my breath(mind you l bet the powers that be wish l would)

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Liz brings in a few quid in tourism where as Nigel who never done a days work just flew back from Florida with his 6 kids.

According to this source the cost of the royal family comes to £334M per annum:
https://www.republic.org.uk/what-we-want/royal-finances

[Vimana.]

I honestly think that the thread title ought to be:

What do we consider to be a 'decent life' these days ? Can we afford it?

If yes, Great.
If not, should we get a bit more realistic and cut our cloth accordingly, or find some other method of funding it (legally, ideally) without it actually half killing us just for the sake of our own material ambitions? ;)

That thought should help determine how much would need to be earned. Or where we need a reality check.
The way I see it is - we all deserve a decent life, but equally we are not entitled to anything that we cannot actually hope to afford.

A lot of folks, friends and colleagues, who I talk to these days seem to have developed material ambitions that are outside their true financial outlook.
Especially in many areas of e.g. Wales where wages are not fantastic, but cultural/material ambitions remain about the same.

[CCFCPhil]

Yeah that sounds a great life. Merely existing.

It would still be a good life in comparison to some around the world. Which means that "decent" life is arbitrary.

The question, really, should be "how much do you spend on luxury items that you feel you can't live without?". It's materialism, and every body wants different things.

[Vimana.]

It would still be a good life in comparison to some around the world. Which means that "decent" life is arbitrary.

The question, really, should be "how much do you spend on luxury items that you feel you can't live without?". It's materialism, and every body wants different things.

^^
Way more succinct than my attempt to say similar.

[J R Hartley]

It would still be a good life in comparison to some around the world. Which means that "decent" life is arbitrary.

The question, really, should be "how much do you spend on luxury items that you feel you can't live without?". It's materialism, and every body wants different things.

Wanting a wife and children is not materialistic and on 150 a week that's simply not possible

[Pearcey3]

Money helps make life easier but the best things in life are free

[ian gibson]

Money helps make life easier but the best things in life are free

They say the best things in life are free, but I would happily pay £250 to see Alan Tate being mauled by a tiger.

[Vimana.]

They say the best things in life are free, but I would happily pay £250 to see Alan Tate being mauled by a tiger.

I bid £260.

Money waiting.

[CCFCPhil]

Wanting a wife and children is not materialistic and on 150 a week that's simply not possible

In my scenario, the person doesn't want a wife or kids. It's an optional extra, many people prefer not to get married or have kids. Me included. Just a £3 a month subscription to Fiesta, 75p a week, and I've got all the nagging I need.