In the news

Yeah, I went there on my second post. Agreed.

I have a friend who did inherit a flat in Highbury. It really has made a big difference to his life. Housing premanently sorted out, earn £30k like you say, and he had money for beer. Want to leave London (or the country) for a few months/years, rent it out and live on the money. I am not bitter, when I first arrived in London, I rented the place off him for £50 a week. A while ago, but it was a very good price for a 2 bedroom flat in Highbury :-)

He's coming back from South America today, been there three months. I'll meet him after work and we shall drink and talk of the old days. I love drinking with friends. Is that news?

Which to be honest, for the majority of people I know once you're mortgage free you tend to be happier regardless of wage.

Studies have shown again and again that wealth, and feelings of wealth are almost entirely relative, once you get over a basic, £20k sort of wage. Once the basics are taken care of, you start looking as to whether you are earning more or less than the people you know.

I have felt this in action as well. Moving from Hackney to Islington has made me feel poorer. The people I know now, parents at my children's schools that sort of thing, are more wealthy than the people I knew in Hackney (overall, as a group).

Polly Toynebee and some bloke wrote a book about this a year or two ago. I bought it for my girlfrined, she filtered back some of the highlights. I've forgotten all of it. But I do remember it was really interesting

It was totally relevant to this debate. Someone should read the book and wade in with some informed opinion

Studies have shown again and again that wealth, and feelings of wealth are almost entirely relative, once you get over a basic, £20k sort of wage. Once the basics are taken care of, you start looking as to whether you are earning more or less than the people you know.

I thought £20k is very high.

olaf von pokemon ;

is this the book?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Work-Life-Low-pay-Britain/dp/0747564159

^yeah that's the one.

I seem to remmeber they asked different groups what they thought constituted top 10% of earnings. All of them were wrong (I think); all inflated (deflated too possibly) by looking around thier peer groups. A bit like the Hackney/Islington analogy ^^

Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a similar account of living on the minimum wage in the US.

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nickel-Dimed-Barbara-Ehrenreich/dp/1847082629/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360933019&sr=1-3"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nickel-Dimed-Barbara-Ehrenreich/dp/1847082629/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360933019&sr=1-3[/ame]

Polly Toynebee and some bloke wrote a book about this a year or two ago. I bought it for my girlfrined, she filtered back some of the highlights. I've forgotten all of it. But I do remember it was really interesting

It was totally relevant to this debate. Someone should read the book and wade in with some informed opinion

um .... are you mad
informed opinion, that isn't what the internet is for

mad ranting diatribes is what we want here

^yeah that's the one.

I seem to remmeber they asked different groups what they thought constituted top 10% of earnings. All of them were wrong (I think); all inflated (deflated too possibly) by looking around thier peer groups. A bit like the Hackney/Islington analogy ^^

Nice - might see if I can buy it on Kindle.

I think regional variations are interesting too.

I agree completely with your first sentence. I do think however that it is our duty as citizens to keep things in perpective about society as a whole and not just forget that £40k is a shit-load to most people just because we got a good job and have rich mates.

Hold on a second there Jeez, that is a bit unfair. Things are as I described, my mate has a flat. I didn't mention, but it is true that I do have a decent job. But don't forget his mum died for him to get the (small) flat. And trust me, I have to watch the money like most. There's a hat full of kids at home eating me out of cheerios and milk. Don't get personal.

Nice - might see if I can buy it on Kindle.

I think regional variations are interesting too.

Kindle? well la-de-da!

I thought £20k is very high.

I'm not passing judgement on what £20k is. I am reporting the studies I mentioned. They find that is the number (or around there) after which there is no appreciable increase in happiness as you earn more.

Phew, seem to be taking some flak here. Not justified, I am just trying to inform, add to the debate, pass my lunch hour.

I came here for Oscar Pistorius jokes, not informed intellectual debate.

I think £50k is a large salary because it is.

Or should I say I think £50k is a large salary because it is compared to what the vast majority of people earn?

I think that the second version of my sentence is unnecessarily long because it should go without saying that talking about whether a salary is small or large only has meaning in comparison to what others earn.

agreed, but i look at the 80k mark as daft big. and yes its all about comparason and meaning

Oh, OK, sensitive me :-)

I came here for Oscar Pistorius jokes, not informed intellectual debate.

Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius denies murder charge on the grounds that his girlfriend was a replicant and he merely 'retired' her.

I am ashamed to have issued a small yet disceranble lol:

'Chubby Checker sues Hewlett-Packard over app to measure penis size.'

Chubby Checker app has caused 'irreparable damage' to singer of same name, say lawyers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/feb/14/chubby-checker-sues-hewlett-packard

I never would've known about this had he not sued and you posted.

Hahaha chubby checker hahahaha!

My guesses were not that bad, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom , the section called "Percentile points for income of individuals before tax".

Top 10% is £50k p.a.
Top 5% is £68.5k p.a.
Top 1% is £156k p.a.

So, the top 1%, paying 24% of tax starts to make more sense. Not being funny, but £156k is not a huge amount. There are getting on for 250,000 people earning that, according to a rough reworking of the preceding table in the Wikipedia article.

People drop that kind of cash on a night out.

Not being funny, but if I was in charge the first thing I would do is charge double tax to anyone who says "Not being funny, but £156k is not a huge amount"

It's not a huge amount.

UBS noob banker lost £1 fucking billion pounds of other people's money.

How much does one of those footballkickers earn?

What's a lottery win these days?

Unlikely.

I'll be accused of Sophistry (or worse) for this- but the £value of your salary is meaningless (as others have pointed out), without taking into account cost of living.

£40,000 is a great salary in the North East of England, given cost of housing etc etc, it goes a far shorter distance in london.

RIP Jaco Pastorius.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.299131.1314369921!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/alg-phil-spector-jpg.jpg

Director of Blade Runner.

£40k is shoot the plebs outside your door for shits and giggles rich up here.

Exactly- £40K barely covers your croissants here.