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How much is a good wage?


Turkish
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Following on from our A level chat. What do you think is a good or acceptable wage. Next year it's estimates that the average graduate will earn 7k a year more than a none grad. Given the average wag is 25k apparently that should put them in the 30k area, but with 30k of debt.

 

Given the mortgage needed to buy an averagely priced house is significantly more than 3 x the average wage, What sort of wage should our super being university hero consider to be acceptable? And what about us lesser beings?

Edited by Turkish
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Depends in your up north, in the middle or down south.

 

We (currently) have a joint income of £60k+ and it is about joint when you're married with three kids, and that's ample to live in a nice town, in a nice big house, own two cars and have a couple of decent holidays a year but then I live in Mid-Staffordshire which makes my mortgage about £100k less than the same house in a nice part of Soton for example.

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As a recent graduate in a 'skilled' industry. (Engineering) I know that graduates there would struggle to get in the region of 30k, they would be lucky to get 22k as a starting wage.

 

I would be very curious to know which industries allow for a 30k starting wage for a graduate.

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Following on from our A level chat. What do you think is a good or acceptable wage. Next year it's estimates that the average graduate will earn 7k a year more than a none grad. Given the average wag is 25k apparently that should put them in the 30k area, but with 30k of debt.

 

Given the mortgage needed to buy an averagely priced house is significantly more than 3 x the average wage, What sort of wage should our super being university hero consider to be acceptable? And what about us lesser beings?

 

as a lesser being, who only did 1 year at college (tauntons) went straight into the work place. at 31 I feel I earn more than many of the super beings you mention since working full time since just before my 18th birthday...

 

not always a bad thing gong straight into the work place and pushing yourself that way

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Following on from our A level chat. What do you think is a good or acceptable wage. Next year it's estimates that the average graduate will earn 7k a year more than a none grad. Given the average wag is 25k apparently that should put them in the 30k area, but with 30k of debt.

 

Given the mortgage needed to buy an averagely priced house is significantly more than 3 x the average wage, What sort of wage should our super being university hero consider to be acceptable? And what about us lesser beings?

 

Living in London, you wouldn't stand a chance on £30,000.

 

And the difference between graduate and non-graduate salaries certainly matters here. My nephew and niece, undergraduates at Oxford and LSE respectively, are on a £1000 a week as interns. They expect to be making at least double or treble that when they graduate. All fine, except that it really feels sometimes like London is a different country to the rest of the UK, and with very high (financial) walls around it that anyone from the outside would struggle to climb.

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as a lesser being, who only did 1 year at college (tauntons) went straight into the work place. at 31 I feel I earn more than many of the super beings you mention since working full time since just before my 18th birthday...

 

not always a bad thing gong straight into the work place and pushing yourself that way

 

Many careers need degrees such as medicine, which Mike wants to do and education, which I do but you are correct, workplaced routes are often a better option for many.

 

Personally it's about self-fulfilment and not the bottom line. I find people who judge others by their wage packets rather tiresome in I'm honest.

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Many careers need degrees such as medicine, which Mike wants to do and education, which I do.

 

Personally it's about self-fulfilment and not the bottom line. I find people who judge others by their wage packets rather tiresome in I'm honest.

 

completely agree....but you can provide yourself with a comfy life without any further education...just got to work for it

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as a lesser being, who only did 1 year at college (tauntons) went straight into the work place. at 31 I feel I earn more than many of the super beings you mention since working full time since just before my 18th birthday...

 

not always a bad thing gong straight into the work place and pushing yourself that way

 

Bloody public sector leeches

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completely agree....but you can provide yourself with a comfy life without any further education...just got to work for it

 

Not with the professions VFTT mentioned you can't. If your burning ambition is to do either of those (and a whole host of others) you have to get a long way through the education system.

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would not get out of bed for the sums mentioned above...

 

tragic that graduates earn not a great deal more.....(if at all)

 

At 21/22? You telling me that at 21 graduate age you would be unhappy with that sum....******

Of course in the navy you were earning a relative sum as that at 21!

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Same here. It's all very odd.

 

Who gives a f*ck though really? Having a label stuck on you because of how much you earn and what your parents did for a living. If your dad was a Doctor or a bin man it makes no odds if you're a complete c*nt.

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Who gives a f*ck though really? Having a label stuck on you because of how much you earn and what your parents did for a living. If your dad was a Doctor or a bin man it makes no odds if you're a complete c*nt.

 

We live in the most class-conscious country in the world bar possibly India. It matters. Work in the BBC, for example, and it matters. Or the higher echelons of the Civil Service.

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We live in the most class-conscious country in the world bar possibly India. It matters. Work in the BBC, for example, and it matters. Or the higher echelons of the Civil Service.

 

Hence why i would never want to. You are what you are, not what society tells you you are.

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It all dependent on circumstances. If you're a batchelor living by yourself it's a bit different to having a wife with 3 children. A good wage is a personal opinion and relies on your individual habits and lifestyles IMO. If I move in with the mrs in the next few years we'll have a combined income of nearly £50k a year, and with no kids to worry about at the moment I imagine it will be pretty healthy at 23.

 

We are both graduates, but nearly all of my non-graduate friends are earning more due to some good apprenticeship schemes in this area.

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Doesn't earning 40k a year make you middle class in some sectors now apparently? I'm sure I read that on the mail a while back.

 

Less than that, Id say if a couple are earning 40K together thats a middle class lifestyle right there (in Southampton)

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Not overly. Not beyond food, water, shelter and the ability to have a few good nights out. Having good friends is much more important.

 

I really do not understand those who amalgamate money and just sit on it.

 

Why go to all the trouble of becoming a doctor then?

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Average wage is a bit of a distraction to be honest and doesn't tell the true story. I remember reading back when the average wage was 22K that if you actually earnt that you were in the top 10% of the earning population - just shows how the relatively small number of very big earners skew the average wage figure.

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Why go to all the trouble of becoming a doctor then?

 

Because I am fascinated by it. I really am not motivated by money, and it is by no means guaranteed I'll get into it this year due to the competitiveness of it! I've been looking at Philosophy and Politics degrees too as back up, and I can tell you they aren't generally high earners either.

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In London you don't want to waste too long on under 25k. Just to love adequately you want to be on high 20s and moving up quickly. You can get by on low wages of course, but if you're young and in London, you want to make the most of it, and that costs a bit. Elsewhere in the country it really depends if you want to live alone, have a car etc.

 

I'd definitely accept lower money for a job I enjoyed or valued. I've moved away from the financial sector and with my qualifications i'd be best suited to city jobs really. I could probably get temporary admin jobs in the city that pay more than I've been paid in my permanent jobs. Depends what's important to you. I'm not all anti-money, i'd love lots of it, I'm just terrible at lying, ripping people off, selling things people don't need and bigging myself up.

 

To love is as costly as the morning sun...

 

However, I can't get over the fact that the average teenager gets $19 hour for working in a supermarket/delivering pizza over here (in Oz). This works out at about £35K annually. The average 'adult' wage is only a little bit higher - about £42K. 'Tradies' earn £70K, in the mining industry (not necessarily down the mines) £100K. Rents are about 1.75 times UK, but wverything else is about the same price

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Living on 30k single income and paying a student loan is going to be tight. You will end up with a very modest flat. Not eating out much. Not spending too much on holidays.

 

The trick to comfortable living is " duel income no kids"

 

I struggled hard on my own financially on equivalent of25k + overtime.

 

Avoid jobs that expect you to do overtime for free. Travel costs and time are also key.

 

As you earn money 5-6 weeks annual leave and flexibility to take it is also important. A holiday cottage cost £350 in may and £1200 mid season.

 

Working from home! Saves travel cost and time but does that make you work odd hours or liberate you? Also that spare room in your house cost you £50k and work give you £0-1000 allowance.

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Ah, the dangers of the word average

 

When people want to make wages higher the use the mean

 

But it is dragged up by a small number of people (including footballers) on very high wages

 

For income purposes, the median is a much better measure and it is several thousand lower

 

For a graduate, it is not just starting salary that matter, but also potentail

 

In addition, how hard is the work? For example, commercial law in London has great potential, but when I have dealt with such people, they have to do incredible hours and be available pretty much 24/7

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Because I am fascinated by it. I really am not motivated by money, and it is by no means guaranteed I'll get into it this year due to the competitiveness of it! I've been looking at Philosophy and Politics degrees too as back up, and I can tell you they aren't generally high earners either.

 

So if you became a doctor and were being paid 30k a year, according to some on here enough to get by on your own considering debts, mortgages etc and someone else was doing the same job as you and getting 60k a year, that wouldn't bother you, right?

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I see people saying they "wouldn't get out of bed" for sums that would mean they were vastly better off than 99% of humanity, and others who genuinely think they are struggling on a income as substantial as £30K a year. I can only suggest they try and think about it, open their eyes, and gain a better perspective on what it really means to suffer hardship in this world.

 

I take home significantly less money than the large majority of you reading this, but even I am in truth a wealthy man. Like you I have plenty of food to eat, a roof over my head, and ready access to adequate health care - more than that I can even afford luxury's such as a car and a broadband connection for instance. We should all understand that billions of our fellow human beings can only dream of attaining a standard of living that some on here seemingly take for granted.

 

You, me, more or less everybody in this fortunate country - we're all living on Easy Street.

Edited by CHAPEL END CHARLIE
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Because I am fascinated by it. I really am not motivated by money, and it is by no means guaranteed I'll get into it this year due to the competitiveness of it! I've been looking at Philosophy and Politics degrees too as back up, and I can tell you they aren't generally high earners either.

 

wait till get out in the big wide world and the harsh realities of paying bills/mortgage/car etc really hit

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wait till get out in the big wide world and the harsh realities of paying bills/mortgage/car etc really hit

 

Indeed, I really can't understand people who aren't motivated by money. Having money doesn't make you happy, but it's far nicer to know you're secure and not scratching around for money at the end of every month.

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Indeed, I really can't understand people who aren't motivated by money. Having money doesn't make you happy, but it's far nicer to know you're secure and not scratching around for money at the end of every month.

 

The only people that say money doesnt make you happy are the ones that don't f*cking have any.

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