Is 135K GBP (TC) good enough for a comfortable life in London?

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Considering it’s almost 5 times the national average salary, it ought to be.

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Bad benchmark as the average salary has stagnated for years and is not sufficient to live on. Further, the national average includes all of the UK, and London is much more expensive than anywhere else.

I make ~£140k, my partner makes ~£100k, we have 2 kids and live in zone 3 and don’t feel massively comfortable. Housing and childcare takes up ~70% of our take home so we save very little. Luckily we bought a property before kids but salaries in London do not match living expenses except at the higher end

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That's roughly 12k per month take home

£4k mortgage (£800k loan) and £4k nursery fees per month. That's to live in an averagish house and have the privilege of working.

No

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If you don’t have any dependents, I’d say yes.

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Need more information but yes you can live a comfortable life with that salary.

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This is the most subjective question and probably not the place to be asking this as you’ll almost always leave here feeling worse for asking this…

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Yes with no kids, if you can keep your mortgage / rent to less than 25-30% of your net salary and are happy to save anything between £15k and £30k p.a. depending on your lifestyle and objectives

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Depends on how you define comfortable...

It's enough to live by yourself, go on multiple holidays a year, own a decent car (if you want one), and still save.

You could support a family on that salary (it's equivalent to two people earning £55k each), but then you would have to forgo a lot of the luxuries you enjoy, and definitely not be able to send them to private school.

It's not enough to fly business class for each of your holidays and shop primarily luxury brands. Nor is it enough to buy a house/flat that isn't a bit shit (unless you have a large deposit to hand).

Disclaimer: if your granny lived in Notting Hill (or basically anywhere in London) when it was shit and recently passed away, leaving you with a £1m inheritance (this happens a lot, basically anyone whose family is middle class and from London), you can afford the lifestyle of someone earning £200k.

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It depends.

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I make £125K per year base comp and am more than comfortable

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EM

Thanks everyone! Super helpful 😊

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Not even close my burn rate is £7k as a single man without rent. Maybe if you live in zone 3+

funny

Just realised he’s a principal. Makes sense. But £7k burn rate without rent and not enough? Honestly curious what you spend on

If you’re single, should be more than fine.
Rent : 2-2.5k
Groceries, transport, and other fixed stuff: 1k
Restaurants and leisure: 500-1.5k
Total monthly spend (min): 4.5k
You will have ~2k left per month to invest, save or spend as you wish

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For how many people?

More than enough for a decent lifestyle

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How’s many YOE

3-4YOE at Bain will be that TC

Tell me about your vices....

It's all good then my friend!

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