What salary are you happy with these days?

[England87]

How are you able to get under the threshold for child benefit? I have been just over and not had a penny of it for four years? Thanks.

I’ve never tried to claim due to fearing messing up the tax and getting a big bill to pay it back.

[Starjet99]

67Dino said:

By way of a contrary view, my experience is that as you move up the ladder it’s less stressful not more. You’ve much more control, and for me the stress of a job is when other people want you to do things you don’t.

By the time you’re CEO, you decide your working hours, approach and priorities, and if you’ve an idea, you implement it. You’ve still got employees, customers, board members and investors/ shareholders to keep happy, so I’m not saying there’s no stress. But it’s much less stress than when someone else (who may or may not be that smart) is telling you what to do and judging your output.

Just wanted to challenge this idea that to earn more money you have to have a ‘worse’ job. Personally, I think you can expect to enjoy work more, not less, as your role becomes more senior and better paid. Win win...

I agree with this and can relate.

Whilst jobs towards the top of the tree carry a lot more accountability and (some) additional stress because of it, you have less people above you to give you directives and you have a team/teams/a whole organisation to delegate the 'work' to, leaving you to concentrate on strategy and strategic priorities rather than doing a lot of the actual work yourself. You can, as mentioned, to a certain degree set your own hours or approach to work.

[WhiskyDisco]

England87 said:

How are you able to get under the threshold for child benefit? I have been just over and not had a penny of it for four years? Thanks.

I’ve never tried to claim due to fearing messing up the tax and getting a big bill to pay it back.

Hi England, you need to claim the benefit on the one hand, then on the other hand reduce your "net income" (not net of tax, but net of contributions) by contributing to a pension or charity. I do it through my employer - I just tell them the percentage to "sacrifice" and they do it.

[England87]

WhiskyDisco said:

England87 said:

How are you able to get under the threshold for child benefit? I have been just over and not had a penny of it for four years? Thanks.

I’ve never tried to claim due to fearing messing up the tax and getting a big bill to pay it back.

Hi England, you need to claim the benefit on the one hand, then on the other hand reduce your "net income" (not net of tax, but net of contributions) by contributing to a pension or charity. I do it through my employer - I just tell them the percentage to "sacrifice" and they do it.

I will look into how to up the pension, have you had any tax issues? That’s my biggest fear why I’ve never claimed, even though I could have got a little bit as I know what HMRC can be like and suddenly decide you owe them it all back etc? Have you used a financial advisor to help? Thanks

Edited by England87 on Tuesday 20th October 16:27

[Rob_125]

cavey76 said:

Rob_125 said:

I'm fairly content with my salary - £37k although around £42k after certain allowances. That said earning potential is easily 50-60k with away jobs, shift work and overtime. As other have said in just cannot justify getting several promotions for a 50k salary, it's not worth the hassle. The missus is on 30k. So we average around 80k combined income which is super comfortable at the moment. Probably saving around a combined 3k a month at the moment, but this will change when we upsize and get a mortgage again.

So you’re effectively living off of your wifes salary day to day as you sound like you save the entirety of yours after tax?

In essence yes, but what we earn is our own to a certain extent (that will change if kids came along clearly!). Mrs lumps over £140/month to cover half of day to day bills (gas/water/elec/council tax), we split food shop 50/50 and I cover house maintenance and insurance. Trust each other to not piss it up the wall but to enjoy it as and when we please.

[95JO]

Rob_125 said:

In essence yes, but what we earn is our own to a certain extent (that will change if kids came along clearly!). Mrs lumps over £140/month to cover half of day to day bills (gas/water/elec/council tax), we split food shop 50/50 and I cover house maintenance and insurance. Trust each other to not piss it up the wall but to enjoy it as and when we please.

Why not get your salaries paid in to your own accounts and open a joint account purely for household bills which you both pay in to on pay day.

Split the total amount of household bills by percentage of take home pay, it's the fairest possible way and reduces the chances of you getting on each others nerves for stupid purchases.

It works for me and my OH, I pay 61.65% of our total bills as I earn more, we adjust whenever one of us gets a pay rise.

[WhiskyDisco]

England87 said:

WhiskyDisco said:

England87 said:

How are you able to get under the threshold for child benefit? I have been just over and not had a penny of it for four years? Thanks.

I’ve never tried to claim due to fearing messing up the tax and getting a big bill to pay it back.

Hi England, you need to claim the benefit on the one hand, then on the other hand reduce your "net income" (not net of tax, but net of contributions) by contributing to a pension or charity. I do it through my employer - I just tell them the percentage to "sacrifice" and they do it.

I will look into how to up the pension, have you had any tax issues? That’s my biggest fear why I’ve never claimed, even though I could have got a little bit as I know what HMRC can be like and suddenly decide you owe them it all back etc? Have you used a financial advisor to help? Thanks

Edited by England87 on Tuesday 20th October 16:27

Since I started this arrangement I have had no tax issues. The reason I got into this was because I started a PAYE job having operated as a director of a limited company for many years. Because I was being paid by dividend HMRC assumed that when I started my PAYE job that I would continue to receive my dividend. I was put on a "special K" tax code that meant -£35k. I think my expected earnings was being claculated at £125k overall. A few interesting things happen that this level:
1. the child benefit HIBC
2. the loss of 50p in the £1 of personal allowance after £100k

It was ridiculous. I was being taxed at the maximum of 50% of my wage packet - and still not paying enough to clear my tax liability! Something had to be done, and that was to tell HMRC that the dividends were no more, and to start sacrificing.

My company have a financial advisor who I met with. He explained all, including the ability to roll over any unused pension allowances from previous years.

I think it's easier to claim, then pay any tax charge, than to stop claiming altogether. Who knows what the future will hold...?

[England87]

WhiskyDisco said:

England87 said:

WhiskyDisco said:

England87 said:

How are you able to get under the threshold for child benefit? I have been just over and not had a penny of it for four years? Thanks.

I’ve never tried to claim due to fearing messing up the tax and getting a big bill to pay it back.

Hi England, you need to claim the benefit on the one hand, then on the other hand reduce your "net income" (not net of tax, but net of contributions) by contributing to a pension or charity. I do it through my employer - I just tell them the percentage to "sacrifice" and they do it.

I will look into how to up the pension, have you had any tax issues? That’s my biggest fear why I’ve never claimed, even though I could have got a little bit as I know what HMRC can be like and suddenly decide you owe them it all back etc? Have you used a financial advisor to help? Thanks

Edited by England87 on Tuesday 20th October 16:27

Since I started this arrangement I have had no tax issues. The reason I got into this was because I started a PAYE job having operated as a director of a limited company for many years. Because I was being paid by dividend HMRC assumed that when I started my PAYE job that I would continue to receive my dividend. I was put on a "special K" tax code that meant -£35k. I think my expected earnings was being claculated at £125k overall. A few interesting things happen that this level:
1. the child benefit HIBC
2. the loss of 50p in the £1 of personal allowance after £100k

It was ridiculous. I was being taxed at the maximum of 50% of my wage packet - and still not paying enough to clear my tax liability! Something had to be done, and that was to tell HMRC that the dividends were no more, and to start sacrificing.

My company have a financial advisor who I met with. He explained all, including the ability to roll over any unused pension allowances from previous years.

I think it's easier to claim, then pay any tax charge, than to stop claiming altogether. Who knows what the future will hold...?

Ok thanks, I just stopped claiming altogether as it seemed the easiest option at the time. I’ve always been paye so don’t have a clue about tax returns, self assessments etc!

[NickCQ]

95JO said:

Split the total amount of household bills by percentage of take home pay ... 61.65%

Nothing says marital bliss like squabbling over the second decimal place to ensure fairness.
100% joint account for me, no side pockets or 'my money / your money'

[England87]

England87 said:

WhiskyDisco said:

England87 said:

WhiskyDisco said:

England87 said:

How are you able to get under the threshold for child benefit? I have been just over and not had a penny of it for four years? Thanks.

I’ve never tried to claim due to fearing messing up the tax and getting a big bill to pay it back.

Hi England, you need to claim the benefit on the one hand, then on the other hand reduce your "net income" (not net of tax, but net of contributions) by contributing to a pension or charity. I do it through my employer - I just tell them the percentage to "sacrifice" and they do it.

I will look into how to up the pension, have you had any tax issues? That’s my biggest fear why I’ve never claimed, even though I could have got a little bit as I know what HMRC can be like and suddenly decide you owe them it all back etc? Have you used a financial advisor to help? Thanks

Edited by England87 on Tuesday 20th October 16:27

Since I started this arrangement I have had no tax issues. The reason I got into this was because I started a PAYE job having operated as a director of a limited company for many years. Because I was being paid by dividend HMRC assumed that when I started my PAYE job that I would continue to receive my dividend. I was put on a "special K" tax code that meant -£35k. I think my expected earnings was being claculated at £125k overall. A few interesting things happen that this level:
1. the child benefit HIBC
2. the loss of 50p in the £1 of personal allowance after £100k

It was ridiculous. I was being taxed at the maximum of 50% of my wage packet - and still not paying enough to clear my tax liability! Something had to be done, and that was to tell HMRC that the dividends were no more, and to start sacrificing.

My company have a financial advisor who I met with. He explained all, including the ability to roll over any unused pension allowances from previous years.

I think it's easier to claim, then pay any tax charge, than to stop claiming altogether. Who knows what the future will hold...?

Ok thanks, I just stopped claiming altogether as it seemed the easiest option at the time. I’ve always been paye so don’t have a clue about tax returns, self assessments etc! someone we know got a £7k tax bill for historical child benefit payments

[paralla]

95JO said:

Why not get your salaries paid in to your own accounts and open a joint account purely for household bills which you both pay in to on pay day.

Split the total amount of household bills by percentage of take home pay, it's the fairest possible way and reduces the chances of you getting on each others nerves for stupid purchases.

It works for me and my OH, I pay 61.65% of our total bills as I earn more, we adjust whenever one of us gets a pay rise.

Splitting shared expenses to two decimal places. Sounds romantic.

[NickCQ]

England87 said:

Ok thanks, I just stopped claiming altogether as it seemed the easiest option at the time. I’ve always been paye so don’t have a clue about tax returns, self assessments etc! someone we know got a £7k tax bill for historical child benefit payments

Yes, but they can just pay the £7k out of the additional money they received / didn't pay in tax? Generally the actual penalty component of these things is small.

[England87]

NickCQ said:

England87 said:

Ok thanks, I just stopped claiming altogether as it seemed the easiest option at the time. I’ve always been paye so don’t have a clue about tax returns, self assessments etc! someone we know got a £7k tax bill for historical child benefit payments

Yes, but they can just pay the £7k out of the additional money they received / didn't pay in tax? Generally the actual penalty component of these things is small.

I think it was more the unexpected nature of it.

[768]

paralla said:

95JO said:

It works for me and my OH, I pay 61.65% of our total bills as I earn more, we adjust whenever one of us gets a pay rise.

Splitting shared expenses to two decimal places. Sounds romantic.

I have some sympathy with it (though it's not quite what we do). It's far more romantic than her burning through a joint account as well as her own and there being nothing left when the tax man comes knocking, again.

My wife earned over £50k last year and still is £6k short on her January tax bill.

[PushedDover]

Countdown said:

klan8456 said:

Not familiar with this child credit - is this the government subsidising you to have children? Why would they do that? Surely it’s a personal choice and if you have kids it’s your financial responsibility?

Are you familiar with the concept of welfare benefits?

Hmm, Google says :
"
Welfare refers to a range of government programs that provide financial or other aid to individuals or groups who cannot support themselves. ... In most cases, people who use welfare will receive a biweekly or monthly payment"


hence my comment earlier

[WhiskyDisco]

England87 said:

Ok thanks, I just stopped claiming altogether as it seemed the easiest option at the time. I’ve always been paye so don’t have a clue about tax returns, self assessments etc!

I'd be chuffed to learn that you had managed to claw those benefits back, and started to build up a pension fund going forwards. A nice pension buys a better Jaaag, and a nice pair of driving gloves afterall.

[Kent Border Kenny]

England87 said:

I will look into how to up the pension, have you had any tax issues? That’s my biggest fear why I’ve never claimed, even though I could have got a little bit as I know what HMRC can be like and suddenly decide you owe them it all back etc? Have you used a financial advisor to help? Thanks

Edited by England87 on Tuesday 20th October 16:27

I think that the child benefit calculation allows you to reduce your salary to receive it by design, so it's not really a loophole, it is an expected behaviour that the government is happy to encourage, as it will reduce your dependence on them in later life.

[Kent Border Kenny]

NickCQ said:

Nothing says marital bliss like squabbling over the second decimal place to ensure fairness.
100% joint account for me, no side pockets or 'my money / your money'

We go the opposite way, we pay in the same amount to a joint account to cover the bills, and look after the rest of our money ourselves.

It's comfortable (for us) as, for example, it means that there's no disagreement possible about how we each spend our extra, discretionary cash.

In practice there's quite a bit of mixing, as if I book the holiday I'm not likely to then ask her to split the bill, but we just see no need to mingle all of the money.

[CX53]

768 said:

paralla said:

95JO said:

It works for me and my OH, I pay 61.65% of our total bills as I earn more, we adjust whenever one of us gets a pay rise.

Splitting shared expenses to two decimal places. Sounds romantic.

I have some sympathy with it (though it's not quite what we do). It's far more romantic than her burning through a joint account as well as her own and there being nothing left when the tax man comes knocking, again.

My wife earned over £50k last year and still is £6k short on her January tax bill.

Its actually not a bad way to do things, we do something similar although it's only rough, not to two decimal places.

It works out nicely leaving my OH plenty of spare cash and me too, and we don't have to run purchases past each other like you would with a joint account, you could easily end up overdrawn that way if you both decided to make a big purchase at the same time without talking about it (unless massive PH director bank balance of course).

Having to run purchases past my Mrs would annoy me pretty quickly but I'm open to having a full joint account when we are married with kids.

[England87]

WhiskyDisco said:

England87 said:

Ok thanks, I just stopped claiming altogether as it seemed the easiest option at the time. I’ve always been paye so don’t have a clue about tax returns, self assessments etc!

I'd be chuffed to learn that you had managed to claw those benefits back, and started to build up a pension fund going forwards. A nice pension buys a better Jaaag, and a nice pair of driving gloves afterall.

Thanks, I do have a good pension building up fortunately and some investments. Just find the tax side very confusing and dangerous to get anything wrong.