Did you/your spouse move to Wales from the US for an executive position?

In my Britain I think only about 5% of the population owned a mortgage so I maybe in a time warp.

I think you have it slightly wrong, Jim.  Perhaps people who were middle class in the '80's and were sensible live in this kind of lifestyle, but many don't.  Those who are now reaching 30 and are middle class are finding they can't get on the mortgage ladder or will certainly end up in lots of debt.

Most people are struggling one way or another.

Vicky

I think you live in the Greater London area so your circumstance maybe different than those who live out yonder???

Indeed it is true that things are particular hard for those of us in London, where the cost of living is just stupidly high compared with salaries.  But house prices all over the country are very high, and there are people in urban, suburban and rural areas who are priced out of the house market.

Vicky

Indeed it is true that things are particular hard for those of us in London, where the cost of living is just stupidly high compared with salaries.  But house prices all over the country are very high, and there are people in urban, suburban and rural areas who are priced out of the house market.

Vicky

The world is bigger than owning a house, if you get my meaning, but then I think I was the one who brought it up in the first place.

I agree totally.  But this is a good measure of the economic state of individuals.

Vicky

I hope this helps the OP.  It's just an anecdotal story from my company.

A few years ago an American was sent over to take over as MD of our company.  We are a financial services company based in London, so there is that culture to take into account.  Anyway a few months into his job, the MD noticed that people tended to head to the pub for lunch on Fridays and not come back until much later in the afternoon, usually after a few pints.  He wasn't used to this behaviour in America and issued a statement that people who were going to take longer lunches than usual on Friday, need not come back to the office.  The next Friday....very few people were in the office on that Friday afternoon.  I forget the exact wording of his email message, but what he meant to do was discourage drinking on work time.  But the guys all read it as getting a friday afternoon off work, as they didn't see the problem with having a few pints on a friday afternoon. 

Point of story...the UK is different from the US.  Just make sure he doesn't come in all guns blazing or he could have problems with the staff. 

I have found that people in my office generally take to Americans in higher up positions, so long as they can take a joke and go with the flow.  Anyone at my company who has a company car has a BMW or Mercedes, but not flashy convertibles or the really high spec ones.  Just good sized sedans that I imagine can accommodate clients if need be.  I don't think Mercedes and BMWs are seen as quite the status symbols as they are in America.  They are good sized, reliable cars which on a MD's salary should be affordable.  I gather from your posts that your DH isn't looking to buy a Ferrari, so he should be fine with something sensible that suits your family.  I have to say I would be shocked if my MD rocked up to the office in a Ford Focus.  So I can see why your husband was given some guidance from a superior. 

Good luck with the move!  I am sure it will go well. 

I think you live in the Greater London area so your circumstance maybe different than those who live out yonder???

No, I think she's pretty much spot on for the whole of Britain today.

I am not sure what 'status appropriate living' means.  Most in the UK have 'income allowable living' which is quite different! 


Vicky

I would say 'status appropriate living' is the same as 'income allowable living', at this point we are splitting hairs and dealing in semantics.

When you have a certain job, you earn a certain income, and people have a general idea of what incomes are tied to certain jobs and as such will attach a certain status to that job.

An executive is expected to have a higher income/status than his middle manangers, who in turn are expected to have higher income/status than the individual people who report to them, who in turn are expected to have higher income/status than the 20 year old kid in the mail room.

Nothing is set in stone, and nobody is forced to follow any rigid set of rules/expectations, but since the beginning of time status appropriate delineations have existed in every society, and I am sure that they exist in the UK.

An executive is expected to have a higher income/status than his middle manangers, who in turn are expected to have higher income/status than the individual people who report to them, who in turn are expected to have higher income/status than the 20 year old kid in the mail room.

That's fair enough, but UK wages can be much lower than US wages and so even if you are a fairly high-up manager in the UK and earn a higher wage than the employees below you, that doesn't necessarily mean you can afford a big house or an expensive car.

I am trying to get into the Geophysics field, and according to the UK graduate careers websites, the highest wage I could earn at top level after several years in the field is £40,000-£45,000. However, the same job in the US could pay around $150,000, maybe several thousand more! On a £45,000 salary (which is similar to my parents' combined income) I could just about afford to get a nice 3 or 4-bed family home in the suburbs (albeit with a large mortgage) and maybe a nice family car, but I doubt I could afford a big house or an expensive car.

Yikes, £45,000 is less than $70,000. You're telling me your US equivalent at the top level could make twice as much you, while living in a (most likely) cheaper place? That is wild, if I were you I'd be looking for a job in the US, I know of a great downtown condo in Houston, TX coming free around the August timeframe  .

But your post illustrates the point even more, the levels of expectation of status could be higher/lower depending on the position between the two countries, which makes the OP's question even more valid. It could be just as easily that what we consider an average lifestyle over here, is considered garish and ostentatious over there, i.e. if in your case I went from my U.S. job where my peers made $150,000 to a position in the U.K. where my new peers made less than $70,000, however I was still making the same $150,000, and nobody said anything to me about that disparity? My goodness it would probably be a car crash of things that I would do, say, drive, live-in, and visit that would make my peers think I was the most obnoxious show pony in the history of the world. All the while I think I am living normally, and wondering why my co-workers are giving me dirty looks haha.

i.e. if in your case I went from my U.S. job where my peers made $150,000 to a position in the U.K. where my new peers made less than $70,000, however I was still making the same $150,000, and nobody said anything to me about that disparity? My goodness it would probably be a car crash of things that I would do, say, drive, live-in, and visit that would make my peers think I was the most obnoxious show pony in the history of the world. All the while I think I am living normally, and wondering why my co-workers are giving me dirty looks haha.

To be honest, that scenario would probably never happen - if you moved from a US job to a UK job, your salary would have to be changed to fall in line with your UK peers and you would end up taking a pay cut from $150,000 to $70,000 as the UK company probably would not be able to afford that $150,000 salary.

But, it's not actually in my case because I am a British citizen and was born and raised in England. Although I have 2 UK masters degrees (in Physics and Geophysics), I am currently working in a just-above-minimum-wage job in retail because I can't even get a £20,000-a-year, bottom-of-the-rungs graduate geophysics job in this economic climate.

Personally, I don't care about the cheaper housing/cost of living/higher wage in the US because I have already spent two years of my life in America and don't wish to live there again in the near future. I'd much rather have a lower wage and be able to get 'free' universal healthcare and my guaranteed 5 weeks of paid vacation per year (plus eat UK food and watch UK TV ) than earn a high wage and have more disposable income in the US!

That a girl Ksand. I feel the same way of the two countries.

I hope you get a break in the near future because of the perseverance  you have shown in your studies.

That salary you quote ($150K) would, I think, be the envy of 99% of the US population.

I hope you get a break in the near future because of the perseverance  you have shown in your studies.

Thanks - I hope so. I do have an interview next week, so fingers crossed, although it's in the weather-forecasting field rather than in geophysics .

That salary you quote ($150K) would, I think, be the envy of 99% of the US population.

Well, the oil industry pays very well for senior geophysicists in the US - I have seen geophysics jobs in Houston, TX advertised for that amount and more (they are managerial jobs for people with lots of years of experience though)!

To be honest, that scenario would probably never happen - if you moved from a US job to a UK job, your salary would have to be changed to fall in line with your UK peers and you would end up taking a pay cut from $150,000 to $70,000 as the UK company probably would not be able to afford that $150,000 salary.

Yeap, ksand, agree with you! I make decent money for UK standards and especially for where I live, but I took a large pay cut from the US and it is very difficult to get on the property ladder...I have no idea what people do to afford these huge houses up here, considering this is a small place without a lot of executives!

When I tell my BF what I'd be making if I were still in the states his jaw drops and he falls on the floor. 

I would say 'status appropriate living' is the same as 'income allowable living', at this point we are splitting hairs and dealing in semantics.

No, I don't think this is semantics.

Lots of people in the UK don't get the big car and the flash suits because it is 'expected' of them.  I certainly didn't when I was earning proper money.  And setting up my own business has increased my status but lowered my salary, so I don't know where that leaves me. My friends who earn well into six figures also don't feel the need to be flash with the cash, and don't feel that there is peer pressure to get the same car/house/suit/rolex as others just because they can afford it.

Vicky