‘I earn £100K a year but still feel the cost of living like anyone else’

Jack Kim says he has had to swap M&S for Sainsbury’s, only eats out once a week, and now goes on European city breaks rather than long holidays to Asia

Jack Kim earns £100k as a strategy consultant

Meet the professional earning £100k-a-year who calls himself a ‘HENRY’ – high earner not rich yet – and insists ‘I don’t feel rich at all’. Jack Kim, 28, says his income puts him firmly in the HENRY bracket.

HENRYs are young people in the UK’s top 10 per cent of earners who say they are left with little at the end of the month after bills, taxes, and lifestyle inflation. Jack works as a strategy consultant and brings home £100,000 a year.

According to The Salary Calculator, that means that – without taking any deductions into account – he takes home £68,557.40p a year, or £5,713.11 a month. He pays £27,432 a year in tax and £4,010.60p in National Insurance.

Living in zone two in a two-bedroom property he bought with his partner for £550,000, he says the £2,630 monthly mortgage payment and council tax, £420 in bills, £250 in groceries and £400 in socialising means he ‘doesn’t feel rich at all’.

Jack claims he has had to adjust his lifestyle due to the cost-of-living – ditching their weekly M&S shop for Sainsbury’s, having to reduce luxury holidays in Asia for European mini breaks, and opting for Pure Gym instead of the more expensive Gymbox. Despite being on six-figure salaries, he says he is ‘feeling the cost of living too’.

Jack Kim in his flat in London

Jack from East London said: “Even though I’m on a six-figure salary, I don’t feel rich at all. Everyone knows living in London is extremely expensive.

“It comes to four main things – higher tax rate for people on six-figure salaries, higher living costs, lifestyle inflation, and debt. As income rises, so does your lifestyle.

“I don’t wear flashy, high-end clothes or own expensive watches, I opt for high street brands like Uniqlo. We try and live below our means by limiting eating out once a week at a good quality restaurant.

“Other than a drink at special occasions like weddings, I don’t drink alcohol, which is very expensive. We feel the cost of living just like anyone else. I don’t feel upper-middle class.”

After graduating from the London School of Economics with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in management in 2019 – which cost £99,000 in tuition fees – Jack began his career as a strategy consultant on a £21,000 salary. He quickly progressed to £45,000 and began saving for a £82,000 deposit to buy a own property with his partner.

Jack calls himself a ‘HENRY’ – high earner not rich yet

“We collectively needed roughly £82,000 for a deposit, and we did that in two years with some help from our parents,” Jack said. “It meant we stopped eating out and primarily cooked at home. During that time, it was Covid which did help because it meant we weren’t spending as much or travelling at all.”

In December 2021, Jack and his partner were able to get on the property ladder and purchased the two-bedroom property they live in now. Jack said: “Being on a combined income helped us for sure, but alongside our own drive and determination.

“I can only imagine how hard it is for young people to get on the property ladder now, especially if they’re single and doing it alone. Affordability and the goalpost for a mortgage have changed – even in the last four years.

“It’s not affordable to get a mortgage these days – unless you have generational wealth. Growing up, my family and I were considered a lower-income family. From the ages of seven to eight, my mum, dad, brother and I lived in a studio flat in Seoul, South Korea.

“Since gaining my education and career in London, I’d say as a whole, my family are middle class. But we certainly don’t feel it in the grand scheme of things. I don’t have an expensive watch or a car.

“No luxury yacht, or Monaco or St Moritz holidays like my friends who are bankers. Consulting is an industry where you can see fast income growth. Even though my income has increased, our lifestyle hasn’t changed that much.”

Jack says he is left with little at the end of the month after bills, taxes, and lifestyle inflation