Maximum credit limit according to economic journalist Frank Lehmann

50,000 starting salary? Maybe at Audi but not out here in the sticks in the village here in the far north.

No idea about the North, but in the South:

IG Metall tariff, pay group 9 (standard for entry as an engineer, some good ones sometimes get 10, weaker Bachelor’s sometimes only 8)
35h/week, €3806/month + vacation pay + Christmas bonus => ~€50,000.
This applies to all companies bound by the tariff, which includes not only corporations but also many medium-sized companies.
BMW and Audi pay significantly better.

Basically, only the hourly wage is comparable, and what you actually do during that time. Being in an air-conditioned office in the middle of summer is certainly more pleasant than being a roofer in pouring rain.

Air conditioning in the office? What a luxury

50,000 starting salary? Maybe at Audi but not in the sticks here in the countryside up north. What do you think is the reason why land here costs 100€/sqm and not 250? Simply because no one earns those salaries.

I come from central Germany. Besides, I don't think there are any plots for 250 near Audi in the south either (here they already cost 300 and up).

And I also make 70,000€ a year, just have to work 3-4 hours longer every day. You can't compare salaries because everyone calculates it differently. Engineers who start with 50,000€ also work 50 hours a week, and suddenly their hourly wage is worse than mine.

Well, I work 38 hours. If there's a problem, I'm allowed up to 50 hours. I checked once. The highest in the last 4 years was 44 hours in one week. But we're also required to regularly take time off for our "overtime account." The maximum on the account is +80 hours.

I think I have also read about the annual income, but it was always referred to as GROSS. If I roughly calculate, that fits well. With 100k gross, that would be a 300-400k loan. What I find more concerning is the generalization. Especially for people with low incomes, even 30% is far too much. If I have a household income of €2500, then €750 is simply too much for a loan. With €10,000 you can easily allocate 50-60% and barely restrict yourself. There should be more differentiation, I always miss that in all the advice guides.

What these bankers and managers always forget is what it's like to live on an hourly wage of 10-12 euros gross. They only see their numbers and forget the ordinary people who did not have the luck or the opportunity to learn. Our company had a turnaround 3 years ago, we are a medium-sized company with about 240 employees. We had employee turnover of about 280 workers in 3 years, 90% of whom were hired through a temporary employment agency. The training period on one of our continuous electroplating lines usually takes over 8-9 months. No one tolerated that long at 10 euros. This caused continuous delivery delays, poor quality, etc. Now there is 13 euros during the probationary period, then 13.6 in the first 2 years, and these are contractually increased up to 18.60 after 8 years. You can easily reach 50k in the 3-shift system and we no longer lose employees.

3 shift system in the chemical industry does not bring in a full-time gross of 40k (according to the employer's income tax statement) per year. However, that is more than 34k net with tax class 3. As a graduate in natural sciences, my gross income is 0 euros per year; for my two "jobs" I have to pay several hundred euros to be allowed to do them. Unfortunately, this cannot be deducted from taxes. Not to mention the tens of thousands of euros in Bafög debts (probably around 25,000 euros by now, I have not yet received a notice) and study completion loans. Since I do not repay anything from them due to lack of income, I will probably take these debts to the grave. If only I had gone into the industry untrained at 16 instead of doing the Abitur, then I could be throwing money around now. But they always told me education was the most important...

So 50k gross I don't really find that much either. I know enough people who earn that in this region. 100k and more are already rarer there..

I myself as a "cheap" IT specialist would also be in the range of 60..70k as an employee with 10+ years. Without Abi and studies.

Regards, Steffen