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AIBU?

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Original poster

Do you consider this ‘wealthy’?

518 replies

haleeeee · 05/10/2024 18:03

Two kids in private school since primary. Two buy to let’s of around 250k value each. One holiday home value 280k. Own home mortgage free. Income allows for a few holidays a year circa 3k each time.

Wealthy? Well off? Or just better than average?

OP posts:
MLMsuperfan · 06/10/2024 11:09

LBFseBrom · 06/10/2024 00:21

Shrouds have no pockets.

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Hearses don't have luggage racks.

category12 · 06/10/2024 11:03

Quitelikeit · 06/10/2024 10:59

If the property was gifted to them - SiL clearly has a wealthy family

The council tax on that property will be circa 4k a year, then fuel bills to keep it warm then they have all the other stuff - uniforms, school trips etc

They can afford several holidays a year, I'm sure if they're feeling the pinch from council tax and other bills, they could miss a couple of the holidays.

Or maybe the wife could get a little job for pin money. 🙄

Quitelikeit · 06/10/2024 10:59

If the property was gifted to them - SiL clearly has a wealthy family

The council tax on that property will be circa 4k a year, then fuel bills to keep it warm then they have all the other stuff - uniforms, school trips etc

Nogaxeh · 06/10/2024 10:53

category12 · 06/10/2024 10:41

I just wonder how people who think this is not well-off would describe the many people who don't own multiple properties and earn the average UK wage or less. 🙄

My guess is that they would describe them as lazy failures.

That's the problem with meritocracy, it implies that anyone struggling only has themselves to blame and deserves to struggle.

DistantDancer · 06/10/2024 10:47

Yes, they are wealthy

category12 · 06/10/2024 10:41

I just wonder how people who think this is not well-off would describe the many people who don't own multiple properties and earn the average UK wage or less. 🙄

Toomanyemails · 06/10/2024 10:41

They're very wealthy. Why are you asking?
It sounds like they're working towards financial independence, so when they say they're broke/struggling, maybe they mean they're keeping within a tight budget out of choice. As long as they're not actually pleading poverty or leeching off you, I'd leave them to it

Quitelikeit · 06/10/2024 10:38

We’ll just because they live in an expensive house which you have said they didn’t pay for - so they don’t pay for school fees either?

She doesn’t work so your brother must earn a decent salary - he’d need about 300k plus to be funding something comfortable

Conchitabanana · 06/10/2024 10:35

Wealthy. To be in the top 10% of earners UK is an income of £67k, to be in the top 5% is an income of £81k. £30k likely costs for two kids at private school (not boarding) might be making them feel poor but they’re certainly not. As some people’s incomes increase so does their spending, and they end up never feeling the benefit of their wealth. They lose perspective, and sometimes empathy, with other people’s ordinary levels of income and don’t realise how insensitive they’re being. The problem is, no one poorer than them can point it out without being accused of jealousy.

MulberryPeony · 06/10/2024 10:18

Perpetual is probably a better way of putting it than renewable.

MulberryPeony · 06/10/2024 10:15

Very well off.

Wealth to me would mean renewable passive income so they aren’t there yet but working towards being wealthy.

mondaytosunday · 06/10/2024 10:06

Well off. Wealthy - no. But I guess it's what you are used to!

fantasticoplastico · 06/10/2024 10:02

Rich.

OhDearMuriel · 06/10/2024 09:58

Very wealthy.

Their costs/living standards will be very high.

Not that I feel sorry for them, they are in an extremely fortunate position.

Evilartsgrad · 06/10/2024 09:45

Abridget7 · 06/10/2024 08:15

Comfortable
Not wealthy at all imo.

Blimey. Beyond daft.
We are retired on about 65k. One mortgage free house and some savings. We are perfectly comfortable.

Evilartsgrad · 06/10/2024 09:43

Three properties. Of course it's bloody wealthy. But on MN it's just about getting by.
Ridiculous.
These folk are also tight as a duck's bottom.

kiddietaxi · 06/10/2024 09:33

Comfortable I think, but not actually wealthy yet. They’re probably watching their spending because they are walking the tightrope of having used debt to acquire assets, which can be a risky game if they don’t have enough liquid margin to make the occasional financial misstep. I expect they probably feel very stressed about money if their financial obligations match or very slightly exceed their income.

HareMusing · 06/10/2024 09:22

Wealthy.

dottiehens · 06/10/2024 09:21

They are doing well. Certainly clever that they have a diversity of property investments. However, hope it is not all in the same country. If they say they are struggling it is because they have seen things going up very quickly. Probably hard to pay the services now. Mortgages up as well. For private schools you need about £100k before tax for two kids annually at least in London.

Ponoka7 · 06/10/2024 09:16

TizerorFizz · 06/10/2024 09:07

If you have to remove dc from private school, or even think about it, by definition, you are not wealthy. Wealthy people don’t have to think about it.

They don't, because they have three properties with enough equity to sell.

Ponoka7 · 06/10/2024 09:14

Theonewhogotaway · 06/10/2024 06:21

I’d not say wealthy either. I’d assume it’s hugely possible they are struggling, they won’t be making money on the rentals, with interest rates and tax, they will just be washing their faces, so any money the brother earns will be going to the school fees and living costs. So yes I’d assume they could be struggling.

evenif they sold the two rentals. Which I assume they will do due to the rentals bill the equity will be nice but not enough to make them classed as wealthy

They own a holiday let and go on three different holidays a year around £3k each. They aren't struggling, they are spending what they earn.
If you spend money, you no longer have it. Struggling is working 9-12 hour shifts on shit wages and barely covering reasonable living expenses. I always say this but these threads show you can have a decent paying job, but be exceptionally thick.

TizerorFizz · 06/10/2024 09:07

If you have to remove dc from private school, or even think about it, by definition, you are not wealthy. Wealthy people don’t have to think about it.

Underthere · 06/10/2024 09:07

Catza · 06/10/2024 08:17

Yes and there are some people in poor countries who are genuinely starving but I don't see someone's language being policed when they announces they are "starving" just before lunch.
Is there an official somewhere who determines whether someone is "genuinely struggling" before we are allowed to use this word? Or do we accept that people may struggle in different ways and in different circumstances? Ot even feel like they are struggling if they have to make decisions they otherwise wouldn't have made (like selling a house).
It's like saying to someone "you shouldn't be depressed. Other people have it much harder than you". It's just not done, is it?
Struggling - striving to achieve or attain something in the face of difficulty or resistance. That "something" looks different for different people. I am struggling to run an 8 minute mile. Does existence of wheelchair users mean I am not allowed to say it?

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I see your point, but they could just say, "we're struggling to pay for our luxuries," rather than imply they're struggling for bare survival, as so many in the UK are.

TizerorFizz · 06/10/2024 09:05

If they need to sell something to manage or wife has to go back to work, they are not wealthy. The truly wealthy don’t do any of this. They don’t need to. They are comfortable but fiscal ups snd downs affect them. They don’t affect the wealthy.

Whatafustercluck · 06/10/2024 09:05

Wealthy. But I bet they're claiming they'll have to take their kids out of private school due to the VAT increase.