What is considered rich these days??

From what you've described there, you're rich.

I think our idea of rich is now skewed by billionaires, and a few ultra flashy celebrities.

Most of us are still in the gutter looking up at the stars.

FWIW I consider myself comfortably off, but I'm much lower in terms of income, housing, cars, etc.

I think most of us have worked hard for whatever we've got, that's almost taken as read.

Rich doesn't mean you're at the "top". It encompasses a bigger range than any of the other categories because were all squashed into the "mode".

I've seen people on benefit packages equal to £120k salary and they claim to be poor, 8 children so large food bill granted.

You're definitely doing very well for yourselves. But that doesn't mean your SIL should be making such comments. It's giving jealous tbh. Does she want you guys to suffer? Just ignore her if you can.

At 250,000 he can still pay in 60,000 and get tax relief and at 300,000 40,000 but as you rightly say it tapers to 10.000 at about 350,000. It’s then impossible to accumulate a pension and you rely on ISAS.

No.

If you swapped the rovers for cheaper cars and sent kids to grammar over private then maybe you'd have enough money for holidays!

Husband is about to reach £250k soon. I still work a bit. Congrats to him (and you) for your hard work and your success. We don't really feel that rich, but we don't have what you have! We want to travel more!

"Rich" vs "well off" is just all relative. There's no objective standard. You're on a losing path arguing about that or getting offended one way or the other.

But I know that private school fees x3 and an expensive mortgage can quickly eat up a big part of a large salary, so budgeting is still an issue.

What A ridiculous post.

1. Only if you know those choices are choices or have access to someone who can help show you.

1. Some people's choices are limited by their capacity to even have those choices.

I don't think anyone is saying it's "just" luck. They are just countering the idea that it is "just" hard work. It is both.

I’m not sure you read what I wrote. My mortgage and fees together are £7k.
mortgage is £3.5.

Not rich. But you are well off, and on the coat tails of your DH. From experience, people who are fully financially supported by a spouse seem to be the most bitter and vocal about people on benefits... like your SiL.

There is a massive difference between budgeting to be sensible and know where your finances are, and budgeting to see what cuts you can make to afford the essentials.

Stay humble OP, because you could be your SiL in the blink of an eye.

No I didn’t mean that. It was the phrase used by someone who commented on my comment

Not 7k (it’s £3.5, and nursery is £3.5)

Well I think you're rich OP and I'm a lawyer too. Even if the income is only £250k you're rich. But you state that the bonus isn't included in that salary so you're even richer! Well done you.

You choose to pay for 4 sets of school fees which presumably takes up a large chunk of that but yes, you're still rich.

If the OP's DH in fact earns £350k every year and they live in the SW then Im changing my answer and I think they are fairly rich (albeit with chunky outgoings)

In this day and age, I don’t think you’re rich. I think you’re comfortable/well-off. It’s shocking that it takes that much money to be comfortable/well-off. These things are also relative. We all cut our cloth to suit our means and ultimately what it comes down to is how a person feels about their finances.

What you unquestionably are, however, is insufferably obnoxious and unintelligent by using yardsticks such as a wrap-around garden (ffs 🙄), the car you drive (second hand or not) and the type of schooling your children benefit from. These things are not the measure of even material wealth. Worst of all is that you had to question whether someone who doesn’t have what you have is being unreasonable in saying that in their opinion you’re rich. That’s absolutely contrary to your self-professed #bekind philosophy.

Your posts are disingenuous. Really what you’re asking is “can I in good conscience dismiss my SiL as an unreasonable, jealous, irritating thorn in my side?”. No. You can’t.

Yes that makes sense!

Just to show how different they all are, neither of us ever got a fixed monthly amount. Always a monthly distribution that followed a pattern through the year, but extremely variable amounts from month to month, with larger distributions at the end of the month that ends the firm's financial year, and additionally, Dec. 31 and mid-Jan. I would say the three large distributions make up or made up about 1/2 of the yearly draw. If you're the recipient of the bonus it would be included in the mid-Jan distribution.

well I think we know the OP is confused by it all.

I may well be guessing but this is my experience of being an equity partner in two firms and my DH having been equity in two firms. It would be surprising for a firm to be getting its calculations wrong by such a significant amount every year. They generally have a pretty good idea of what money will be in the pot.

I completely understand your explanation and how it works in your case. But I think at best you're guessing how it applies to OP.
She said - "My husband earns around £250k a year"
and later - "A yearly bonus pays for the private schools upfront that isn’t included in the yearly income. Otherwise we wouldn’t afford it so easily."

Of course it might just be that she doesn't know that the "bonus" is part of his average salary which he/she understands to be ~250k. Who knows!

Still comes back to she is not "rich" given its a sole income and he's on a 45% tax rate with no personal allowance, no employer pension contribution and on pension taper for personal contributions. They are certainly very comfortable depending on assets/debts etc.

They will get a monthly fixed draw. For DH currently on c£275k this is about £9k net. That doesn't add up to £275k. The other distributions are paid out depending on how well the firm has done (and how much it has spent) once the accounts are finalised. For most firms they pay out a few times a year.

If the firm has done well the ultimate amount might be more than the £275k. If not or if it has spent a lot on other things it might be less. If it has done really badly then some or all of the fixed draw (the monthly payment.) might have to be paid back.

The OP is likely to be referring to the irregular distribution which is more or less covering the school fees. But this won't be on top of a monthly gross payment of 1/12th of £250k it will be on top of a monthly gross payment of 1/12th of a lower fixed draw amount.

There's no point arguing since we don't know for sure but the way equity partners receive their income is extremely complicated. The monthly amount landing in the account won't bear much of resemblance to the amount the partner has been told they will (hopefully) ultimately receive

Hmm, I am not 100% because there was a lot of flip flopping, but I'm pretty sure she said the "bonus" from which the school fees are paid is on top of the 250k "income"...?

I’m fairly certain someone would be aware of their own outgoings and accounts to know whether the monthly amount coming in was the equivalent of 250k or more like 170/180k though.