How much income does someone have to have before you consider them rich?

[buttersky]

For me it would be 500k income a year or more. I feel at this point most holidays, cars, houses can be bought without considering the price.

£30m+ in assets.

Oh - I thought you were meaning me!

Yes, it would be foolish - but that is why income =/= rich, because it depends on behaviour.

Rich is being able to travel first class without gasping at the price, booking a meal at a sought after restaurants without booking the lunch service because it's cheaper, booking the hotel you want rather than the one that's on offer, not waiting for the sales, private schools ... exact income varies, around £200k in the south of England should secure your my definition.

We are on 75% of that but I still can't spend without planning, after taxes (dp earns the bulk so taxed at 45% for part of it) - yes we can afford to book to go to Australia but we are flying economy.

Same! I've struggled financially and now we don't have to think too hard about money so I feel very rich. But we're not by most people's standards. Income is nowhere near any mentioned here.

But do you not see the privilege in someone even checking out the cost of first class to see if it’s manageable?

Or of going for lunch at a sought-after and expensive restaurant?

House paid off, worth just shy of £800 k

Pension income of £49k which will increase to just shy of £59k when I hit pension age, (yes I was a child bride )

£300 k invested (would rather have my mother for £100k of this, but in fairness it was her time, she was totally and utterly fed up)

We don't feel rich but we certainly feel comfortable.

Good place to be after years of scrimping and saving.

If I had give a figure , I’d say anything over £80,000.
But as others have said - it’s not that clear cut.

Rich for me, is someone who owns their own home, has no debt & doesn’t have to worry about this cost of living shit.

That is in essence us, but we are hardwired to be aware of the cost of everything, neither of us came from money, and what we have with the exception of my inheritance was hard earned.

I truly hope I never lose that feeling of having a decent overview of the price of things.

Millionaire I guess? Maybe 500k?

But its always hilarious how people say they can't be rich because they spend a lot of money

🤣

It depends. If by rich you mean the top 25% of incomes, that's those on over about £45,000. If by rich you mean the top 10% of incomes, that's those on over about £60,000. If you mean the really super-rich, so the top 5%, that's those on over about £85,000.

What?

It’s completely subjective. Someone with £20m could claim they’re not rich because they’re not Musk/Bezos wealthy.

My DSis went on holiday to the Dominican Republic and complained about the number of local kids begging for money. She told them “I can’t keep giving you money, I’m not rich” (she earns a very average UK salary). I pointed out that to a child living in a shack in a shanty town of a third world country, she is very, very rich.

“Rich” means whatever you want it to mean.

People used to say that you're not truly rich if you live on the interest of your capital; for that you have to be living on the interest of the interest.

'Rich' is usually defined by wealth not income

How and why do people seek out and find these zombie threads to post on? Beats me.

Rich in health is priceless.

It's not the dollars, it's the freedom of choices.
If someone can handle whatever life throws at them, by the grace of their financial situation, they are rich.

That's exactly why you can't define "rich" by income. People who are really rich don't work (or their income from work firms a tiny proportion of their income/net worth). They have a passive income from their assets. That is why the truly super rich (the likes of Rishi Sunak for example) have got richer and richer while the rest of us have got poorer and poorer. They own all the assets.

I agree that rich is nothing to do with income, and all to do with assets. But it is worth bearing in mind that Rishi Sunak, who people on mumsnet like to vilify, is a second generation immigrant whose parents left India for Africa before coming to the UK. So, whether you like his politics or not, his and his family’s journey to where they are now began with few assets and little income. His grandfather worked for HMRC and earned an MBE. His father was a doctor. So I think it’s also reasonable to assume that as a family they are brighter than average and work harder than average. Marrying a billionaires daughter certainly helped of course… I suspect that if he were female and white he would get significantly less abuse for marrying into a rich family ;)

I want abusing Rishi at all, just using him as an example as people generally know about what he’s worth. I don’t mind people being wealthy, especially if they’ve worked hard for it, what I do mind is the people who own all he assets getting wealthier and wealthier while everyone else is getting poorer and poorer. That can’t be allowed to continue as if it does we’ll end up in some sort of dystopia where everyone is in poverty except for the ultra rich.

I also used him as an example as I think it’s good for people to think about who we are voting in to lead the country (I know we don’t vote in a prime minister, but we seem to like voting in people in general who are wealthy). The ultra rich are likely to want to stick with the status quo and look after their own interests, rather than try to redress the balance of the growing wealth gap.

So me mentioning Rishi wasn’t at all to vilify Rishi in particular and nothing at all to do with his race or sex. He was just a very good and recent example being our last prime minister and being Uber wealthy, however he got there.

I feel rich, but not wealthy. It probably sounds silly or soft, but I was always brought up to see rich as being more than just money. I am loved, safe, happy, I can buy the food I need and look after my family. I feel that is what makes someone rich.
I also think the higher the income people have, the less 'rich' they seem to believe themselves to be. I do understand that the op is talking about money though.

I’m asset rich and money okay. I got 2 houses mortgage free around 1,5millions for both houses. But my income £90000. I’m comfortable but not considered myself rich. Cannot even afford private school for my DS.

in my opinion rich is when you have asset for more than 3million and income £300k plus.

wealthy is when you dont need to work anymore. Money come from investing, have a yacht, can do whatever you want without thinking about money. Have enough money for your generations to come.

Apologies - I didn’t mean it to read as if you specifically were vilifying him, but there is certainly an undercurrent of not liking those white signifiant assets on here. While at the same time also appearing to have a much higher of posters with household incomes in the £200/300/400k bracket ;)