Apparently I'm a millionaire

[Flatheads]

Which goes to show its nothing special anymore?

I live in the SE, in house I bought 20 years ago, have been employed all my life, but in fairly ordinary lower/middle management jobs and have the pension schemes that go along side them, plus some savings.

My current household income is c. £45k, which I live very comfortably on, but definitely not "like a millionaire"

And yet apparently I am, as my net assets are £1m+

I heard on radio two that 1 in 4?? Pensioners are millionaires. I find that impossible to belive. Maybe I misheard. My mum owned her house in the south east and had money in the bank. The 3 bed house sd for £240k most others of her generation in the town are socially housed.

I think it's more about standards of living, I had much less money than her in a rented house but I had a better standard of living.

@Frowningprovidence - c'mon...fivers, surely 😉😁

Well glad your good fortune amused you. Your amusement is a kick in the teeth to the many who have been fucked over by house prices.

I would love to live where I grew up. But house prices for the very ordinary houses there are completely out of my reach. Instead I live far away from my friends and family.

"It's not the value of your house going up, it's the value of your currency going down".

Of course it's something special. You are in a very fortunate position that many people can only dream of.

Have you received many PMs yet?

To be considered, it is assets minus primary residence. And £1m isn’t a lot unfortunately. For example, it’s like £5m isn’t enough to retire but also isn’t enough to live a good life as you still have to work, £5m will drive you un poco loco. £5m makes you the poorest rich person as they like to say. I’d hate to think what £1m does…!

(I have repurposed a Succession quote in the above).

But good to see you aren’t bitter..

Just a little point but I know a few very wealthy people and owning a home in an expensive location, not having to worry much about money, and having security for life are basically the hallmarks of being rich.

Private jets, mansions and a swimming pool at home have always been for the most extremely wealthy and ostentatious. Many millionaires, even multi millionaires, live lives that look fairly ordinary to outsiders.

Maybe eating out more often and having more holidays... those are the main differences I observe.

Having a million in liquid assets is likely to have much more of an impact on your life than a million in bricks and mortar.

It depends how your million is structured tbh that will determine how wealthy you feel.

It's when you wake up in a cold sweat at the idea of a land value tax you need to worry.

It's been that way in much of London since the 90s - it means nothing. Billionaire is the new millionaire

Yup. In France you pay extra tax if you have real estate assets over 1.3m€....

I recently learned that people in your position are HENRYs (High Earnings, Not Rich Yet).

Private jets yes, but swimming pools are hardly extravagant. I know plenty of pretty ordinary people who have one. (SE England)

Asset millionaires aren't the same as income millionaires.

This situation says more about our dysfunctional property market than anything else.

10 M cannot equal a millionnaire. What you mean is that that is the amount of money people now say they have to distance themselves from the hoi polloi i.e. the rest of us.

I have felt for many years that the rich resent deeply ordinary people having houses worth thousands, being able to go on holidays to faraway places etc.: things which only used to apply to the rich. I also have thought that the support of elites for the rest of us (never them) to suffer by cutting back on flights, having 15-minute cities, lowering our heating, and being efficient in our buying, only having 'needs' not 'wants' etc is also resentment.

So a millionnaire is someone with assets worth a million.

Millionaire indicates a million in investible funds not property worth a million. Otherwise half London would be millionaires.

It’s a 19c word and the millionaires of those days are today’s billionaires.

Many people living in the SE are.

It's down to house value, pensions and savings.

There’s a big difference between a million and a billion so obviously there’s a lot of variation in millionaires.

Only rich people minimise their wealth by talking about how it’s all tied up in assets though 😂

Houses and pensions must make paper millionaires quite common. Especially for those in the 40+ age bracket in expensive locations (London and SE, Major cities and commuterville)

Houses are no longer 4 times salary - they are many multiples more (mine is about 8 or 9 times!).

With the demise of final salary schemes we need to save a lot in defined contribution schemes to stand a chance of a decent life in retirement. 10x salary has been suggested for when you retire, so midlifers should aim to have close to 5 times salary in their DC pot.

And those in the 40+ range are more likely to have done well out of the crazy property price rises since 2000.

Sounds great, maybe it would give pensioners more encouragement to downsize.

Sounds OK to me whatever you're called. Just enjoy your life and don't worry about it.

Of course I'm bitter. Wouldn't you be? It makes me sad every day that I'm so far from my friends and family. And OP's flippancy had rubbed salt into the wound.