to ask what would make you feel rich?

[lessonsintightropes]

For me, it's a happy home life and great family, with a mortgage we can envisage paying off before 60 on a house that meets our needs, and the potential to build up a pension that won't leave us reliant on a non-existent state one.

For a member of my family, it's an early retirement, massive mortgage free house and four holidays a year.

For one of my best mates, it's a mortgaged place she can rent out and rely on being paid back by rent so she can move back to Sweden to look after her elderly parents.

Is rich different to financially secure? And what does it look like?

Does this count towards a Philosophy GCSE?

Apartments and houses all over the world, with my own jet/yacht - horses, cars bikes... ooh a motorhome. Never having to think about money for myself or children. Maybe that's wealth though....

I consider myself rich in that I have a loving partner, great friends and wonderful children.. just materially poor and even then, compared to some, I am already rich beyond their wildest dreams - a home, running water, clothes, food a car. I guess it's all about perspective...

Cogito no far from it! Just had a conversation with a couple of friends recently and realised our views were very divergent and thought it would be interesting to know what other people thought.

For me, it's about not really having to worry that I'll exceed my overdraft limit to be honest. Very different to the family member who views wealth as accumulation of more than you could possibly spend in one lifetime. And very different to the other friend who doesn't have a pension and takes the view that things will work out one way or the other.

I would be the same as the member of your family. We have a comfortable home - not fancy but nice - which I love and good jobs which help us have a nice standard of life, 2 cars in good nick but not new by any stretch, one overseas holiday a year (we are not in the UK so this is slightly more of a luxury where we are). We don't feel rich though, we have a big mortgage but it should (barring unforeseen disasters) be paid off by the time we're in our 50s. This is not to say I don't appreciate my life, I know we are pretty fortunate. Mortgage free house, retirement at 45 and 4 holidays a year sounds pretty good to me.

To be able to own my own home, which would enable to spend the money on rent for holidays and treats.

Being able to live in London.

To not feel a cold shock when I think about next month's food bill

To live in a home that was bought and paid for rather than being at the mercy of landlords in the hell that is rentonsville and having to move on average every 12 months

Rich=freedom. If you are rich, you are free in ways that the poor can't even dream about. And rich = power, over your own life and your own choices. That's it really. Freedom and power. I've been rich, briefly, and I've been poor, mostly. Rich is better.

More money than I have now. Rich or poor, what you have is never enough if you count in pounds and pence.

I have a loving home, three healthy happy kids, a caring partner, a job I like and the ability to meet foreseen bills. I envy noones life. As far as I'm concerned I'm a millionaire.

Better wages! Not to have to decide whether or not to buy meat because it's expensive etc etc.

To not have to work if i didn't want to.

Rich=freedom. This. I've been quite rich, and I liked it. I wish I'd realised how rich I was, but that's human nature isn't it. It was good fun. Now my life is tiny, because I can't afford choice, and it's uncomfortable, plus nobody throws free stuff and cheap money at me like they used to. I miss a lot of things, like being able to eat what I feel like eating, and being warm enough. But most of all I miss the freedom.

To me rich would be full food cupboards and freezer. To never have to worry about becoming homeless again. To feel warm without watching my meter. To be able to get my son new shoes that fit. Most of all I'd feel rich knowing I wasn't at the mercy of others.

To go on holiday, which does not involve visiting my PILS at the other end of the country.

In our situation and for my age, I consider us relatively rich.

Small mortgage, no other debt, nice home, nice cars, savings, daughter in private school, pretty good holidays and we aren't working 80 hour weeks to do it (both work for ourselves around 20 hours a week).

Our freedom IMO came from being early prolific savers. We scrimped while earning high wages to pay off our first mortgage and now owe little on our second. We still stick to a plan - having designer clothes or the latest everything isn't really on our agenda. We live as well as we can without sacrificing everything to work.

There are richer people around but honestly I don't think more money would make me happier. I already don't worry and have freedom.

I've done some travelling to very poor parts of the world recently. It made me realise that rich is getting to the end of the day in a warm bed, a safe home, having enough clothes and knowing I can do it all again tomorrow.

What you describe as being rich, isn't being rich it's being comfortable, there's a big difference.

Being rich is having the money you need to live the lifestyle you want without the need to work or save and not diminish the assets you have. It's up to each individual to decide what that lifestyle would encompass.

Another £20k a year. Or no mortgage. We're probably what a lot of people consider "rich" now, but we do have to budget for things that pre dcs we didn't have to (holidays are a bit less "nice" than before and more of a stretch, we don't have a cleaner now, I can't just drop £150 in the hairdresser and £60 in the spa every 6 weeks without having to cut back elsewhere). I think either not paying our mortgage or having an extra £20k a year (about what we are paying on our mortgage now) would get our lifestyle back to that "comfortable" one.

Getting the job I interviewed for on Thursday will put the cherry on my cake. We are comfy now, but I'd be richer for having an interesting and challenging career agan.

Rich would be a slightly better watch, having the house de cluttered and deep cleaned and the garden landscaped. We're far too busy for all that fast car/foreign travel/eating out stuff.

Actually, just having staff. That'd be cool.

I felt rich when I was working full time for the past 2 years. Then the Govt cuts hit our part of the Council and I had to go back to my main contract of 3 days. I know I''m lucky to still have a job at all but I hate being back to counting the pennies. It's been a difficult hit emotionally as well as financially.

To me, rich means being able to live the lifestyle you want and knowing you have the money to do it.

I think there is a big difference between comfortable and rich.

Not having to look at the bank balance before buying DS new shoes/a few bits in Next. A couple of decent cars rather than DH driving around in a shed that could break down at any time. A few grand in savings so we didn't have to worry about the inevitable car break down. A nice foreign holiday once a year.