To ask what people consider rich....

[Imoen]

I'm possibly going to be flamed but Im genuinely curious. I keep reading on thread about its ok for the "rich" or the rich are getting richer etc....

I've also had several conversations with friends/family and often the throw away comment is "its ok for you, you're rich".

Thing is, I don't think we are. To me rich is not having to worry about working again.

WE both have very very good salaries which I'm grateful for an I know we're lucky (me 90K, him 60K) and we have a mortgage on a 4 bed house worth 280K. (130K left to pay).

But I would not say we are "rich".

@MorondelaFrontera, you talk about a six-figure salary being insufficient to be considered rich, then complain that Any employee who has to give away at least HALF of their income in tax is overtaxed. See how you would like it if half the week you spend away from your kids is for the benefit of others.

There is literally NOBODY on a six-figure salary who pays more than half their salary in tax. Nobody.

What breaker will no doubt agree to is that even with one 6 figure and one lower 7 figure income, it's still not private jets and yachts

I don't think many people—if any—think that a joint annual income of ~200k leads to private jets and yachts.

Pensioner on 25k seems poor!? Heh Id love to retire on that. 25k with no mortgage seems amazing. Most pensions arent that good are they - state pension plus a few hundred. Actual state pensioners are poor...

@poopypants yachts aren't that expensive. Ours is a few years old and cost just over 750k. Mooring fees are around 100k per year. Fuel is the biggest expense- can burn 5k in an afternoon. For those who would have a good holiday home, a yacht is an option and we know many people with them.
We hardly ever fly private, however. Some European flights but rarely. That is another level.
Interestingly (or maybe not) we don't have a nanny. People always assume I have a nanny and night nanny and I have neither.

Correction, it cost 950k but is currently worth 750k.

Oh, ok, BitOfFun 45% direct tax - I call that half. I don't know many people that would cheer if that applies to them.

You do know that not everybody even gets a personal allowance, don't you, let alone tax credit, child benefits and so on?

It's a disgrace, no wonder most people are trying to get out of PAYE to have a fairer system apply to them.

To me, being rich means having good health. It's the one thing that no amount of money in the bank can beat.

As far as cash goes, as long as you've got enough to live, eat and pay your bills, why stress yourself with trying to get the best house or car?

I love the saying 'it's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got'.

A lot of moderately wealthy people don't consider themselves rich in the same way that the "when did you become an adult?" threads inevitably draw out hundreds of "I'm 56 million years old and still feel like a big kid- ha ha" comments.

Being an adult feels different to how you expected being an adult to feel when you weren't one, so you dont identify as an adult because you're not some all knowing and invincible sage who eats coco pops 3 meals a day and stays up all night watching R rated movies.

Same is true with wealth I think, as the comment re. breaker being on MN. Wealthy people still do banal and everyday things. They don't just sit on yachts in white bikinis. They still say "Jesus Christ, the dog's spewed on the rug again". If you're a Tata you can probably tell the maid to clear it up, but if you're just your run of the mill millionaire, you're getting the Flash out yourself.

The profile of wealth has also shifted. The scruffy landed gentry are vanishingly few. Most wealthy people live in cities. Both "old money" and "nouveau" are outnumbered by professional entrepreneurs (tech millionaires/billionaires etc) and upper middle classes (financiers, law and accountancy partners, c-suite in multi-nationals etc).

I read an interesting article about "the 2%" in the US which made a convincing case that the divide between the wealthy and the rest in where you can invest in maintaining your family's status through multiple generations, not necessarily through inheritance but by understanding and teaching "the rules of the game". That's anyone with a household income of more than US$250,000 pa. Not sure what the Uk equivalent is.

You only lose the personal allowance once you get to £125000 though. This applies to 2% of workers. So yeah I guess you could say that the 98% of people who have the personal allowance isn't "everyone".

Similarly, you only pay the 45% on the portion that is over 150000. No one pays 45% of their total earnings in tax. Like, really, no one, not even 2%.

It's a disgrace

It really isn't. Dying people being classed as "fit for work" is a disgrace. You don't know you're born.

yachts aren't that expensive. Ours is a few years old and cost just over 750k. Mooring fees are around 100k

No, that's not expensive at all

"just like Mumsnetters say a 'decent' wage when they mean a very high one.

more accurately, what YOU think is very high. "

No, not just what I think is very high, a wage that is very high objectively i.e. compared to the average and compared to what decent wage campaigners call for. Decent wages that unions ask for are nothing like that MNers call a decent wage.

I think there is a massive difference between comfortable, wealthy and rich.

Rich means black amex, being able to throwaway money how ever you want. Never having to work. £10k is considered small change.

Combined income less that £200k is not rich to me. Unless they have millions in their savings account/stock.

A lot of moderately wealthy people don't consider themselves rich

How can anyone who is at risk of losing their home if they lose their job feel "rich"? Some might be able to survive for a few months with savings, but ultimately, if you depend on your employer and a job, you can't feel safe and rich.

BitOfFun
Just because something is wrong doesn't mean everything else is right. People like you demand empathy from others -which they haven't refused btw - but refuse to do the same.

yachts aren't that expensive. Ours is a few years old and cost just over 750k. Mooring fees are around 100k per year. Fuel is the biggest expense- can burn 5k

The above has to be a joke??

45% direct tax - I call that half.

It's a long time since I was at primary school, but from memory, 45% wasn't half. 50% was half. 45% was less than half.

Things may have changed with these modern teaching methods. But even today, if I saw an item for £100, and there was a sticker on it saying "half price", I'd be annoyed if they only reduced it by £45. I'd expect £50 off.

Maybe I'm just out of touch.

It's a long time since I was at primary school, but from memory, 45% wasn't half. 50% was half. 45% was less than half.

I knew you would come back to say that.

45% tax is a fucking disgrace, that's all I am saying. Unless EVERYBODY pays the same rate, but that won't happen because then people wouldn't accept, would they.

yachts aren't that expensive. Ours is a few years old and cost just over 750k. Mooring fees are around 100k

😂🤣

We lived and worked in Trinidad and the tax rate for EVERYONE was 25%, it was so easy to work out! And no changes in tax rate. Although I think they have since brought in a higher tax rate of 30% for those that earn over 1million Trinidadian dollars (can’t remember the conversion anymore)

I might get a yacht for the school run now I know how cheap they are.

It's obviously a very individual thing but I'd consider us to be rich. We both earn £42k and have a £220k mortgage in the SE. Our house is ex-council and isn't in the greatest of areas but we chose that purposely to avoid stretching our income to the limit. This means we can afford to save for the future, make mortgage overpayments, pay for house repairs and improvements, have a two week foreign holiday most years and most importantly, plan to start a family without stressing about whether we can afford it or not.

LOL at some of these comments.

It's a really stupid thing in this country, someone in say the second or third income/wealth percentile refusing to admit that theyr'e rich [principally] because they'd be terrified that someone in the top percentile would hear them say it and sneer.

Like, if you're a woman who's 5'11", then you're tall, of course you're tall, it'd be absurd to claim otherwise. You wouldn't be coy about sayign it just because you weren't one of the [vanishingly rare] 6 foot plus women.

what is stupid is people focusing on the wrong ones, because they are a little better off than them, instead of realising who the really rich ones are, who could make a difference and who is avoiding paying tax they should.

yachts aren't that expensive. Ours is a few years old and cost just over 750k. Mooring fees are around 100k
Oh did you get a second hand sunseeker then

breaker sorry, I meant super yachts not yachts that are moored up in regular marinas.