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".

There was a long thread on here a while ago along the same lines. The OP was talking about someone earning £100, 000 a year being rich, which wouldn't be my definition of rich.

There seems to be a very wide range of ideas of what constitute rich and poor, probably depending on the individual circumstances of the person giving the definition.

If the people you know are saying you're rich OP then that would put most of the people I know into the rich category, and I don't think they are, comfortable yes, but definitely not rich.

It’s relative. On a global scale, 99.9% of people in the UK are rich. To people earning minimum wage, you’re rich. I’m sure there are millionaires out there who don’t feel rich because they’re comparing themselves to people who are even richer.

Hmmm. this sounds like a question of semantics.

I would describe you as affluent OP, rather than rich.

Breaker is rich/wealthy.

I don't think anyone with a mortgage, or who has less than £1 million in assets outside of their property is "rich".

Breaker is fucking LOADED.

OP is very well off.

I said to my dil the other day that I consider myself rich. I have a clean comfortable bed to sleep in, clean running water to drink, decent food and live in a decent neighbourhood in a house I own outright
This alone probably puts me in the top 10 per cent in the world.
I have everything I need and if I haven’t I can go and buy it.
Again, that puts me probably in the top ten per cent on the world.

My time is completely my own...it’s fabulous..I don’t know where I stand in the world on that one

So, I consider myself to be very rich.

I’m poor in youth and health...the things money can’t buy.

You sound rich to me Imoen but then it's all about perspective isn't it?

I've got £48k of mortgage left to pay on my 2 bed house and even then I won't own it as it's 50% housing association. I'm a single mum earning under £25k and get £45 a month maintenance coz if I ask for more he quits his job.

So from here you do look rich

Fair play to you though, you must work hard to get salaries like that!

It's all relative. There is no one answer to this question as it's completely subjective and depends who's being compared.

Breaker, can you pay for a MN Christmas do this year

Money talks, wealth whisper....

I would think I am comfortable to be honest we earn 80k altogether although next year it will be less as I am going part time. We are lucky we have no mortgage though. But as a pp said I still budget, save for separate costs, we have no consumer debts. We minimize our bills etc. we don’t go on foreign holidays every year either, it’s not necessary imo. I sleep better knowing we are financially secure.

£100k is objectively definitely rich, its well beyond what most people in the country will ever have as a household income.

However how you subjectively "feel" will depend on those around you. Of course on a carribean Island you're comparing yourself to other wealthy people. If you'd gone to a Uk Haven or Butlins youd have felt one of the richest there! If you socialise in London with other wealthy people, in welathy places you will compare yourselves only with them. If you met with people on an average income you'd feel ridiculously rich.

There is then the multimillionare/dont nees to work rich. That really is an incredibly small subset of wealthy people.

*whispers

I’d say rich is not having to worry or budget. To my cleaning lady I must be rich, to some of my friends I may appear to be just about surviving. It’s relative.
There are a lot of people who look rich on the outside (nice house, private school) but may have a mountain of debt and are just a few pay checks away from having to sell up and pulling kids out of school.
I’d say you were comfortable. My husband had a high salary but two families to support - we could not afford to go abroad every year as we had the kids in private school. We were comfortable, but had huge debts too. When he passed away I had to sell up immediately to get rid of the mortgage and moved to a much cheaper area and a house half the size, but we were still better off than most.

Depends where you are too - a big salary in the North would potentially be crappy in London & the South East, particularly when you consider housing costs. Google says that £134+k is rich in the UK so by that standard I'm poor But I have no mortgage now, minimal outgoings and money in the bank so plenty of people would be glad to swap with me - I'd see that as pretty damn rich by other standards. And as I have a job that suits me really well, a roof over my head, pets to love, decent health, food in the cupboard, and faith, well I feel richer than any multi-billionaire.

I think breaker's comment about decisions not being financially motivated because money is irrelevant is probably quite a good definition of when you know you are a rich person.

I don't know if it is just semantics but I think there is a difference between 1) rich and 2) being well off / affluent

My definition of rich is as you define OP, and pretty much breaker's situation - so debt free, no mortgages, huge assets and investments and not having to factor in money at all whereas category 2 "well off / affluent" is more your scenario where you can't just quit work tomorrow but you are big earners and as Alsohuman says, in the top 1-2% of the population in terms of income.

Both positions are privileged compared to the vast majority of people. I'm not really sure what the point of the question is, although as you can see I have been sucked in

depends, if we earnt what you earn we would feel rich because our outgoings are relatively small.

I suppose I class rich as someone who doesn't need to consider money when making decisions, I don't think I could put an amount of money on that though!

Yes, it’s all relative. We may be on a third of your salary with children in London but we are vastly better off than my co-workers, the vast majority of who still live in rented flat shares with strangers , even in their 30s and 40s. We own a two-bed place in a nice bit of London. We have some savings. We can help our children at university. If the boiler broke down we would be fine. We have never been anywhere long haul but we’ve been to Europe a lot. But we haven’t had jobs that had good, any, pensions. That is a worrying thing for us.

It’s all relative but really rich people are some footballers and people like the Beckhams and those that appear in the Sunday Times rich list

It is all relative. To someone, somewhere in the world practically everyone in the UK is rich.

I'm very well paid, which makes me very comfortable. I can afford all basic necessities and can choose between various luxuries. But I'm not yet rich, which for me describes a level of security that I don't yet have. I could lose my job, and within a few months would have eaten through my savings paying mortgage etc. I'm hoping in a few years to have enough savings to class myself as rich - even if I never reach breaker's level. I could reach that level sooner, of course, if I stopped choosing between various luxuries and just concentrated on necessities. Having that choice makes me richer than many people in the UK.

Rich usually means someone with more money than you

A more pertinent question may be are you happy? Is there contentment in your life?

By some people's definitions on this thread we might be considered rich but i would consider us comfortable. We have no money issues but we think about our spending and don't have a lavish lifestyle. We certainly don't splurge on designer gear etc. I guess what you consider rich is all relative to your own situation.

The reason for the question is a perennial argument with family that the rich should pay more taxes.

They get quite confused with what they mean when I ask them to define rich.

I think it’s a scale. Rich is definitely what is described above - the point where you don’t even think about money, it’s irrelevant.

‘Well off’ is the next step down, where money isn’t an issue as such, but if life circumstances would change (loss of job for example) would actually have a detrimental effect. I know someone who’s on 20k a year but has no mortgage, they also have a nice portfolio of investments. Their net worth is a nice sum, but could easily be wiped by needing care later on in life (for example).

We ourselves are just about comfortable. Low income at the moment, but also lowish household bills. Some months we have money to put in savings, other months we just about scrap through down to the last penny.

There have been times in life though where anyone who can afford food without a second thought seem like royalty in riches to me. It’s definitely perspective.