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".

today I have a grand total of £11 in the bank until payday on 28th June ... I am definitely not rich but I am very happy!! I was rich once, married to a man who made alot of money but was never at home, after he left for "greener grass" I moved into a small terraced rented house with my 2 sons and our cats and I can honestly say I have never been happier. Tonight will be beans on toast and a large cup of tea with my boys, chatting about our days and planning for the weekend. I work 2 jobs (6 days a week) and we have everything we need in life. Saving for the extra treats makes them even better when we get them, between us we have saved even in 18 months to afford a holiday in Cornwall this year ... Happy Days :)

Breaker is what I would describe as 'rich'. To me, rich is money never being a worry.

We live in N London and have a small mortgage on a house now worth around £1million. Combined salary of around £80k (which IMO is not high, esp for London) and savings/ISAs etc worth around £65k.

However, I worry constantly about money and try to be frugal in certain ways. Our dc are at state schools and I fret an awful lot about how they will afford to live in London in the future, if they want to.

I grew up in poverty on a very rough council estate and was constantly bullied at school for being poor. I can't forget it. Poverty terrifies me .

Depends, I know someone who's always bragging constantly about what she'd recently bought how much her house and car are worth but then she whines about her huge credit card debt and huge mortgage and huge car rental payments so I'm thinking she may be rich in worldly goods but is in debt up to her eyeballs and should cease the constant bragging as it drives everyone away

Rich is when your money works for you. Not when you work for your money. And if you work hard for your money, just because it's more than someone else doesn't make you rich.

The reason for the question is a perennial argument with family that the rich should pay more taxes.
In that case it's probably rich = has more money than the person saying it!

We're similar to you OP. Not rich imo. Comfortable, yes, bit not rich, couldn't afford to put the kids through private school for example.

Rich to me is not thinking at all about what you spend.

It is all subjective. What might feel rich to one person might not fit the dictionary definition. On paper, I’m most certainly not rich. I don’t own a house, but I’m one of the only people I know in my friendship group in London who can afford to rent a place alone, earn about 40k, have some 5-figure savings, can afford treats and holidays as I have no kids. I have more money than both my parents combined have ever had in their entire lives, so yes, I feel absolutely loaded. But I know I’m not rich in the true definition of the word. I don’t think anyone can make an unbiased judgement on what it really means to be rich

I'm -£250 in my overdraft by the third week of the month.

Am I rich?

Your earnings make you wealthy. A lot of people don’t have the combined income of one of those wages, let alone both.

Maybe your monthly outgoings are high, meaning you don’t have a huge disposable income, which makes you feel less rich.

Yes I think you are rich. Good for you guys on the amazing salaries you will have worked hard for it. Dont sweat about being called rich. Work hard play hard x

Are the on a similar income to you and think that the rich should pay more taxes but that doesn’t include them? Or do they have less and think you should pay but not them?

As pp said I wouldn’t regard you as rich- just well off.
Rich to me would be an annual salary of 250k+
Well off would be £60k + (as an individual)

In that case it's probably rich = has more money than the person saying it!

Exactly!

To me, this -> breaker is rich. You are comfortable.

I’d say rich was having a million or more in assets.

Sounds like you’re comfortable - especially as you live somewhere where property is relatively cheap (the average terraced 3 bed here is 500k plus, a four bed would be 600k plus, a nice house over a million & £280 might buy a tiny 2 bed flat with no garden that needed renovation or a nice 1 bed flat!).

I’ve got friends who have all sorts of financial situations from absolutely broke to aristocrats with serious money in the family - I’d never be rude or crass enough to say ‘its ok for you, you’re rich’ to the wealthier amongst them. Sounds like your friends/family need a bit of a lesson in manners, I wouldn’t dignify a statement like that with a response!

If your looking at who’s rich, income is not the only factor. You need to consider assets, investments, etc.

No, we dont have children

Then, yes on that salary you are rich and must have a decent amount of disposable income.

Breaker is rich. Well done @breaker my family won’t ever be on that. We are heavily mortgaged with school fees.
So salaries don’t seem to make much difference to us. Rich is separate to comfortable though imo. We are comfortable. Me and dh are always striving to do better though. Gives us a headache but makes us feel better if we succeed 🤷‍♀️ does my head in I’ve had to put my career on hold but I’m doing a masters now while I feel like I ‘bide my time’:

Breaker. Would you mind sharing what you do for a living?

According to my DDs classmate anyone with an income over 20,000.

Another classmate says anyone who isn’t on benefits.

These are 6th form students.

I would say that being rich means you don't have to worry about money. No debt, and enough money for whatever you need, including emergencies. Not necessarily about having loads of assets/possessions.

Breaker what do you do to earn so much? Something in Finance?

I'd consider rich a joint income of over £250k a year.

We're combined £80k which is ok, but we have no mortgage, no childcare fees, we have savings and investments, our retirement is sorted, we own a nice investment flat for our retirement fund, we own our 4 bed home in a nice part of London, and absolutely no debt whatsoever. However, we don't send our kids to private school, we travel on a budget, we have one very humble car. I think we are in the 'well off' group but my kids think we're poor because we haven't got the latest xbox. It's all relative.

It’s relative. I was on an above average salary for where I lived. Then illness hit, and I’m now on benefits in rented accommodation. But I have a roof over my head, always have gas and electric, my cupboards fridge and freezer always have food in etc. My kids get what they want- driving lessons, car, holidays, all their PC stuff etc etc. This is also because their dads are amazing, and help. Now if I compare that to a family of 5, both working minimum wage, have debts also to pay off etc- then to them it may seem like I have it really easy. To someone who is homeless I have an amazing life. To someone on 100k a year this is stuff of their nightmares.

To me rich is not having to worry. Not having to count the pennies each month, being able to decide ‘we have 5 free days next week, shall we go to X’ and being able to book it, being able to help family and friends without a second thought, not having to worry about the MOT because you are changing your car yearly, not worrying if you lost your job because your can manage easily enough, when you don’t worry about money at all. Well done to Beaker! < Goes off to daydream about about a 120 million lottery win... >

Holy Moly, you are incredibly well off and I actually struggle to believe that you can't see that.

We are in Aus and this tax year we have a combined income of around $75,000au.

We are a family of 2A and 2C.

If people ask I would say that while we are not 'well off', we do ok and don't live pay to pay but can't afford big holidays every year.