to think this income, savings and wealth calculator might give people some perspective on where they fit in

[cakeorwine]

It's from the Office for National Statistics. (based on pre Covid)

www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1802/calculator/index.html

It uses the OECD equivalised disposable income - so basically it looks at your household and determines the relative income needed. Some people might take umbrage at this - especially with the increase in energy bills. The idea is that certain households need more income for the same lifestyle compared to a household with fewer people in.

For example - a household with 2 adults would need an income that is 1.5 x bigger than a household with a single adult in to maintain a similar lifestyle.

It doesn't take into account situations like separated parents, chilldren being away at Uni, but it does give an indication.

I think it might surprise some people where there income and savings are. But then again, a high income in some places is offset by a high mortgage.

The equivalised income is used in all set of datasets when looking at poverty.

Turns out I am doing ok...which has surprised me.

Bottom 10%... Well fuck

Absolutely

Age and maybe location as well.
All those people on high salaries in the Home Counties who have paid off their mortgages.

Less that 50% for income, top 10% for savings, top 20% for property wealth, we are retired so have amassed savings to eke out pension and payed off our mortgage. People at different stages of life will generally be quite different proportions. Very interesting, thanks for link

Bottom 10%. No surprise there.

Bottom 10%

Bottom 10%

Top 50% for all bar property (two homes with mortgages). Interesting!

Well that's depressing and eye opening. Income is high (so are bills) but we ar slow for everything. Lots of kids, late mortgage, several marriages between us --- all has an impact.

Bottom 20% for income and spending but only bottom 50% for savings

So I don't earn much but I'm good with money, I think that means. Nice! (I know I don't earn much.)

Bottom 30 for income and spending but top 40 for savings

Oh dear, bottom 30% for income and I thought I was doing ok!

Depressing. Bottom 30% for the first one and bottom 50% for the rest. Glad my degree, my Masters and my 30 years working in education have been worth it. Retirement looks fun.

I have £5.37 in my ISA so I knew the savings bit would be bad

Income percentiles change a lot when you alter the number of children in the house to 0 when they have left home.

I am a bit sceptical of the weightings - but it's the OECD so it's a common approach with Governments.

Not far from where I thought we were

We're in the bottom 30% for income and 50% for savings BUT we're in the top 40% for property value, and bottom 10% for spending, so overall we're doing pretty well, comparatively. We certainly feel comfortable, despite being on one middling salary.

Bottom 10% 😏

I'm doing much better than I thought I was - but I'm single and constantly worry about money.
Definitely depends who you hang around with because I'm the poorest (income & equity due to being single) than all my friends.
Income top 50%
Savings top 10% (I have no pension though)
Equity top 20%

I can't seem to make this work

I can answer the sections individually but it doesn't put them together and give me a figure of income needed?

Your household's income is in the bottom 30%

Your household's
property wealth
is in the bottom 50%

Your household's
spending
is in the bottom 30%

Your household's
savings
are in the bottom 20%

Cheery. I'm at the very bottom of everything. Which I already knew. Even with finer gradations, I'd still be at the very bottom of everything.

I can see it might be a useful tool for those who don't appreciate their relative prosperity though.

Bottom 10% for everything

Not surprised with the results....

Bottom 20% for income (not surprised) however top 20% for property wealth as I’ve paid 90% of my mortgage (largely inheritance). A small but lovely little terrace house and I realise it’s done on overall mortgage not the total value of your house. I’m no property tycoon.
Not so good with the savings either. Need to work on that. It’s interesting.

Really interesting and thanks for the link.

Age of kids makes a big difference I noticed. Having an 18 year old is clearly a real drain on income because when I took him out of the equation, we went up into the next bracket 😂

I'm also surprised about the bracket we're in for savings as we're quite frugal and have saved a lot given our income. Our spending is also more than the average per income which again surprised me as we don't splurge on anything. Food for thought though!