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.

We are in top 40% for property and income but bottom 50% for savings and top 10% for spending 😱. However we are focussed on paying off our mortgage in the next 4 years hence the high spending. Savings also does not take account of the significant overpayment on the mortgage. We do need to cut our non essential spend though.

This had made me think. I am in the top 30% for savings, but don't have a penny in cash savings as we have just finished an extension.

What I do have is shares from a major tech firm. I got the job the day after Brexit results which meant share prices had all dropped. So the vesting schedule was adjusted accordingly. Only worked there for 3 years, but since then the share price has quadrupled.

I only mention this because people are shocked by the massive figure of the top 10%, but I suspect huge amounts of that are investments that have paid off.

I am exceptionally lucky and if it makes anyone feel better I have sweet FA of a pension because I have spent most of my life contracting and never got round to organising it (despite having an Economics degree). So those shares are the bulk of my retirement planning.

That was feck-all use as it didn’t have anywhere to put how much we’re paying on debt repayments.

There is a section for other at the end...

Top 10 for income, bottom 50 for savings and top 50 for property wealth. I didn’t do the spending one. Surprised at some of it but expected the income one to be about that.

We're high on income but very low on savings. But I knew that as we're renovating and spending every penny at the mo.

We have a lot of savings atm (saving to move house), like 6 figures worth, but that's top 20%, not top 10. Makes me realise there must be some people with pots and pots tucked away

I'm pretty surprised about where we sit. So many people I know live in houses approaching £1million, have rental properties (even very ordinary people seem to have rental properties) and drive expensive cars. I thought we might be somewhere in the middle but apparently we're better off than we thought — largely because we've always lived modestly and avoided debt and paid into pensions. I feel very far from wealthy.

Your household's
income is in the top 50%

Your household's
savings are in the top 50%

Your household's
property wealth is in the bottom 40%

Your household's
spending is in the bottom 30%

surprised at this but I’m guessing the saving bit is because we have a lot of cash we have saved and continue to save for a deposit for an ever out of reach property to buy

spending would be lower if it wasn’t for expenses for the dog with ridiculous high insurance due to his medication.

surprised at income but I guess that it doesn’t feel that way since we only have recently got two workers again the the house but the wage gaps between them is huge that 85% comes from one wage.

Sorry, missed that it has more sections.

Top 10% in one section, top 20% in another and top 30% in house wealth.

Income in bottom 50%
Savings and mortgage in top 50%

High up for everything apart from savings which are shockingly low. Quite a lot to be grateful for and something to work on. I have an insecure job though, so I worry a lot (although savings would mean I’d worry less)

I only answered the first two questions before being informed I was in the bottom decile. It's a seriously flawed calculator,

Income top 50%
Savings top 10%
Property top 30%
Spending bottom 30%

Top 50% for income, bottom 40% for savings and bottom 30% for property.

Bottom 10% for 3 sections, top 40% because of my house. 😕

I’m in the bottom 10% or 20% in all of them which is mad considering I work FT.

Mine said bottom 10% for spending but I'm pretty sure I did something wrong with that one. If we were that frugal we'd have more in savings!

I’m really really shocked out how low we were, thought we were much higher! Large family with extra adults in the house.

I am a single person household and what I thought was average salary came out as top 40% so is slightly above. However, I live in the south East, so it might not be top 40% for the area at all. No regional information is given in the tests.

About the savings thing, I come across as being in the top 40% for savings, but this is because I am saving for a house deposit and have maxed out on the life isa. Therefore the rest is accessible. I am right attending bottom for property wealth as on a single income, I can't afford to buy.

The savings bit is a bit silly as is does not include investments and pensions. People who are sensible will have more pension and investment than easy access cash. In the event of actually having to get access to this though I could but at a massive tax loss.

I’m lower than I would have guessed!

I earn about 125k which only puts us top 20%. Top 30% for savings (85k).

Top 30%, doesn't feel like it at all

You need to do the rest

It's a score per section