To think this is classed as being wealthy?

[hadenougj1]

I genuinely don’t know. I have come from naff all so my judgment could be totally off.

This is for one person and one child… Do you think savings of 50k, income of 75k, own (mortgaged) home worth close to 500k and parents with four homes (one of which used as a holiday home all year round) means you are wealthy? Is this what is meant by ‘he or she is wealthy?’

Depends where you are. In the south east, a three bedroom semi can be £500k plus. I’d guess she’s comfortable, but probably not enough to retire to a luxurious lifestyle or set up big trust funds for the kids.

I think as well you need to look at things through a 2024 lens. 2024 cost of living, inflation and salaries.

things that sound out of reach in previous years may not be equivalent to today’s money. Eg a £500k property might sound like a mansion but in reality could be a flat in London.

My parents lived a relatively wealthy lifestyle on a similar income - that was enough for them to afford multiple children and properties and retire early and have lots of holidays and savings.

my salary now is the same as theirs when they were my age but I can’t do much with it - my bills soak up the majority of my salary and I definitely won’t be retiring early, buying multiple properties, having lots of kids. So in 2024, what might traditionally seem like a high salary doesn’t go as far.

In my neck of the woods they're minted.

The parents may be wealthy, depends of course how much actual money they have as opposed to 4 properties.

but I don't think anyone is ' wealthy ' if there is a mortgage involved on the property they live in.

The thing with wealth is that it's all relative. People tend to compare themselves to those with more and see themselves as less well off. Or in your friends case, her circumstances are changing to make her much worse off than she was, so she is feeling impoverished. I get its insensitive maybe to complain to you about it. But if that's the thing going on in her life, it's going to be what she's talking about.

its not for me. I have similar background as your friend but My income is 80k and mortgage only £300 and in this living crisis its still not considered wealthy or even comfortable.

Comfortable for me is i can spend my money without thinking. With my income i still have to budget everything. So in my opinion your friend is blessed and have enough but not comfortable and not even close to wealthy.

wealthy for me is can take twice holiday a year. Summer holiday go back home to my hometown in Asia and winter holiday skiing. All take business class flight. Have a holiday house, at least have 3 houses. All children in private school and because i’m a woman i would love to have a birkin bag.

with 80k salary I couldn’t even send my kids to private school or have birkin 😅

How much did the parents gift as a deposit for the current mortgage?

If nothing, she is not wealthy, her parents are. Or at least asset rich money poor....

Very much depends where she lives, In London a £75k salary whilst above average is not particularly high and a £500k home could be a 2 bedroom flat in Zone 3. Transfer those figures to say the NW of England and the story is very different.

Also I think you need to be mindful of the fact she’s comparing her lifestyle to her previous lifestyle when she was with her ex and presumably in a 2 income household with a higher standard of living. I can understand why she might not feel “wealthy”. Maybe privileged is a better term?

I’d describe that as ‘mass affluent’. Certainly not wealthy but reasonably well off.

Depends on how you define wealth.

if we’re talking strictly monetary value - then it also depends where you live. Take 45k as an example… you might be able to live like a king up north but in London you might barely scrape by

No not wealthy. I have similar income/savings and own a house worth 400,000 (no mortgage). I consider myself comfortable, but certainly not wealthy.

Everyone will have different views of wealthy but I would say no.
Also you can’t count your chickens too early - never rely on other people’s money like waiting for an inheritance. People get screwed over with that. Make your own.

I'm similar and no I'm not wealthy at all. I'm comfortable but not wealthy.

And when I split from my ex and became a single mom I felt the drop in income.

I grew up in poverty. I know what it's like to not have food or even toilet paper. I still feel financial strain. I'm far from where I was but I also now how a mortgage and a child and have less money than I once did.

I could easily look at what you have though and my childhood self would see you as wealthy.

It's all relative to our experiences.

A £75k salary is "not particularly high"? Really? Even in London, what you say is not true.

According to the Office for National Statistics, that puts her at the 90th percentile for all full time female employees in London.

She earns more than 90% of all female full-time employees in London. Or, in other words, she is one of the top 10% earning women in London.

It's very hard to feel wealthy in London. You'd be struggling to buy anything more than a one-bed flat on that salary. That for most people does not look like wealthy.

It is about the same as you would get on some working benefits with children and a high London rent/childcare. We saw that when someone posted their working benefit income on another thread and it was over £4k a month (take home and £75k is just over 4k take-home)

To me wealthy means you don’t need to work. I’d say you were comfortable. Parents houses are irrelevant.

I wouldn’t label other people or describe my situation as ‘wealthy’ as it’s judgemental and has obviously led to a dispute.
Everyone compares themselves to others and it depends upon what they’re used to having and their disposable income.
£75000 is a higher income though saying that!

Comfortable yes, wealthy no. Wealthy imo is being rich enough to comfortably live off of your assets.

High income is useful for building wealth, but is not an indicator of wealth it itself because you rely on someone else for that paycheck, and a lot of high earners completely burn through their paychecks every month, especially in expensive areas. They never actually use that tool to build wealth.

Parental wealth is helpful as a safety net, but not as an indicator of one’s own financial situation. That money could all be willed to a donkey charity.

Parental property irrelevant. No guarantee of inheriting it. No info here on equity in the house or size of mortgage repayment. An income of £75K is indicative of a successful career, but as a single parent with a mortgage, this person might have little disposable income.

A college fund?
So you dont live in the Uk although you quote £s and ISAs

I do live in uk. I refer to it as a "college" fund because when we started it our financial advisor was of us origin and referred to it as that and it stuck!! Also it seems less common in the uk to have a specific fund for uni fees so there isn't really a term for it in the uk.

I suppose parental wealth IS relevant to those who think in terms of the 'bank of mum and dad'. The actual offspring might not benefit from it, but their 'friends and acquaintances' often assume they do.

I would class that as comfortable rather than wealthy. You still need to budget on a £75k income so income would have to bd over £100-£150k for me to consider someone wealthy (not me ).

I'd say well off. To me wealthy means house over 1m, landowner, massive salary or old money types. It's subjective though.