To think people’s idea of what ‘a rich’ person is, is totally skewed?

[Y0208680333367]

For example:

Who do you think of as rich?

When the government talk about wealthy people who do they mean?

Tax the rich. Who are ‘the rich’? Etc

On MN it’s anyone who has more than you.

the truth is the delta between those in poverty and a millionaire is tiny compared to that which exists between a millionaire and a billionaire. But generally MN want to lump everyone in a £750k terrace house in London and two professional salaries in the same bucket as Bezos

If a millionaire spent £500 per day they’d would be broke in just over 5 years.

a billionaire could spend for 5500 years before they were running out of money.

@lalalapland agree with you but with caveat that with high earners on PAYE.

Often that kind of wealth doesn't come from employment per se, but from shareholdings or dividends or the sale of a going concern, which don't need to be tied to how "valuable" your day to day input is. If you've have set up a source of income at that level, you don't need to "earn it" on a daily basis. You've created it.

Is that not the start rate of the higher tax band?

Yes, this was what I was getting at distinguishing between comfortable, wealthy and rich.

Not many people are really rich.

2 people with the same income - 1 feels rich the other doesn’t because they spend more so have less available cash. Eg. Parents with 3 dc in private school might not feel rich but the fact they can afford 3dc in private school makes them rich. Another couple with 3dc in state school but on the same income will “feel” a lot richer, when they are in fact equal.

There is definitely currently a confusing dynamic whereby a ‘top 1-2% salary’ affords people a surprisingly ordinary standard of living - particularly in London.

I think technically these people should be ‘rich’ but due to high housing costs (and high taxation tbh) their lives look rather more ordinary than one might expect.

Thats why the wealth vs income piece is so important.

Yes

No - it’s slightly below it.

Those are two wildly different numbers for income and capital. I have income of over £150k but assets very much below £1m (and more like below £500k, including equity in the house and pension pots).

I accept I’m a high earner, but I’d consider someone with £2m assets and £50k income a lot richer than I am.

Rich & wealthy both mean an abundance, plentiful. Not sure why they are different

Except @Darkmodishmany people have properties worth over £500k but are cash poor. They inherited, or bought well years ago. I bought a flat for £85k and it’s worth over £800k now - but I earn £35k (I don’t own the flat any more but you get my point).
I know a number who are asset rich - artwork, property as mentioned, whatever, but do not have a lot of disposable income. I now own a house outright that’s worth over £1m but I couldn’t afford to send a child to private school. It’s a regular three bed terrace with a small garden, nothing fancy at all, but in a nice London neighbourhood.
I think what the government considers for their stats as wealthy isn’t what your average person would consider wealthy, and that’s relative too. If you are a council tenant worried about putting food on the table you might think someone who owns their home and can afford things like Netflix and a week on the Isle of Wight wealthy. That person might think someone who owns a detached house and can take two holidays abroad wealthy, and THAT person might think someone who owns a house in Fulham with a kid in private school wealthy and so on up the scale. I agree about the squeezed middle - because I don’t earn much my DD gets almost full maintenance loan for uni plus a bursary that she can use for food etc - I don’t have to give her anything (she’s also very frugal allowing only £25/week for food). But if I earned £65k and had a mortgage plus two kids at uni only getting minimum loan then that’s £5k a piece each I’d need to find AND they’d need to be saving hard from summer jobs.
I googled what the government considers ‘wealthy’ @Y0208680333367and it says the HMRC, fir tax administration purposes, classifies wealthy as an annual income of over £200,000 with assets of over £2m over the last three years. I’d say that actually is pretty good definition - if they had four kids in private school they wouldn’t have much left over but that’s a personal choice.

What? I earn that in my employment. If I stop earning it every day they will very quickly stop paying it to me.

People who earn over £200K per year, people who can afford a private education for their children, people who can afford multiple foreign holidays her year, eg skiing holidays and people who own more than one property.

People with healthy kids who are able to access every aspect of the curriculum and meet lifes milestones.

• the richest 1% of households have more than £3.6 million in wealth

According to ONS data, the top 10% of households have a disposable income of £70,900 per year

I thought that too. It would take a long time to save 5 million on that salary.

I agree that the perception of rich is subjective. I know of people with large mortgages and childcare bills that leave them with less disposable income than those earning much less than others.

I now own a house outright that’s worth over £1m but I couldn’t afford to send a child to private school. It’s a regular three bed terrace with a small garden, nothing fancy at all, but in a nice London neighbourhood.

But you have an asset & can sell to free up capital for private school. Plenty of houses in London for a lot less. Or borrow against it.

👍.
We have a fairly high income (not £200k plus, however), and have a child in private school (ND, not severe enough for an EHCP but needs not being met in state school). We also have a severely disabled child who has been waiting for 18 months so far for a suitable school place. He’ll never live independently and apart from school fees, every spare penny goes on ensuring we can provide for him when we’re gone.

I'm talking about the billionaire.

Twenty year old me would consider almost 50 year old very rich! (I’m not)

Learning support assistant?

Someone who can go food shopping and not have to worry about how much it costs.