To think the problem with wealth inequality is that rich people don't know how rich they are?

[Neeroy]

Article in the Times today saying that people earning six figures 'don't feel rich'.

Because they are surrounded by six figure earning peers they are comparing themselves to people who have more rather than the 90% of the population that have far less. This is why the budget is poorly received in the news, because rich people think they already shoulder too high a burden when in fact compared to everyone else they still have far more disposable income. Even if they have to cut down on the number of holidays they go on. They aren't sitting in the dark under a blanket. Or only making food that doesn't require turning on the oven.

I don't think they realise how so many people have to live.

www.thetimes.com/article/1fb46414-8f65-436f-8f95-451d69626148?shareToken=8061d939633164c0dfbd805240c8e008

I'll tell you what - if you're a high earner you lack in social skills.

Average public spending is £17,000 per person. If you are a family of four you need to contribute £68,000 in taxes a year. So that would be a family on about £160,000.

https://ifs.org.uk/taxlab/taxlab-key-questions/what-does-government-spend-money

i mean the figures look insane to me - please do point out if I’m wrong?

I'm not a high earner.
It would be interesting to know the basis of your "money doesn't matter, I'm not greedy" spiel that's all.

I didn't say money doesn't matter. I said that accumulating it shouldn't be an aspiration. There is more to life than a massive bank balance.

But well done for not calling me a "hypocrite" or asking intrusive questions like you have been doing up to this post.

Lucky that you had a family member willing to do this 🙄 we don’t have one, for example. Childminder is not much cheaper, maybe 1700 pcm.
And obviously people get free childcare hours now which reduce the costs. And even more hours if they are on benefits.

you know who doesnt get ANY until kids are 3?
people on 6 figures 😀
once ONE parent earns over 100k, no free childcare hours and back to 2К a month. (The only alternative is to reduce salary or do pension sacrifice so that the government gets less tax £ AND has to fork out for free childcare)

so actually people on less than 6 figures don’t realise how well they have it.

It's hardly an intrusive question. It's a thread about income and you've made assumptions about mine (and others) and wrongly insulted me over it multiple times. You are a hypocrite.

And I refer you back to my post about your lack of social skills.

Britain lacks aspiration and which I guess must be due to high taxation combined with high COL and housing. You see a lot of people on here saying it's not worth going to uni, which suggests that they don't see much evidence that it leads to a better lifestyle. I wonder if part of the reason a lot of people are economically inactive is because if they did work, it wouldn't add a lot more to their lifestyle.

I'm currently in this situation - DH and I both FT and currently trying to buy a bigger house but wondering if a massive 25 year mortgage in our early 40s is really worth it. The other option is to stay in a smaller house and go PT and have an easier life, but if everyone like us does that then presumably the country as a whole becomes less productive.

Britain lacks aspirations because of its class system and inverted snobbery.

• People are bashed if they want to be high earners and people go on how virtuous it is to work in public sector or in charity sector and how “greedy” high earners are. combined with high taxation and inverted snobbery no wonder no one wants to move up the financial ladder really.

Yes you’re bashed if you want to earn more even though you are literally subsidizing all those who hate you for your “greed.”

I don’t think £100k automatically makes someone “rich.” Context matters. Someone on £100k with no family help, high rent, and no child benefit isn’t in the same position as someone earning less but getting parental support or cheaper childcare.

Calling them “rich” just distracts from the real inequality at the very top.

And on your point about childcare, cars, and lifestyle choices: it’s great that you’ve managed things in a certain way, but those options aren’t available to everyone. Some people don’t have family support, can’t access cheaper childcare, or don’t have the financial buffer to buy a car outright. Using your own situation as the standard for what others “should” be able to afford doesn’t really land, different circumstances create different pressures, regardless of salary.

I am always puzzled about these threads tbh.

I am rich. I’m not a high earner, don’t drive a luxury car, don’t live in a house bigger than I need. I haven’t had any inheritance yet, thankfully.

Surely it’s just about being secure and having enough money to meet your needs. So if I bought an 800k house, a Range Rover and spent thousands on holidays I’d be short of money. So it’s perfectly possible to be a high earner but waste loads of money trying to look flash and actually not have much. Equally if you are paying nursery fees and don’t qualify for the 30 hours due to over 100k etc that’s pretty horrendous alongside some of the mortgages people have on 3 bed houses these days.

I agree.
People on 100k aren't the problem. People on 100 million are.

Yes, we were massively better off when DH was earning £92k than when he jumped up to £115k - we lost 15 free hours and the 20% tax free child care.

@Neeroy , I'm interested in your reaction to this given your stated view that expenses don't matter at all (i.e. it is wrong to focus on disposable income rather than headline salary income).

I think it's a very important point to realise that the "same" thing (say, a 2-up 2-down terrace) can cost vastly different amounts for different people, and that this is always not due to lifestyle inflation.

The value of those differences is incredibly material.

Of course some people do this.
Others appear to do this, but there could be a whole host of reasons (already explained) behind not seemingly fully applying yourself.

I'm not jealous or spiteful. HTH

Reasons aren't excuses.

They are if you let them be. I had plenty of “reasons” to not succeed but I was determined to live a different life to my parents.

Good for you, me too, but I think you're being naive if you think it's the same for everyone. It really isn't. I speak from experience (not my own). Calling genuine reasons "reasons" or excuses isn't acceptable imho, it's quite narrow-minded.

It still feels a bit unfair though to accuse someone like @Boohoo76 of not having any idea how the poor live, being really out of touch, having no perspective etc.

You might say that she is underestimating how hard it is for others to replicate what she did, or something, but I think this is different from the theme of the thread which is that people on £100k (HOUSEHOLD) have never even met a poor person and have no idea what their lives are like.

Well yeah. That's why I said some.
It's just getting a bit tiresome hearing the same binary thinking as though life is always either struggle or privilege and nothing in between.

Most of the people in £100k live in London and the SE though, where £800k is the minimum for a 3 bed house ina decent catchment area. They’re not taking out massive mortgages for a laugh.^^

It’s not acceptable that you believe that people from difficult backgrounds cannot succeed in life. That’s what I call narrow minded. People like you are ruining this country, keeping people “in their place” because they can’t possible be expected to get a well paid job.

You’re bashed even more if you provide employment for people - you’re assumed to be a leech on society that doesn’t pay taxes. It’s seemed unacceptable to suggest the poor are lazy but perfectly fine to assume the rich are tax dodgers - and that’s being kind. I know what it’s like to be poor - I grew up that way - I was lucky - I was able to to pass exams, get a good job and a good husband. I feel people are not able to retrain as adults as easily as they should - we have devalued technical colleges and we have limited choices