AIBU to ask what salary and savings count as wealthy here?

[Lalaland1988]

Just that really. I saw a post on here earlier about how mumsnet must entice a middle class crowd. I don't even know what middle class means anymore so I'm intrigued to know what the average mumsnetter might find a wealthy salary plus savings pot for parents in their 30s and 40s would be

MN doesn’t entice mainly middle class women. There are women from all socioeconomic backgrounds on here. From women who need to live on benefits, to very wealthy woman. Pretty much like normal day to day society.

ETA: what are your thoughts?

People can claim to earn anything on here. No one can know how truthful their claims are.

Well I thought so, then I saw that post I mentioned, with many either agreeing or saying that people mainly exaggerated their wealth over the forum. It made me wonder who is here actually reading and participating on this and furthermore what would they actually class as middle class or wealthy.

fyi I'm an immigrant on a bang average salary, my husband makes a lot more than me but when I moved here I saw England as a place of opportunity and was excited when I moved here, now I go back home and see people thriving a lot more than what I see here on the same schooling / background. So just curious really

People do thrive here and some aren’t able to. I sure it’s much the same in your birth country.

its all relative though. I have 65k savings and earn 69k. I am 49 and have been renting for years, apart from 5yrs I part owned with father of DC. I live in the south east and pay £1450 a month rent for a 2 bed flat. My savings are for a house deposit, I am relocating 250 miles to north west as youngest DC is finishing sixth form and my ties to the south east are over. I cannot afford to live here on a single salary. Two people on 35k each would have more disposable income than me.

I only have the savings I do as my ex was working overseas and offered me and DC to live in his house rent free as he knew my long term plans to move and knew I wouldn’t afford a deposit. He also gave me a lump sum, for years of unpaid maintenance after I flagged with him in frustration one day (he’s a man of big gestures instead of just being normal and paying monthly)!

Some people would say i’m well off on paper, 69k salary, 65k savings, but pretty soon those savings will be largely gone and i’ve just completed a working past 70 form for my mortgage provider. I am not saying i’m poor, far from it, but I have to be careful what I spend.

Not sure where home country is for you, but depends where you live in UK too. I just posted my situation above, if i’d have lived in a cheaper area the last 25yrs i’ve been working then i’d have been a lot better off financially. I am also a single parent so one income.

Im North American, and I'd say when I moved here a decade ago we (as a couple) were in a good position above most of my family and friends, it's seems now, if I'm comparing, that we are very much behind in terms of salary and savings and it's worried me to say the least!

I guess it depends on how you measure success. For me, it isn’t income. North America has it’s own shared of difficulties too.

How long is a piece of string?

A high salary means different things for different people.

my husband makes a lot more than me

All these ‘I’m just curious’ threads are started by women who think their husbands are on high salaries. I don’t understand this hunger for yet another thread.

Just waiting for the inevitable ‘we work hard for our money’.

it’s hard comparing countries. When I see the size of the houses on instagram in the US / Canada i’m shocked. As the saying goes - comparison is the thief of joy. And i’m certainly guilty of comparing my life to friends and colleagues. I’m one of the more senior members of the team, but probably one of the very few who don’t own their own home. Most people my age are nearing completion of their mortgage, not just starting it.

It’s quite depressing but I remind myself that I have 3 healthy DC, in 2wks time I can say i’ve raised them all into healthy adults. I try and not judge myself on what assets I have but what kind of person I am. As at my funeral no-one is going to say how great I was as I owned my own home and retired at 55. Life isn’t all about what we own and how successful we are. I need to remind myself of that some days.

I have my own house that's paid for, but I have a low income. I'm not interested in money once I have what I need. If I had to pay rent or a mortgage I'd be poor. If I had millions I don't think it would make much difference to me.

Wealthy is many 100s of £ per year. Property. Not having to work. It’s pretty rare in UK and USA but most of us in both countries have enough.
I’ve just come back from holiday to a poor country and felt very wealthy while I was there.
Only you can define what you think wealthy is to you.

There isn't a definitive link between salary and wealth though. You can be earning £100k+ but if you've not been earning it long and are having money sucked out of your pocket due to living in London (which is the situation of a lot of the NQ lawyers I work with), then you're still a long way from being 'wealthy'.

On the other hand you can earn an average salary but invest wisely over decades or inherit a shitload such that you are 'wealthy'.

Asking 'What salary makes me wealthy?' is a bit like asking 'How fast do I need to drive to get to Newcastle?' - you can do 100mph if you like but if it's in the wrong direction it'll never happen. But if you are heading in the right direction you can walk there eventually, and if you're lucky you'll get a lift.

Probably being on the Sunday Times rich list

Comparison is the thief of joy @Lalaland1988 .

I’m serious.

STOP pocket watching.

The Internet is full of dreamers and weirdos who project .

There are many people also in the UK who were given enormous legs up onto the property ladder by their parents, and yet act like they’re the cleverest people in the world for choosing to buy in Stoke Newington or Clapham in the late 90s.

I am a person who is very fortunate indeed but I will not share on the internet how much I earn, my car’s purchase figure, my kid’s school fees, or god forbid my house price or if it’s mortgage free.

These kind of threads are mad to me.

My earnings and savings don't 'match ' at all. I've significant money in savings and no mortgage but that's due to other reasons such as on the side property development after inheritance.

You forgot to mention dogs! None of us will get 'bingo' til you've ticked all of the mumsnet goody memes. Excellent effort though.

It's quite easy to spot that people with paid off houses, savings and usually higher salaries are older than young "just starting". Obviously.
I proper laughed at one thread when someone bemoaned poster with paid off mortgage ans savings as priviledged compared to her and being rich. Well the paod off mortgage poster was in early 60s and the moaner in 20s. Pretty obvious why one had more savings and paid off mortgage!

I think it's age a lot which skewew it here. Of course most people of just about retirement age will have more accumulated than young people....

Class, in the UK at least, is not synonymous with wealth. There are people in all wealth brackets on MN and in the UK in general. Even within MN, certain boards probably attract more mc posters than others.

I have just spent time in Canada and I have to disagree with you there OP. From what I saw and know - many people (20s - mid 40s) are in significant amounts of debt.

The salaries in my industry in Toronto (energy) are the same as they'd be in the UK major cities outside of London.

I was happy to get back to the Uk and have a good amount of annual leave again. More time for living life. Sometimes it isn't about wealth and more about time.

Hopefully it'll get better soon.

Class in the UK seems to be very confused thing. I saw so many arguments about wthat counts as x or y, how do you become x or y. People cannot agree. I find it quite amusing that people are so into class, but cannot agree on basic definition of what makes one x class.

Some things are not easily defined. It's not that people are confused about it, it's that the cultural differences that make up class are complex, many-layered and shifting, and your view of it depends on your perspective. I'm not 'into class', I'm just aware of it. It's hard not to be if you have been brought up in the UK.

Retired on 13k a year, sick of young people who earn mega money saying we had it easy! I'd consider 20k salary as rich as its way above anything we've ever earned as a couple, working for 50 years.

Once you have enough to survive, the amount is irrelevant. Money doesn't make people happy. Family and friendship are all that matter.

Your OP conflates wealth and class, they are different things