What income do you consider rich?

[Believer99]

Interested to know what household income is considered rich.
When I was younger (19) I remember telling my BF when he earns over 30k il be a SAHM 😳 because I considered that to be an awful lot of money

Now we are older & earning more of course my perspective has changed, I would probably consider a household income of over 120k rich now we live in the north of England.

I think that depends entirely on what you earn.

Our household income is 60k and I do not consider us rich by any means. But people on NMW or lower incomes probably would.

£150k is rich but individual circumstances will affect how wealthy that family feel. An average salary is £30k remember! Even in the se that's a lot!

Our household income is 130k we live in the north but house prices have considerably shot up we live in a 3 bed semi ex council house so very cheap bills , I have a cheap city car and OH has a banger so not splashing the cash while we are saving for the forever home. I don't feel really wealthy but I don't worry about food shopping I generally put whatever I want in my trolley and I have hair done nails eyebrows whenever I want.

People who are rich often don't feel rich, but if you earn over £100k you are, objectively, extremely well off and you should wrap your head round that.

I earn less than that but consider myself very fortunate.

Saying 'oh £130k but I'm not rich' is gross, makes you look like a twat.

If you earn 4 x average salary, you're well off.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo I did a similar swap, it's where the money is and I find the job fascinating. One of those career paths you don't really know about growing up, I'm trying to get my kids to think about it!

Yep I'd say if you're in the top 10% of earners you're very well off. If you've got two well-off in ones, you're rich.
Just because you then spend it all, doesn't mean you're not rich!
Household income (2 ft jobs) of less than 60k here. We're OK, still above average, just.

It is all relative to others and usually as income increases you increase expenses such as move house. We paid off our mortgage on our previous house and 2 buy to let (I call them buy to lose) flat by the time I was about 35, sold all 3 at a loss - huge losses on the flats, borrowed a small fortune and bought a much bigger house (mortgage being £500k in 1997 (equivalent of about £900k today) which rose to £1.3m at one point after my divorce.

However I have always known the average UK pay and when I earn more than it starting from my £6250 first legal salary in 1983 which is about £20k a year in today's money which was less than legal secretaries got and indeed is less than my postman and now food van driver son gets but I knew the wage would rise as I picked business law in London as indeed it did.

The only real richness I value however is that I never seem to get ill. (See a doctor for 7 minutes in last 15 years kind of never get ill!!!!) Luckiest person in England.

DH and I earn around £30k combined at the moment so our perspectives may be skewed but I'd say a joint income of £100k is rich where we are.

The thing with being "rich" if you rely on a salary is that often you have to have very high outgoings in order to allow you to do the job, which can then leave you not feeling very rich. If you're regularly working 80 plus hours plus and earning north of £150k in London you're probably going to need to live close to work to keep commute time down, so have a huge mortgage. You'll need a nanny, a cleaner, possibly some housekeeper support. You will have to throw money at problems because you just don't have the time to do otherwise.

Clearly no-one should pity people in that situation. But it's not as simple as people might think.

[quote user0176]@HalfShrunkMoreToGo I did a similar swap, it's where the money is and I find the job fascinating. One of those career paths you don't really know about growing up, I'm trying to get my kids to think about it![/quote]
InfoSec, software development or Data Privacy would be the fields I'd encourage my daughter toward if she's so inclined. Data Privacy is a massive growth area with more and more countries developing their own Privacy Legislations so the demand for people in that area is huge.

We have a joint household income of 80k and I feel incredibly rich and so so fortunate. I came from a family where money was tight (not always having a proper meal, more just making do with what was in, sometimes just potatoes and missing out on lots of things as we simply could not afford it). I now have my own house and car and I can afford to eat well and have subscription tv. I feel beyond lucky to be in this position and always try to help others when I can. I'm always amazed by the large salaries some people earn.

Over £300k income with a range of Un-mortgaged property and investments.

"My definition of ‘rich’ would include a large, detached main home plus a holiday home, kids in private schools, two new premium brand cars, several holidays a year and money for expensive hobbies, eg golf, horse riding etc. By that definition, I would say £300k in Greater London and £200k in the rest of the country."

Your definition is wrong! We earn that in London and have a small terraced house, no second home or car and kids in state schools. Not saying we aren't comparatively rich in monetary terms, but you'd need to be earning a lot more to have that lifestyle

Wow absolutely 120k is rich. But everyone defines thenselves as "average" and those with more as "rich" don't they?

If you live in an echo chanber with other high earners you begin to lose that perspective.

Higher tax bracket in my mind would be "doing well."

@naynayisay

DH and I earn around £30k combined at the moment so our perspectives may be skewed but I'd say a joint income of £100k is rich where we are.

That is less than NMW- dont you work full time?

Over £150K? Our household income is around £110K at the minute, live in the north and don’t feel particularly rich! That’s with no kids and a reasonably sensible mortgage. We’re comfortable but not rich..

@Libertaire

My definition of ‘rich’ would include a large, detached main home plus a holiday home, kids in private schools, two new premium brand cars, several holidays a year and money for expensive hobbies, eg golf, horse riding etc.

By that definition, I would say £300k in Greater London and £200k in the rest of the country.

You cant get that on £200k or £300k unless you inherit your holiday home.

North or England. Large detached here is £1.5 million. Holiday home -lets say £300,000. Cars £50k each. Holidays- say £20-30k a year. Golf £5k- horses- even more.

@WholeClassKeptIn

Wow absolutely 120k is rich. But everyone defines thenselves as "average" and those with more as "rich" don't they?

If you live in an echo chanber with other high earners you begin to lose that perspective.

Higher tax bracket in my mind would be "doing well."

Thats £150,00 which with 2 earning- that is £300k plus for a couple. So most people would see that as doing well I think.

I think people who are mortgage-free can be far wealthier on lower salaries than people who have a mortgage.

Our mortgage is a huge chunk of our income (south-east, so we borrowed the maximum to buy a small 3 bed semi that needs work).
If we didn't have a mortgage we'd be flush on a joint income of £80k. With a mortgage, essential work on the house and mat leave then nursery fees on the horizon (currently pregnant), things are looking tight for the next few years.

Definitely not moaning, we are very lucky to have been able to buy a home. It's just a big monthly expense, plus the extra for essential work (although at least we've already done most of the big things like roof, windows, boiler etc over the last few years).

I see well off, and rich as a bit different. Well off meaning you are doing pretty well for yourselves. Rich is like £millionaires. You have large house, brand new top range car, 2/3 holidays a year probably to St Kits, skiing. Basically rich means loaded to me.

Well, to get a mortgage on a three-bed house in a central location would require a salary of £180k - and that's just a mortgage, not to buy outright.

When you start thinking of how much money you'd need to comfortably buy a big house in London (buying a house is a good benchmark of wealth), the required salary starts to get ridiculous.

Rich is not needing to count or keep track of it.

Rich people don't earn a salary, they earn income from investments. If you're tied to a job, you're not remotely rich.
For that reason net assets should be the comparator, not income.
I'd say net assets of £2 million makes you rich. Gives income of £80k per year, enough to cover fairly basic household expenses.

Everyone's version of 'rich' is different though, isn't it? My idea of rich would involve around 100k per year and I live in North London (secure tenancy), we're happy to stay in our home unless we win millions on the lottery because we like the location but 100k would let us do EVERYTHING we wanted, don't want kids to go to private school or elaborate holidays. I often say to DH that if we won 20mil on the lottery I wouldn't buy a house in our area, because for that money you'd want a pool, a steam room, a massive garden and fishing opportunities but you'd spend the whole lot on a place like that (without the fishing) where we live. I like looking at Rightmove for a browse and there are places like that far from home but I'd never want to leave the London Borough I've lived in my whole life, as has DH and all of our immediate family live here or in the adjoining borough.

[quote pancakesonsunday]@blessedbethechocolate ok, maybe I should clarify.

In one of the prettier options of one of the commuter towns into London, I think a joint income of over 300k just inches into rich territory, as that allows for a 4 bed pretty house. In London itself that joint income wouldn't be classed as rich I don't think (well off and fortunate certainly, but not stand out rich). Am well aware that in some parts of the country it's a ludicrous amount of money though. [/quote]
This. 100%.