What is your idea of “wealth”?

[Somethingsgotthagive]

Leaving aside proper rich people with millions in the bank and in assets, what is your idea of a wealthy life?
I used to associate wealth with those with a lavish lifestyle and nice things, big houses etc and whilst this is certainly often the case for many wealthy people, I now see it from a different angle and think that someone owning a studio flat and a very old car can indeed be wealthier than someone on 6 figures salary but with a massive mortgage and kids in private school etc.
So for you, what is it that makes a person “wealthy”?

Retired
Generous income from salary/pension
Debt/mortgage free
Hefty "fun money" cushion
No children (apologies!)
Good Health*
Few worries or concerns.

*The most important aspect I think. No point in having a pile of money if you end up being the richest person in the cemetery!

I fit into all the above and am very thankful after 40 odd years of hard work to be in this position. I will never be "wealthy" but I have more than enough and I have decent health and mobility at 67, so that makes me feel rich.

Wealth: enough money to do what you want to do without having to worry.
If you don't want to do anything expensive then you can have 'wealth' on less money.

Someone on a six figure salary has a high income but if they haven't had it for very long (or are spending it on wine women and song) they might well not be wealthy.

I'd see wealth as essentially assets - so accumulated cash. In lots of parts of the country someone can own a house worth a million that they bought forty years ago for thrupence halfpenny but have very little
Income. They are technically wealthy but can't (or don't want to) turn it into cash.

Disposable income/assets.

If you have a high quantity of that, I imagine you are very wealthy!

I think that’s a great definition, but also what I think of as “comfortable”.

To me wealth means assets beyond a family home. Assets that bring in an income.

So you can have a large salary but that is not wealth. If you have invested that salary for a long time you might have turned it into wealth. If you used the salary to pay off the mortgage on the family home, then you are now in a good position to build wealth.

For me, it means having enough money to have choices in your daily life. Not being tied to working flat out if you'd rather be doing other things. Being comfortable at home with enough space for everyone, and able to, say, sort out emergencies like broken fridge or car trouble without worrying.

And, not endless swanning around, but definitely being able to take the odd holiday and choose where you want to go. Also of course good health, but if and when problems occur, not panicking about losing your home or being unable to meet commitments, just being able to focus on treatment and wellbeing.

I have a great deal to be grateful for and I'm managing, but am not remotely wealthy. I dream of more choice and flexibility in life and (as I'm self employed and not earning massively), not fearing the financial terror that would go with any health issues/family problems that necessitated changes.

Life feels very precarious financially. Despite doing all the sensible stuff (no holidays or eating out, secondhand clothes, old cars etc), it's manageable only while we are healthy enough to keep going. I see myself as luckier than many, but certainly not wealthy.

@JustPleachy I think that is a good distinction. I think wealth helps you to eg resign from a job that is over stressing you, whereas comfortable might be reliant on you staying in it.

Someone who is time rich and able to enjoy it. The cost of that will vary person to person.

Being able to live off the interest on the interest generated by your assets (ie your investments can go with inflation AND pay for your lifestyle).

@JJustPleachy

I'd also say comfortable is not worrying about day to day costs but still budgeting for holidays/cars/big costs. But being able to replace the washing machine at the drop of a hat if it breaks.

Wealthy is not even having to worry about the bigger purchases e.g. cost of holidays. If you fancy the Maldives, you can afford it. If you want the Maldives every year, not just as a one off 'special' holiday, you can afford it.

Uber-rich is not even having to worry about the cost of mansions or private jets.

Being wealthy means you don't have to think about whether you can afford any of your usual purchases and bigger ones like a luxury holiday or buying a car outright without reference to your bank account to check the balance.

Also having a hefty portfolio of assets which increase in value, plus a generous passive income rolling in.

I would like to be able to not worry about running out of money every month with just normal expenditure, nothing excessive and be to save a couple of hundred pounds

I'd say simply having more money than you need to maintain the lifestyle you want.

Never worrying about money, so no debt at all, steady income, secure savings, sensible investments. Choosing to work, not having to. Knowing you can leave something to your children.

I feel fairly wealthy, in that I have choices and options. I own my house outright. I have non pension assets of about £300k excluding the house and about £700k in pensions. I'm 50. I work 2 days a week and that covers my spending- I don't live a very extravagant life but I do expensive travel a couple of times a year. I have friends with much more money who feel poor and friends with much less money who feel comfortable- it's about what you think you need. For me it's the absence of fear about money- if I lost my job or had a health issue I know I have enough. If I went back to working full time I'd have a lot more income- but knowing I don't need to is very freeing!

When your money earns more than you do.

I have travelled a lot. For be, wealthy is always going to be access to a flushing toilet.

I think having a toilet or two specifically allocated to your household, puts you into the top 25% of the world.

Also of course, having sinks, drains, a kitchen allocated just to your household, a bed room and a living room for your household, allocated in self contained living accommodation, with your own front door.

These things all together probably put you in the top 10%

Wealthy is always relative.

You are wealthy if your money exceeds your expectations of your lifestyle such that you can have everything you expect to reasonably have and have money leftover. So if you don't feel you "ought" to be able to afford a ski holiday and never have one you can still feel wealthy. But if you feel that regular ski holidays should be part of a wealthy lifestyle and you can't afford them you will feel that you aren't wealthy. So many people in the highest income brackets will claim they aren't wealthy because they perceive all the things they could have that they can't have without being yet more wealthy than they are, and perceive these shortfalls as something preventing them from being properly wealthy. Other people with exactly the same income and the same general standard of living will perceive themselves as wealthy because the have set their expectations lower and count the fact that their lifestyle exceeds their expectations as a blessing.

Agree with pp that it’s about perspective but these would be things that I would perceive as wealthy ( in combination rather than isolation)

Own your house outright
book business class as standard when you fly
never have to think about if you can afford another holiday- you know you can
Dont really care that much about VAT on school fees
Dont even bother calling the NHS GP- just go private immediately.
Do your weekly food shop in M&S if you feel like it.
Not 100% reliant on job for income- have income generating investments.

@LaPalmaLlama I don't have any of those things but I consider myself pretty wealthy. But this proves my point above.

@DexaVooveQhodu I agree- I don't think there are objective measures of feeling wealthy. I used to work in a very high earning field and saw so many people who earned and owned what for many would be incredible amounts feeling poor. It's all about expectations and, for those of us lucky enough to have them, choices

That's a humbling perspective. Thanks for the reality check

What a lovely position to be in. I wish you well xx

This is a really interesting question. Me and DH earn a lot but we're not wealthy - DH on just over 100k and I earn around 90k (sometimes higher w bonus). We're youngish, early 30s, haven't had the salary for long and are about to buy a 1m family home with a mortgage debt of 750k. So big debt and outgoings.

We can comfortably afford childcare, daily living and a big home. We're gonna struggle to have a nice car, so gonna buy the cheapest we can get, and we haven't got much savings as we'll be putting most of it into our house purchase. We spend nothing on holidays as all our annual leave is going on childcare gaps atm.

I know we're wealthy, but the people I think of as wealthy are mainly retired, earn their house outright, and can afford expensive holidays/meals out/nice cars. Maybe one day me and DH will get there. Housing and childcare is just so expensive for our generation.

Having enough money to cover basic living expenses so you don't 'need' to work ever again. And having good health.

So it depends on your values. For me, an annual income of 30k, would cover the lifestyle I want, assuming no mortgage, which would mean having savings or pension to value of 450k plus the state pension.

Wealth is really about cutting back your spending and spending time doing what you love.