Idle speculation - how much money would you need to never need to work again? And what do you define as "Rich"?

[WideWebWitch]

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None needed DG

I think it'd be scary, actually (the being rich). And not good for los to get everything on a plate imo.

You've all just reminded me that I need to buy my £88m winning lottery ticket for this weekend.

WWW, it is an interesting question because the answer does depend on whether giving up work is one of your first financial priorities. If it is then all you need is enough capital to replace your current annual income plus indexation. But in reality most people would include something else be it a slightly bigger (or hugely bigger) house, car, some good holidays, private school fees , designer handbag etc. The number starts looking rather large when you include all of the above of course!

It does also make you think about retirement - how much money do you want each year in retirement, and what size of pension fund will you need to get it. Again the answer will be different if you only watch TV or whether you are travelling, playing golf or tennis.

True Ladymuck, true. I'd be PERFECTLY happy not working if I had plenty of cash. I'd spend my days:

reading
mumsnetting
going to exotic places I've always wanted to see
watchnig films
meeting friends for lunch
sleeping
going to art galleries and exhibitions
being happy
walking

But I don't love my job or anything, (not that I hate working per se, I don't) and just see it as a means to an end. My objective is to earn as much money as possible for as little effort as possible. Although of course I don't mentiont hat at interviews, no, I go on about challenge and strategy, blah blah

WWW, you are a woman after my own heart.

I think 10m would do nicely.

WWW - really? Are you sure? I could do all of those things for a bit, but ultimately I would want to be doing something that had some significance too. Whilst I enjoy being a lady who lunches I would hate for my tombstone to say "Ladymuck, she read, she lunched, she lounged"

in my increasingly longer life, i have known plenty of 'rich' people. tbh, the ones who are the most comfortable financially, are the ones on the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder. they dont have to worry about a load of material things that come into play when you are 'rich'
i think the one person i knew who was financilly the best off ever, was a 17 year old girl with a baby. full benefits. own bedsit. babies dad gave her loads of cash for babies things. her mom did her laundry. babysat etc, did half her groceries etc.
60K income a year is actually pretty measly, if you have to factor in huge mortgage, private school fees. two cars. etc etc.

I would do all that WWW mentioned (with extra sleep) and then after about a year or so I would look into voluntary work or something

maybe 2 days a week or so?

I would give tons away to friends if I won lots of money

2 million would get us through 60 years as we are (obviously not including inflation or our lives actually improving finances-wise).

BUT - with that we would be able to buy a home outright, so not have to worry about rent/mortgage etc.

Oh yes ladymuck, I'm really sure! I would very happily be idly rich.
My tombstone , it has been said, will say "she couldn't be arsed"

Hmmm, I kind of agree with what Wildpatch said. More things do come in to play when you are rich, not that I have first hand experience of it!

I started pondering WWW's question, and while my dds prob won't need private education (the state round here is perfectly adequate) I started thinking, "but if I'm loaded, I will have to send my children to private school", and "I'll have to upgrade my car every few years", and "I'll have money to spare so why not get a nanny and a cleaner and a gardener," almost as if money makes you think more idly and more inclined to throw money at things rather than just get on with them.

I have a (v v loaded) friend who despite being a SAHM with two children at pre-school/school still has a nanny to help with her (incredibly docile) baby. And she has a cleaner, gardener etc... Some days when I'm hanging out in her gracious drawing room it seems as if she has a full-on army of staff there to assist her! She comes from a background where these things are almost expected. God forbid she should have to cope on her own like the rest of us!

I imagine her outgoings are extortionate and how much money she has left over I don't know (more than me I bet! )

I read an article once - think it was Stephen Fry - and he said that he liked to potter about

now I love to potter about, not doing much, just mooching about

and I could do lots of that if I didn't work

my tombstone would say "she pottered about"

You know I'd want to be quietly rich, so we weren't targets for kidnappers or anything, eg I wouldn't want to be the Beckhams for anything (for all sorts of reasns!)

I think it's an extension of the situation whereby it is possible to be 'deprived' in the Western world because you lack internet access, a car or a TV. If you become rich and spend most of your time with wealthier people, your idea of essentials shifts.

God, I would love to potter again, I think I've forgotten how to do so. All potential pottering time is spend getting on with stuff at top speed. I sometimes envy the elderly retired people opposite - they seem to do nothing but potter all day.

Oh yes, we have a v warped idea of what is essential in our culture Orm. But I'm not going to get sanctimonious about it, oh no...

Ha! I've often thought that ladym. Watching old couples (like my parents) potter round garden centres and buy a few bulbs and then settle down for coffee for an hour or so. And spend an entire day on a trip to the library.

Oh yes LadyM is right. £60,000 is not enough, because we will need to have staff. They will be very important, so we can potter and visit all our houses, or fly to New York for dinner and drinks.

We will pay our housekeepers and gardeners and things handsomely because we are nice people.

I think £15m in the bank would do it, just about.

60k???

Blimey I would spend that just in SpaceNK in a year if I didn't work

I am that I mentioned £60K although I do think you need to appreciate that would be without mortgage. Mortgage makes a big difference (in my case anyway).

TBH, my wants are simple: good food, a few clothes and a private education for my 4 children would do me. I don't want foreign holidays, I have flown first class and can tell you it is a shocking waste of money, ditto a new car each year, and I already have my dream house in the country.

DG, 60K would be more than enough to survive on, esp without a mortgage!! I wouldn't know what to do with all that (apart from a weekly pilgrimage to SpaceNK too!) No need to ! I think we all got a bit carried away in speculating our 'needs' - it turned into more of a lottery winner's thread than a simple 'how much would you need' discussion!

I know this is supposed to be idle speculation but can I point out that studies show that people's happiness tends to be the same two years after a lottery win as before it. The best guide to how happy you'll be in future is how happy you feel today. So all those riches may not make anyone happier once you've got them ... you'd probably spend time worrying if you were getting the best interest rates and how to steal your neighbour's hairdresser/personal trainer etc

but 60k a year wouldn't even cover private ed for 4 kids would it?

True CC, and I've been reading a book on happiness which shows thst it certainly isn't all about money, not at all.

£60k surely wouldn't cover fees x 4