what is the average net worth of uk individual/family

gozomark · 26 July 2009 at 10:38PM

It is indeed an asset however including it as an indicator of wealth particularly when the majority of it has been financed by mortgage

aren't we talking about net assets ?

EdInvestor · 26 July 2009 at 10:40PM

td_007 wrote: »

It is indeed an asset however including it as an indicator of wealth particularly when the majority of it has been financed by mortgage just provides that false sense of wealth.

Housing wealth is quoted net of mortgage debt.

cepheus · 26 July 2009 at 10:47PM

I am always believed higher property prices mean lower wealth since it simply costs more to live in the same pile of bricks. Hence for most people this form of 'wealth' is worse than illusionary it is actually negative for most people unless they can somehow realise it by moving somewhere cheaper or exiting from the property market.

The Euro £ rate must be a significant factor when considering 2006 figures, as well as property prices.

Perhaps the one which has been missed is that we should be considering median rather than mean average figures due to the large disparity in wealth between the richest and the poorest in the UK. Half the population shared only 7% of total wealth and only 1% of wealth excluding property in 2003.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=2

Aegis · 26 July 2009 at 10:51PM

td_007 wrote: »

It is indeed an asset however including it as an indicator of wealth particularly when the majority of it has been financed by mortgage just provides that false sense of wealth.Business want to show a great balance sheet, and will include all their immovable assets so will politicians use the the statistics quoted above to claim credit for something that is just make-believe.

Mortgage debt would be a liability on a balance sheet and was deducted from this survey, as has been mentioned a few times. As such, this figure is net of all mortgage debts.

EdInvestor · 27 July 2009 at 10:29AM

We also do quite well in income terms as measured by per capita GDP.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7174372.stm

jon3001 · 27 July 2009 at 11:25AM

EdInvestor wrote: »

We also do quite well in income terms as measured by per capita GDP.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7174372.stm

Last Updated: Monday, 7 January 2008, 03:22 GMT
It said the improved UK position reflected the sustained strong growth it has enjoyed since then and the recent strength of sterling.

Sterling isn't what is once was...

EdInvestor · 27 July 2009 at 11:38AM

Why do so many people seem to have a problem believing Britain is a wealthy country?We have always been a member of the G7 wealthiest nations and before that we had the British Empire.

Other people seem to want to denigrate the UK's economic achievements.Why?

gozomark · 27 July 2009 at 11:44AM

which is why you should look at in ppp terms
http://www.photius.com/rankings/economy/gdp_per_capita_2008_0.html

UK was 27th in 2008

I suspect the country 16th has slipped a little, as has no 10

EdInvestor · 27 July 2009 at 12:13PM

Still well ahead of all the other large rich countries except the US and Canada.

michaels · 27 July 2009 at 12:51PM

I always wonder whether 'net assets' is a bit of an illusion as turning them in to consumption depends on the productive potential of the economy - as a though experiment suppose all retries were diagnosed with exactly 12 months to live and decided to make the most of the 12 months by spending their assets (pension pots, property etc). The amount that could actually be provided to them would depend on how many workers were available to make the things they wanted and services they required and relative prices would just change to make the supply nd demand equal - thus may be nursing care would cost £1m pa and house and share prices would decline to very little.