2.5 Million Families on £100k/year Don't Feel Rich

lemonjelly

I haven't read the whole thread, so apologies. However I did hear this story on the news yesterday, + some discussion about it.

IIRC of those in the original poll, the vast majority of them (who didn't feel rich) admitted that they take at least 2 foreign holidays a year. That implies a level of wealth to me.

It kind of goes back to generali's thread recently about welth doesn't it? Be interesting to compare the 2 threads.

Highlights how our expectations have changed too, things like all the essential "must haves" (latest phone, blackberry, laptop, tv in every room & even in the car now, loads of foreign holidays, going on a cruise).

What gets me, is why all the concern about what other people earn? It is this constant comparing ourselves against people (frequently those close to us) which surely can't be good. If a freind gets a £5k a year rise, I'd want to be happy for them, not envious of their increased wealth. & I don't see the need to keep up with the jonses.

I earn what I earn. Provided I can afford the stuff I want, & can also stash a little to one side for a rainy day, all is well & good in jellyland.

Yakubu22

This thread has left me throughly depressed. I earn just over £30k and my partner earns just over £20k. It's highly unlikely that both of us will earn £50k in the near future. Yet technically (if you read these government stats) we are have an above average houshold income now. We are lucky compared to most i suppose.

Yet we cant afford to buy a house in a nice area without severly stretching ourselves. I drive an 8 year old car but manage to save every month. We enjoy our lives but with live within our means. So expensive cars, a big house, luxury holidays are out of the question.

The thought of people earning £100-150k complaining makes me feel sick. but I guess its all relative to the lifestyle you lead. I would like to know what these poeple do for a living though!

ALIBOBSY

I suppose like many things its all relative. As we live in the North west in a semi rural area and we bought our house in 1999, we only have a £38k mortgage left on a 3 bed semi with quite decent gardens. Therefore it is actually more cost effective for me to be at SAHM even though our income is under £30k. The amount it would cost for childcare/parking/petrol, plus the money I save being able to have the time to shop around for bargains and bake/cook from scratch means we are better off as we are than if I worked.

But I can see if you have to buy "down south" so to speak, just to cover the huge mortgages you need, not to mention the higer cost of living means £100k may not seem such a large income in those circumstances.

I wouldn't say we were "rich" (although to some on low incomes or benefits we might seem so). We don't have new cars (one old 10 year old rover plus a non working vauxhall on the drive lol), but we can cover all the bills each month without worrying, cleared alot of debt in the last few years (never want another credit card EVER) don't have (nor want) an overdraft and am paying for Christmas in cash only (start shopping early-bag those bargains-use MSE to find etc, all stuff I have the time for being at home :j) .

To us £100k would be a fortune and definately rich, but then if Oh moved to a new job with say a £40k salary it would feel like a lot extra lol.

ali x

ukcarper

you can have a nice life in the southeast for less than £100k

[Deleted User]

I'm very rich - i have a loving wife, an amazing baby boy and a roof over my head. I can pay all my bills and do not worry about how often I put my heating on. I do not worry where my next meal is coming from.

Anything else is just trimmings and window dressing to life

Earning 100k would be nice, since my wife could give up work and we could live very comfortably. My own 'target' is 60k to hit this level of comfort.

smartn

Where do they get the figure of 2.5 million families in the UK being on 100K a year anyhow? Based on a figure of 22 million 'households' in the UK, taking out single people, retirees, and the unemployed/sick that leaves a very high percentage earning 100K plus.

I thought I was on a good wage but seeing that statistic makes me feel 'relatively' poor and yet I feel I have a very comfortable standard of living on significantly less than that.

movilogo

I thought I was on a good wage but seeing that statistic makes me feel 'relatively' poor

That's the tragedy of feeling - everything is relative.

There were lots of people in the forum who were otherwise very happy and thought themselves rich enough. But seeing so many households earning £100k+, a lot of them will now feel unhappy.

This is the reason why we should not discussion income in public. Even in forum people get upset over it - imagine what would happen if you discover your close friends/relatives/neighbors earning 2-3 times than you?

Feeling rich is a mental state - not how much you earn.

Pete111

We are very very fortunate in that our household income is north of 175k. We know we are well off but genuinely do not feel stinking rich. We are not fantastically profligate spenders and save/pay off our mortgage to the tune of about 50-60k per year currently.

However a few years back our income was maybe 80-85k and we were living in a 2 bed flat in London - we didn't even feel well off then to be honest so I guess location is a key factor here?

smartn

Still not sure I can believe the statistics anyhow. The following is from HMRC for 2004-2005 :-

Income in thousands

£4745 to £6000 1,440
£6000 to £7000 1,160
£7000 to £8000 1,590
£8000 to 10,000 2,950
£10,000 to £12,000 2,760
£12,000 to £15,000 3,650
£15,000 to £20,000 4,950
£20,000 to £30,000 6,000
£30,000 to £50,000 4,090
£50,000 to £70,000 859
£70,000 to £100,000 410
£100,000 to £200,000 300
£200,000 to £500,000 89
£500,000 to £1Million 16
Over £1Million 6

Now surely a lot of the people on 50K and above will have partners earning significantly less than them and even allowing for inflation I just dont think the figures can add up.

lostinrates

movilogo wrote: »

That's the tragedy of feeling - everything is relative.

There were lots of people in the forum who were otherwise very happy and thought themselves rich enough. But seeing so many households earning £100k+, a lot of them will now feel unhappy.

This is the reason why we should not discussion income in public. Even in forum people get upset over it - imagine what would happen if you discover your close friends/relatives/neighbors earning 2-3 times than you?

Comparing personal worth (as opposed to wealth) is always fruitless and to be avoided IMO, but understanding other people's situations (advantages and disadvantages) in the same society is in fact, IMO helpful. To measure oneself, and one's wealth, purely on annual income is not wise: its a very, very incomplete measure.