'I make £120,000 but I can’t recall the last time we went out for dinner’

shortchanged_2

the_flying_pig wrote: »

don't forget that 'the top 1%' means [around] 600,000 people, i.e. really an awful lot of people.

It's probably more like 300,000 as only around 30 million of the UK population are economically active.

MrRee_2

I do think it depends with whom you spend your time and your neighbourhood.

If you work where the average salary is £100,000 and those are the people you chat to for 8 hours a day then that's going to affect your perspective .... if you are the one on only £85,000 per annum you're going to feel hard up.

Then when you drive home and turn into your tree-lined avenue of £1 million houses and pull onto the drive of your £850,000 house ... as you drive the car into the triple garage next to the weekend sports car and the wifes Range Rover ... you are going to know that your house is the cheapest in the Avenue - and you feel poor.

Your friends at the Country Inn are Doctors, Dentists, Bankers .... you, again feel really badly done by.

It's easy to feel hard done by down here in leafy Hampshire.

chucknorris

MrRee wrote: »

I do think it depends with whom you spend your time and your neighbourhood.

If you work where the average salary is £100,000 and those are the people you chat to for 8 hours a day then that's going to affect your perspective .... if you are the one on only £85,000 per annum you're going to feel hard up.

Then when you drive home and turn into your tree-lined avenue of £1 million houses and pull onto the drive of your £850,000 house ... as you drive the car into the triple garage next to the weekend sports car and the wifes Range Rover ... you are going to know that your house is the cheapest in the Avenue - and you feel poor.

Your friends at the Country Inn are Doctors, Dentists, Bankers .... you, again feel really badly done by.

It's easy to feel hard done by down here in leafy Hampshire.

Wow, money certainly seems to rule your life. I have never been concerned if someone has more than me, it really doesn't matter, what does matter is, have I got enough for me and my wife to have the lifestyle that we want.

ukcarper

chucknorris wrote: »

Wow, money certainly seems to rule your life. I have never been concerned if someone has more than me, it really doesn't matter, what does matter is have I got enough for me and my wife to have the lifestyle that we want.

It's a shame really. A few years ago I took early retirement and reduced my income by 50% and not from the high earnings talked about here and I'm a lot happier now.

chucknorris

ukcarper wrote: »

It's a shame really. A few years ago I took early retirement and reduced my income by 50% and not from the high earnings talked about here and I'm a lot happier now.

I'm thinking about retiring soon myself, I'm 56 now and in good health (and quite fit) and if I did work on I don't think that I would work beyond 60 anyway, so I am beginning to think that I might retire next year. Even if I don't I am beginning to appreciate the thought that I am possibly within one year of retiring.


EDIT: When my dog died last year it drove home the point that we are not immortal and when the end comes it is likely to be a very unpleasant experience, so enjoying myself before then has become much more important.

Principia_2

MrRee wrote: »

I do think it depends with whom you spend your time and your neighbourhood.

If you work where the average salary is £100,000 and those are the people you chat to for 8 hours a day then that's going to affect your perspective .... if you are the one on only £85,000 per annum you're going to feel hard up.

Then when you drive home and turn into your tree-lined avenue of £1 million houses and pull onto the drive of your £850,000 house ... as you drive the car into the triple garage next to the weekend sports car and the wifes Range Rover ... you are going to know that your house is the cheapest in the Avenue - and you feel poor.

Your friends at the Country Inn are Doctors, Dentists, Bankers .... you, again feel really badly done by.

It's easy to feel hard done by down here in leafy Hampshire.

So these people might as well be poor then Thy have more than enough but feel the same as someone who is on the breadline. You might as well pack in the hard work, move to another area and feel the same but with a lot more free time imo.

ukcarper

chucknorris wrote: »

I'm thinking about retiring soon myself, I'm 56 now and in good health (and quite fit) and if I did work on I don't think that I would work beyond 60 anyway, so I am beginning to think that I might retire next year. Even if I don't I am beginning to appreciate the thought that I am possibly be within one year of retiring.

Although I have a final salary pension, if what people here say is true my income is very modest. I don't regret taking early retirement, I have had to for go things I could have afforded if I hadn't but I have simple tastes and nothing beats waking up on a sunny Monday after a wet weekend and being able to make the most of it.

MrRee_2

chucknorris wrote: »

Wow, money certainly seems to rule your life. I have never been concerned if someone has more than me, it really doesn't matter, what does matter is, have I got enough for me and my wife to have the lifestyle that we want.

No, you've missed my point in the example given ..... how poor or rich you feel depends upon your environment is what I'm saying.

I could earn a lowly £35,000 and live in a poor area and feel rich - see?

chucknorris

ukcarper wrote: »

Although I have a final salary pension, if what people here say is true my income is very modest. I don't regret taking early retirement, I have had to for go things I could have afforded if I hadn't but I have simple tastes and nothing beats waking up on a sunny Monday after a wet weekend and being able to make the most of it.

Well to be honest I am quite lucky because the things that I enjoy most don't really cost anything/much:


-walking my dog in the countryside (sometimes with my wife)
-jogging with my dog
-jogging with my dog and wife (her cycling)
-cycling with my dog (and sometimes wife)
-swimming
-road cycling
-bowls
-chess
-eating out (but it doesn't have to be expensive to enjoy)
-cinema
-catching up with friends at our place/theirs

chucknorris

MrRee wrote: »

No, you've missed my point in the example given ..... how poor or rich you feel depends upon your environment is what I'm saying.

I could earn a lowly £35,000 and live in a poor area and feel rich - see?

Well of course you are entitled to your opinion, but to me you seemed to be judging your quality of life based on a comparison to what others have, rather than what you actually have for yourself.


If I had £20m I really couldn't care if everyone else in my street had >£100m. Although I have to admit that every time that I say to my wife that we don't need any more wealth, she comes back with 'if we had our own jet we could take our dog abroad in the winter easily'. But even then she is looking at our situation, rather than what others have, like you seemed to be doing.