Poll: Are you rich?
Total Members Polled: 535
Discussion
Tim the pool man said:
GliderRider said:
Perhaps the mode shows the true picture better than either the mean or median?
You'd have to specify a range for the mode, or else you'd just end up with a weird result, as it just might happen that 3 people had a net worth of £7,352,468.72 and that would be the mode! Actually it's more likely that the mode would be a negative number...Tim the pool man said:
So what's the UKs Mode average wage?
Almost certainly £11.44 (UK minimum wage for 21 years old and over). 1.6 million were on or below minimum wage in April 2022, however that would include all four minimum wage bands plus anyone paid less. How many people are on minimum wageZolvaro said:
I agree that guy would like a handout, ken_code and shnozz weren't having a pop at him though, it was the_gauge they had in their sights, he has very nicely put them back in their box though 
My point was made and others agreed (except you). I don’t feel there’s anything more to say on the matter but I’ll leave you to have the last word, no doubt. Shnozz said:
Zolvaro said:
I agree that guy would like a handout, ken_code and shnozz weren't having a pop at him though, it was the_gauge they had in their sights, he has very nicely put them back in their box though
My point was made and others agreed (except you). I don’t feel there’s anything more to say on the matter but I’ll leave you to have the last word, no doubt. borcy said:
I don't working gets you rich.
I think it was the Duke of Westminster that was asked how to get rich, he answered make sure your family came across with William the Conqueror.
It’s not guaranteed to make you rich, but it can.I think it was the Duke of Westminster that was asked how to get rich, he answered make sure your family came across with William the Conqueror.
There are an awful lot of people who’ve got rich either through wages or by working to create and build-up a company.
Ken_Code said:
borcy said:
I don't working gets you rich.
I think it was the Duke of Westminster that was asked how to get rich, he answered make sure your family came across with William the Conqueror.
It’s not guaranteed to make you rich, but it can.I think it was the Duke of Westminster that was asked how to get rich, he answered make sure your family came across with William the Conqueror.
There are an awful lot of people who’ve got rich either through wages or by working to create and build-up a company.
borcy said:
An awful lot, I wouldn't have said so. Not on a population scale
An awful lot of the rich, not of the general population.I’m not sure where the impression comes from that most wealthy people in the UK inherited their money. It’s not what my anecdotal experience shows and I’ve not seen any data that suggests it either.
Ken_Code said:
borcy said:
An awful lot, I wouldn't have said so. Not on a population scale
An awful lot of the rich, not of the general population.I’m not sure where the impression comes from that most wealthy people in the UK inherited their money. It’s not what my anecdotal experience shows and I’ve not seen any data that suggests it either.
borcy said:
Perhaps I'm wrong, I just remembered the quote when reading about the difference between well off and really rich.
Over 90% of the Times Rich list can (by a reasonable definition of the term) be described as self-made.I think that out of the hundreds of people who I know personally who’d likely be described as rich only three or four got that way through inheritance.
The rest are normal people who via a mixture of luck, judgement and well-planned effort earned it.
Wealth has passed me by, but I had an Aunt who married a very nice man called Lou Lewis, uncle of Joe Lewis, who Spurs fans might have heard of.
And another aunt whose husband’s dad once turned down an offer of a partnership in a grocery business an acquaintance was starting up - a guy named Cohen, later to become Lord Cohen of Tesco fame, of course. His immortal words when refusing the offer were, “Nah, scrap metal’s where you want to be.”
And another aunt whose husband’s dad once turned down an offer of a partnership in a grocery business an acquaintance was starting up - a guy named Cohen, later to become Lord Cohen of Tesco fame, of course. His immortal words when refusing the offer were, “Nah, scrap metal’s where you want to be.”
Roofless Toothless said:
Wealth has passed me by, but I had an Aunt who married a very nice man called Lou Lewis, uncle of Joe Lewis, who Spurs fans might have heard of.
And another aunt whose husband’s dad once turned down an offer of a partnership in a grocery business an acquaintance was starting up - a guy named Cohen, later to become Lord Cohen of Tesco fame, of course. His immortal words when refusing the offer were, “Nah, scrap metal’s where you want to be.”
No doubt an opportunity missed, but to be fair I’ve never known anyone working in scrap metal to be poor!And another aunt whose husband’s dad once turned down an offer of a partnership in a grocery business an acquaintance was starting up - a guy named Cohen, later to become Lord Cohen of Tesco fame, of course. His immortal words when refusing the offer were, “Nah, scrap metal’s where you want to be.”
Real wealth is in the ability to choose. You can be mega rich but so greedy or 'driven' that you don't have the ability to enjoy it, instead focussing on making more and working every waking hour.
Having enough money to enjoy life as well as enough time doing things to your own schedule is the sweet spot.
Having enough money to enjoy life as well as enough time doing things to your own schedule is the sweet spot.
Chris Peacock said:
Jimjimhim said:
This thread is getting cringe!!
It's hilariously cringe. This is probably my favourite post so far :Brother D said:
a few mil in assets and investments last time I calculated, but I certainly don't "feel" rich...
"A few mil" 
It is the casual "last time I checked" bit that makes you smile.
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
Partner and I both earn more than double the national average. However, I live in Greater London, so if you compared our house to some of the houses around here you would think we were poor.
Have to say, I don't feel very wealthy, drive a £4K car, Spend about £3000 on holidays a year each, 2 bedroom house etc.
When I see someone in their 40s in a £2.5 million house with several brand new cars on the drive I wonder where it all went wrong.
On paper most of the country would assume we have an amazing lifestyle but I don't see it.
Have to say, I don't feel very wealthy, drive a £4K car, Spend about £3000 on holidays a year each, 2 bedroom house etc.
When I see someone in their 40s in a £2.5 million house with several brand new cars on the drive I wonder where it all went wrong.
On paper most of the country would assume we have an amazing lifestyle but I don't see it.
S100HP said:
According to the poll, yes. In reality, I don't have two pennies to rub together. My house is worth about 300k, mortgage remaining around 70k, but that's all I have. No savings, nothing. I just about to opt out of my NHS pension as I'm only just taking home enough to cover my bills. Another couple of hundred in my pocket will make a huge difference. It's bloody depressing at 41 years old. Can't afford holidays etc. We're just surviving.
The Gauge said:
Patio - The concrete patio slabs that were there when we moved into our house in 2007 were broken, wonky and rocking so we had a new patio laid.
It is an interesting thread, in particular to read perceptions from what is undoubtedly a skewed audience anyway...examples above show someone able to own a house / have a holiday / own a car, but not feeling rich - yet for millions they don't have the funds to do any of those things... Someone else 'just surviving' yet has c. £250,000 in equity in a house and takes home enough to cover their bills - v. the large number of people whose take home pay is less than their bills / who are dependent on the council for housing and foodbanks for food... there are c. 3,000,000 children in the UK who can't guarantee to actually be offered breakfast before going to school - I suspect that no-one on this thread is actually in poverty...
The comment about the patio slabs intrigued me - not the ongoing silly arguments about spend of money - but because it is symbolic of something very noticeable in our country v. other countries around the world... In the UK - when something like that is not 90% - 100% perfect it is replaced as though the bare minimum standard is of a new item - in other countries, if the functionality is there, no replacement takes place - is a house water-tight / is it basically warm and provides shelter - then it is fine un-rendered / without being fully finished as we would expect in the UK - here we fuss about heat values and eco-housing, we replace carpets because there is a small warn patch, we have a strong philosophy replacing with new (and often poor quality) rather than fixing what is broken - we look to buy new cars on financial discions that don't make sense, rather than run an older car and fix it. We have a very high level of minimum standards and we spend spend spend to keep houses / cars / items we own above that - rather than a more functional approach which would be more normal elsewhere...
There are some huge flaws in our approach as a nation to wealth / assets / expectations / etc.
Ken_Code said:
Over 90% of the Times Rich list can (by a reasonable definition of the term) be described as self-made.
I think that out of the hundreds of people who I know personally who’d likely be described as rich only three or four got that way through inheritance.
The rest are normal people who via a mixture of luck, judgement and well-planned effort earned it.
You do know that these rich lists are totally flawed - a huge part of the wealth in our country sits with people where it is difficult to detect it so they don't appear on such lists - it is very easy to pull up companies house records for a business and say xxx owns 55% so is worth ££££ - it is very tricky to value land / a leaky castle / assets held elsewhere in the world / etc. I know a lot of people who are not on the list but if they liquidated their assets would comfortably knock many off the list - including some who would appear towards the very top, but they are terribly secretive about their wealth.I think that out of the hundreds of people who I know personally who’d likely be described as rich only three or four got that way through inheritance.
The rest are normal people who via a mixture of luck, judgement and well-planned effort earned it.
The very wealthy often have no assets or wealth at all - they simply have the use and control of assets and wealth - far more tax efficient!
akirk said:
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
Partner and I both earn more than double the national average. However, I live in Greater London, so if you compared our house to some of the houses around here you would think we were poor.
Have to say, I don't feel very wealthy, drive a £4K car, Spend about £3000 on holidays a year each, 2 bedroom house etc.
When I see someone in their 40s in a £2.5 million house with several brand new cars on the drive I wonder where it all went wrong.
On paper most of the country would assume we have an amazing lifestyle but I don't see it.
Have to say, I don't feel very wealthy, drive a £4K car, Spend about £3000 on holidays a year each, 2 bedroom house etc.
When I see someone in their 40s in a £2.5 million house with several brand new cars on the drive I wonder where it all went wrong.
On paper most of the country would assume we have an amazing lifestyle but I don't see it.
S100HP said:
According to the poll, yes. In reality, I don't have two pennies to rub together. My house is worth about 300k, mortgage remaining around 70k, but that's all I have. No savings, nothing. I just about to opt out of my NHS pension as I'm only just taking home enough to cover my bills. Another couple of hundred in my pocket will make a huge difference. It's bloody depressing at 41 years old. Can't afford holidays etc. We're just surviving.
The Gauge said:
Patio - The concrete patio slabs that were there when we moved into our house in 2007 were broken, wonky and rocking so we had a new patio laid.
It is an interesting thread, in particular to read perceptions from what is undoubtedly a skewed audience anyway...examples above show someone able to own a house / have a holiday / own a car, but not feeling rich - yet for millions they don't have the funds to do any of those things... Someone else 'just surviving' yet has c. £250,000 in equity in a house and takes home enough to cover their bills - v. the large number of people whose take home pay is less than their bills / who are dependent on the council for housing and foodbanks for food... there are c. 3,000,000 children in the UK who can't guarantee to actually be offered breakfast before going to school - I suspect that no-one on this thread is actually in poverty...
The comment about the patio slabs intrigued me - not the ongoing silly arguments about spend of money - but because it is symbolic of something very noticeable in our country v. other countries around the world... In the UK - when something like that is not 90% - 100% perfect it is replaced as though the bare minimum standard is of a new item - in other countries, if the functionality is there, no replacement takes place - is a house water-tight / is it basically warm and provides shelter - then it is fine un-rendered / without being fully finished as we would expect in the UK - here we fuss about heat values and eco-housing, we replace carpets because there is a small warn patch, we have a strong philosophy replacing with new (and often poor quality) rather than fixing what is broken - we look to buy new cars on financial discions that don't make sense, rather than run an older car and fix it. We have a very high level of minimum standards and we spend spend spend to keep houses / cars / items we own above that - rather than a more functional approach which would be more normal elsewhere...
There are some huge flaws in our approach as a nation to wealth / assets / expectations / etc.
Ken_Code said:
Over 90% of the Times Rich list can (by a reasonable definition of the term) be described as self-made.
I think that out of the hundreds of people who I know personally who’d likely be described as rich only three or four got that way through inheritance.
The rest are normal people who via a mixture of luck, judgement and well-planned effort earned it.
You do know that these rich lists are totally flawed - a huge part of the wealth in our country sits with people where it is difficult to detect it so they don't appear on such lists - it is very easy to pull up companies house records for a business and say xxx owns 55% so is worth ££££ - it is very tricky to value land / a leaky castle / assets held elsewhere in the world / etc. I know a lot of people who are not on the list but if they liquidated their assets would comfortably knock many off the list - including some who would appear towards the very top, but they are terribly secretive about their wealth.I think that out of the hundreds of people who I know personally who’d likely be described as rich only three or four got that way through inheritance.
The rest are normal people who via a mixture of luck, judgement and well-planned effort earned it.
The very wealthy often have no assets or wealth at all - they simply have the use and control of assets and wealth - far more tax efficient!
Baldchap said:
Real wealth is in the ability to choose.
Lots of people have to choose between heating and eating. I doubt they consider themselves rich. The whole thing is relative. I've got 11 taps in my house (counting mixer taps as 2). Some places in Africa might only have one standpipe for half a dozen villages. To them, I'm rich beyond imagination.
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