The salary question?

[Greebo]

There is some serious wealth inequality in the UK so it is fairly understandable. The sort of house he perhaps bought for 500k in the midlands, assuming a nice-ish area could well be a very ordinary family home with say 4 bedrooms (one of which might only be a small guest room/study), lounge, dining room, kitchen and double garage... maybe a conservatory at the back and a modest garden (or tiny garden if a relatively new build).

While in terms of income he's up there near the top, in terms of wealth/assets he's still pretty average as there are an entire generation of boomers + plenty of Gen X who accumulated similar or bigger assets while not having to be anywhere near as high in terms of income percentiles at the time.

Indeed, earnings and wealth are two different lists and there may be crossovers but an awful lot are separate.

In order to be in the top 1% "wealthiest" you need a net worth of £688,288. I would imagine there is a huge proportion of mortgage free boomers living in the south in that 1%. So even though I am in the top 2% earners and as a household we are in the top 1% earners, I dont even make the top 1% wealthiest, I'm probably only just in the top 5%

Top 1% £688,228 21% of total UK wealth
2% £460,179 28% of total UK wealth
5% £270,164 40% of total UK wealth
10% £176,221 53% of total UK wealth
25% £76,098 72% of total UK wealth
50% £35,807 93% of total UK wealth

 

[martin363]

I live in Asia (have done for 15 years), so not really comparable, but if I was in the UK I would be earning £294,000 per annum basic, and I have some benefits, such as the company covering my rent and car and driver. 47. I am not especially well off here. I was at a dinner once chatting about the UK with a local wife of an expat, and she said 'what is the average income in the UK?' I said 'about £26k'. She said 'a month?.......' People in Asia can get paid a lot of money, and tax is minimal.

 

[Rroff]

I think it’s a bit of a trap that people fall into. Imagine the position many people would be in if, as they earned more, they didn’t let their lifestyle creep.

What if you had a modest house and modest car while earning £100k pa? It opens up a lot options.

This is something I learnt a long time ago - doesn't even have to be a modest car - but even a less than year old car the price is massively lower and you essentially live the same lifestyle as someone who is earning and spending more but buying brand new (sure you aren't buying brand new but meh). Although to be honest I'm a bit of a snob and a lot of things I have to buy new a vehicle is one area for some reason I'm less bothered about that.

 

[Ayahuasca]

I live in Asia (have done for 15 years), so not really comparable, but if I was in the UK I would be earning £294,000 per annum basic, and I have some benefits, such as the company covering my rent and car and driver. 47. I am not especially well off here. I was at a dinner once chatting about the UK with a local wife of an expat, and she said 'what is the average income in the UK?' I said 'about £26k'. She said 'a month?.......' People in Asia can get paid a lot of money, and tax is minimal.

LMAO, this situation is so far removed from reality.

People in the UK can get paid a lot of money, however, I've never come across someone who thinks £26k a month would be anywhere near normal in any country. Did she grow up in a bubble?

 

[martin363]

LMAO, this situation is so far removed from reality.

People in the UK can get paid a lot of money, however, I've never come across someone who thinks £26k a month would be anywhere near normal in any country. Did she grow up in a bubble?

Where I live is a 'bubble'. We get a lot of rain this time of year, and flooding - very common. A flood made the newspapers here the other day because a Rolls Royce costing 1.5 million USD (when imported) drove into it and got flooded.... 5 mins walk from me.

https://zingnews.vn/xe-sang-rolls-royce-chet-may-sau-con-mua-lon-o-thao-dien-post1098212.html

 

[Greebo]

LMAO, this situation is so far removed from reality.

People in the UK can get paid a lot of money, however, I've never come across someone who thinks £26k a month would be anywhere near normal in any country. Did she grow up in a bubble?

Well even Martin363 says he's not well off on £294k per annum over there. I would have thought in Vietnam that kind of wage would have made you a "millionaire". You learn something new every day.

 

[wesimmo]

Indeed, earnings and wealth are two different lists and there may be crossovers but an awful lot are separate.

In order to be in the top 1% "wealthiest" you need a net worth of £688,288. I would imagine there is a huge proportion of mortgage free boomers living in the south in that 1%. So even though I am in the top 2% earners and as a household we are in the top 1% earners, I dont even make the top 1% wealthiest, I'm probably only just in the top 5%

Top 1% £688,228 21% of total UK wealth
2% £460,179 28% of total UK wealth
5% £270,164 40% of total UK wealth
10% £176,221 53% of total UK wealth
25% £76,098 72% of total UK wealth
50% £35,807 93% of total UK wealth

What does wealth mean, sorry if that's been explained?

I have assets that could probably realise enough to put me in the top 5%, but I'm in no way rich.

 

[LiE]

What does wealth mean, sorry if that's been explained?

I have assets that could probably realise enough to put me in the top 5%, but I'm in no way rich.

I believe it’s the amount you’d have if you sold / cashed in everything.

 

[MissChief]

Where I live is a 'bubble'. We get a lot of rain this time of year, and flooding - very common. A flood made the newspapers here the other day because a Rolls Royce costing 1.5 million USD (when imported) drove into it and got flooded.... 5 mins walk from me.

https://zingnews.vn/xe-sang-rolls-royce-chet-may-sau-con-mua-lon-o-thao-dien-post1098212.html

Should have bought a Cullinan.

 

[Burnsy2023]

It’s a bit uncouth.

I tend to give a range. As in, “it’s in this bracket”.

I’d never share the specific figure with colleagues.

One of the reasons I share my salary openly is for equality. Being open has directly contributed to female colleagues getting increased pay because they were previously being paid less than many of their male counterparts.

 

[wesimmo]

I believe it’s the amount you’d have if you sold / cashed in everything.

What a rubbish scale that is then.

I'd love to see the results if you split out £665k and above or whatever it was.

 

[Bear]

And what about the other guy in the conversation?

Their hang ups are their own problem, if it bothers them then they shouldn’t talk about such things.

 

[Greebo]

What does wealth mean, sorry if that's been explained?

I have assets that could probably realise enough to put me in the top 5%, but I'm in no way rich.

Net wealth is net wealth. basically all your assets and savings. And yes people will appear in different places in each list. I have a much lower net wealth compared to my earnings. Boomers will be the opposite way round.

And with house prices down south there will be an awful lot of people in that top 1% purely based on their hosue value alone.

 

[MissChief]

Net wealth is net wealth. basically all your assets and savings. And yes people will appear in different places in each list. I have a much lower net wealth compared to my earnings. Boomers will be the opposite way round.

And with house prices down south there will be an awful lot of people in that top 1% purely based on their hosue value alone.

Bought in the 60’s or 70’s for £25k (probably much less!) and now worth twenty times that or more.

 

[Greebo]

What a rubbish scale that is then.

I'd love to see the results if you split out £665k and above or whatever it was.

Why? Its a reasonable scale. The top 5% of the wealthiest people in the country own 50% of all the wealth. yes there are going to be people who own millions in the that top 1% but the fact is you only need £688k to be in that top 1%.

All that means is 99% of the population has less wealth than that? Do you find that unbelievable?

Although these stats were from 2016 so it may well have shifted upwards to a million pound to be in the top 1% as house prices down south have shot up.

 

[wesimmo]

Net wealth is net wealth. basically all your assets and savings. And yes people will appear in different places in each list. I have a much lower net wealth compared to my earnings. Boomers will be the opposite way round.

And with house prices down south there will be an awful lot of people in that top 1% purely based on their hosue value alone.

I'll be honest, I grew up in a privileged family, I find it staggering that £665k is considered the top tier.

My parents might creep into that bracket, but compared to the majority of the people I went to school with (fee paying) we were below average.

I'd also suggest 50% of people living in their village would be in that bracket (not the farmers though, they had to sell up for barn conversions).

But to lump them in with people who own Ferraris, yachts and private planes is just daft.

 

[wesimmo]

Why? Its a reasonable scale. The top 5% of the wealthiest people in the country own 50% of all the wealth. yes there are going to be people who own millions in the that top 1% but the fact is you only need £688k to be in that top 1%.

All that means is 99% of the population has less wealth than that? Do you find that unbelievable?

I think we're coming from a similar perspective, it's just I would present the data differently to illustrate the issue.

 

[sigma]

I live in Asia (have done for 15 years), so not really comparable, but if I was in the UK I would be earning £294,000 per annum basic, and I have some benefits, such as the company covering my rent and car and driver. 47. I am not especially well off here. I was at a dinner once chatting about the UK with a local wife of an expat, and she said 'what is the average income in the UK?' I said 'about £26k'. She said 'a month?.......' People in Asia can get paid a lot of money, and tax is minimal.

I tried to find the average wage in Vietnam, the numbers I found were nowhere near £300k... what do you do?

 

[Greebo]

I'll be honest, I grew up in a privileged family, I find it staggering that £665k is considered the top tier.

My parents might creep into that bracket, but compared to the majority of the people I went to school with (fee paying) we were below average.

I'd also suggest 50% of people living in their village would be in that bracket (not the farmers though, they had to sell up for barn conversions).

But to lump them in with people who own Ferraris, yachts and private planes is just daft.

Wealth is wealth though. If you wanted to a chart of "disposable income" then people would appear in a different place.

I mean I dont think of myself and my partner as being rich but we come in the top 1% households for income. I passed comment earlier how most people on here in that bracket dont see themselves as "rich" or "wealthy" but the reality is we probably are compared to most people in the country.

 

[wesimmo]

Wealth is wealth though. If you wanted to a chart of "disposable income" then people would appear in a different place.

I mean I dont think of myself and my partner as being rich but we come in the top 1% households for income. I passed comment earlier how most people on here in that bracket dont see themselves as "rich" or "wealthy" but the reality is we probably are compared to most people in the country.

Again I think we generally agree.

This is where I think scale comes into perspective.

I believe in work hard, be talented, be rewarded.

Millionaires, great.

Multi millionaires. Fine.

Billionaires with several properties, 2 Bugatti's (one made with porcelain panels) and multiple yachts. That's the top table I think should be highlighted.