I'm from an upper middle class family AMA
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Original post by tazarooni89
It's all relative, depending on your point of view.
For doctors and accountants, two people earning £100k each is not bad but it's certainly not overachievement. Anyone in those professions can earn that much with a good amount of experience.
But to a person on minimum wage and who isn't used to spending that much it's obviously going to seem like a lot of money, and they'd wonder what they do with it all.
For doctors and accountants, two people earning £100k each is not bad but it's certainly not overachievement. Anyone in those professions can earn that much with a good amount of experience.
But to a person on minimum wage and who isn't used to spending that much it's obviously going to seem like a lot of money, and they'd wonder what they do with it all.
you've posted two extremes, but that's easily rebutted by recourse to the average wage as a good benchmark for comparison - which is what the post you replied to mentioned...
Original post by Palmyra
you've posted two extremes, but that's easily rebutted by recourse to the average wage as a good benchmark for comparison - which is what the post you replied to mentioned...
My point is that the person deciding whether a particular family is rich or poor isn't necessarily on an average wage.
If you're on an average wage then yes, £200k a year household income will seem rich, but if you're from a society or background where people earn those sorts of amounts as a matter of course, then it won't seem that rich.
It's like asking how long is a piece of string. It just depends what your benchmark is. £100k a year each is rich compared to the national average wage, but compared to the average senior accountant or doctor's salary it's just okay.
The kind of benchmark you use to assess how rich or poor someone is will depend things like how rich a background you're from yourself, what profession they're in (e.g. If an A-List Hollywood actor earned just 200k a year I wouldn't consider them rich at all) etc.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Harold98
Parents are senior accountant at an investment bank and a doctor
total income before tax is £200k
I went to a state school, along with my brother and sister
I prefer chocolate chip to custard cream for dunking
and I support Arsenal
I am 18 and studying economics at a good uni but not Oxbridge
Ask me anything
total income before tax is £200k
I went to a state school, along with my brother and sister
I prefer chocolate chip to custard cream for dunking
and I support Arsenal
I am 18 and studying economics at a good uni but not Oxbridge
Ask me anything
Why did your parents choose to send you to state school?
Original post by tazarooni89
My point is that the person deciding whether a particular family is rich or poor isn't necessarily on an average wage.
They don't have to be on the average wage to be able to determine, using the average wage as a benchmark, "whether a particular family is rich or poor"...
The kind of benchmark you use to assess how rich or poor someone is will depend things like how rich a background you're from yourself, what profession they're in (e.g. If an A-List Hollywood actor earned just 200k a year I wouldn't consider them rich at all) etc.
So, by that logic, if someone is in the top 1% of wage-earning cleaners, you would consider that rich (even if the wage was below the national average)?
Original post by gameofno
7 bedrooms lmao
Well that's definetly a lot ; I only have 3 lol... do you have a massive garden and also how many bathrooms do you have ?
Original post by tazarooni89
My point is that the person deciding whether a particular family is rich or poor isn't necessarily on an average wage.
If you're on an average wage then yes, £200k a year household income will seem rich, but if you're from a society or background where people earn those sorts of amounts as a matter of course, then it won't seem that rich.
It's like asking how long is a piece of string. It just depends what your benchmark is. £100k a year each is rich compared to the national average wage, but compared to the average senior accountant or doctor's salary it's just okay.
The kind of benchmark you use to assess how rich or poor someone is will depend things like how rich a background you're from yourself, what profession they're in (e.g. If an A-List Hollywood actor earned just 200k a year I wouldn't consider them rich at all) etc.
If you're on an average wage then yes, £200k a year household income will seem rich, but if you're from a society or background where people earn those sorts of amounts as a matter of course, then it won't seem that rich.
It's like asking how long is a piece of string. It just depends what your benchmark is. £100k a year each is rich compared to the national average wage, but compared to the average senior accountant or doctor's salary it's just okay.
The kind of benchmark you use to assess how rich or poor someone is will depend things like how rich a background you're from yourself, what profession they're in (e.g. If an A-List Hollywood actor earned just 200k a year I wouldn't consider them rich at all) etc.
Wages are not symmetrically distributed, there is a definite lower limit and no upper limit, so it makes more sense to categorise class using a logarithmic scale rather than using multiples of the average wage.
Original post by fefssdf
Well that's definetly a lot ; I only have 3 lol... do you have a massive garden and also how many bathrooms do you have ?
hmm yes its a lot because im arab (rich stereotype lol)
our garden isnt 'massive,' its relatively big, but we do have a pool & Jacuzzi which takes up a lotta spaceeeeeee
bathrooms i think like 11
Original post by Palmyra
They don't have to be on the average wage to be able to determine, using the average wage as a benchmark, "whether a particular family is rich or poor"...
But then why would they use average wage as a benchmark?
I mean you could easily say that almost every working person in the UK is rich because they earn more than the world's average wage. But since we're in the UK, talking about other people in the UK, we probably wouldn't use that as a benchmark. Maybe someone from another country would.
Similarly, a family earning £200k pa may be rich compared to the benchmark of the national average wage. I'm just making the point that not everyone would necessarily use that benchmark, especially when talking about experienced doctors and accountants.
The reality is that people get very quickly accustomed to the amount they're earning themselves, or the amounts their friends, family and other people they know are earning, and so that will tend to factor into what sort of benchmark they use. A lot of upper middle class families don't consider themselves rich, because it's just very similar to everyone else they know. Instead they consider someone earning an average wage to be poor.
So, by that logic, if someone is in the top 1% of wage-earning cleaners, you would consider that rich (even if the wage was below the national average)?
I would consider it rich for a cleaner, yes. If I were an average-earning cleaner myself or from such a background, all the more reason to consider it rich.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by l'etranger
Agree with this. Obviously 500k is an arbitrary number, but that's where the lifestyle really goes from nice family with a house with a nice gravel driveway and a dog to actual wealth.
Yh exactly! Finally someone who shares the same view ahahaha
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Original post by DamnDaniel2
To illustrate my point, the difference between someone who has nothing at all and £2 million will be greater than the difference between having £2 million and £5 million.
How do you view people from comprehensive schools?
I would love to go to to a private school but it's just so expensive and we don't qualify for a bursary unfortunately.
I also considered going to a London Grammar school but I live just outside the M25 so I would have to get the train in the morning and it would be a nightmare with the strikes and rail fares haha.
I would love to go to to a private school but it's just so expensive and we don't qualify for a bursary unfortunately.
I also considered going to a London Grammar school but I live just outside the M25 so I would have to get the train in the morning and it would be a nightmare with the strikes and rail fares haha.
Original post by gameofno
hmm yes its a lot because im arab (rich stereotype lol)
our garden isnt 'massive,' its relatively big, but we do have a pool & Jacuzzi which takes up a lotta spaceeeeeee
bathrooms i think like 11
our garden isnt 'massive,' its relatively big, but we do have a pool & Jacuzzi which takes up a lotta spaceeeeeee
bathrooms i think like 11
Ok a pool and jacuzzi suggests you have a pretty big garden lmao ; must be so fun chilling in them when it gets warmer ... that really does seem like an extreme amount of bathrooms though
Original post by fefssdf
Ok a pool and jacuzzi suggests you have a pretty big garden lmao ; must be so fun chilling in them when it gets warmer ... that really does seem like an extreme amount of bathrooms though
yeahhh its pretty fun but not when im alone all the time lol. i guess its a lot but its bc all the rooms have their own toilet + toilet near the pool, the living room, the gym etc.
Original post by tazarooni89
Why did your parents choose to send you to state school?
We couldn't afford to go to private school and my parents didn't feel that the benefits outweighed the fees.
Original post by Settle
what area/neighbourhood did you used to live in?
Wimbledon
Original post by DamnDaniel2
I agree with you.
Tbh I think rich is earning around 500k after tax (but that's just what I think and many people disagree with me).
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Tbh I think rich is earning around 500k after tax (but that's just what I think and many people disagree with me).
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why not just say people earning £1m/year then?
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Original post by Pikachū
£200k pa is definitely rich, even for London
I wouldn't say it's "rich". After tax, it's roughly £110000, half of which goes to paying the mortgage. It's a very comfortable income but my parents work very hard and have to look after three children (although I'm now at uni). I would consider £500k+ to be very rich.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by DamnDaniel2
I agree with you.
Tbh I think rich is earning around 500k after tax (but that's just what I think and many people disagree with me).
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Tbh I think rich is earning around 500k after tax (but that's just what I think and many people disagree with me).
Posted from TSR Mobile
Being rich is more about assets than earnings.
Btw @l'etranger some argue, correctly in my opinion, that the upper-middle class doesn't suffer from economic recessions.
Original post by tazarooni89
Why did your parents choose to send you to state school?
state school=/=worse than private. It can and often is, but is not a given unless we're talking about the old public schools.
Original post by gameofno
yeahhh its pretty fun but not when im alone all the time lol. i guess its a lot but its bc all the rooms have their own toilet + toilet near the pool, the living room, the gym etc.
Oh my gosh right I guess makes sense ; I love how you just thrown in that your house has a gym too
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