When a Million isn't Enough

 Three quarters of top-rate taxpayers do not consider themselves rich, according to a survey by Times Money.

Just 21 per cent of those with an income of more than £125,000 said they felt rich, despite being in the top 4 per cent of earners nationally and paying the highest rate of income tax (which applies to earnings above £125,140). About 2 per cent said they were not sure how they felt, while 76 per cent said they did not feel rich at all...

 

For He Had Great Possessions
Amy Julia Drucker (1873-1951)
Photo Credit: Ben Uri Collection  [CC BY-NC-ND]

The polling of more than 4,000 people suggested that owning a house outright, having more than £1 million in cash savings and earning a six-figure salary were unlikely to make us feel well off. In total, 94 per cent of those surveyed said they did not consider themselves rich, while more than half identified as working class...

Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said "Britain should reward hard work, not punish ambition, yet too often those who strive to get ahead face a tax system so tangled it slows growth and stifles aspiration. The Times's findings are sadly not surprising. With taxes increasing, it's no wonder so few feel rich today."

(Helena Kelly, The Times, 2025)

Owning a house outright, having more than £1 million in cash savings and earning a  six-figure salary apparently still aren't enough to make people feel well off. That is astonishing. You can have a million pounds sitting in the bank and still not consider yourself, not just rich, but even comfortable. How much money does one need to feel well off these days? Would ten million pounds finally do it? It's no wonder so few feel rich today when they earn more than £125,000 a year. How can you be expected to live on that? And what about the 2 per cent? Are you well off? "I'm not sure." Are you rich? "I don't know. I'll have to really think about it."