Paul Squires
@GossiTheDog there’s a comparative aspect, a level of comfort but underpinning it all is the difference between income and wealth. Earning well does not mean wealth - people have mortgages, loans (student loans are especially bad for this), outgoings. Even high earners can struggle with child care costs.
Wherever you live, it’s likely that people around have similar houses, similar cars etc
But then look at actual rich people - it’s a different life.
Ben Evans
@GossiTheDog Depends how you define it. There is a point of net worth where you are basically decoupled from what is happening in the economy - you no longer have to work & provided you don't do anything really stupid & have a diversified portfolio you will be absolutely fine for the rest of your life.
The amount varies on what kind of lifestyle you want, and where you want to live - but $10M will do it pretty much anywhere. Those are the actual rich.
Ben Evans
@GossiTheDog I said net worth, which is not remotely the same as income, and it varies widely depending on where you live.
In the US, for example, you need a household income of over $500k to even make it into the 1%
Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:
@GossiTheDog I think "rich" vs "not rich" is too vague to be a useful classification.
I'm pretty unambiguously "new money, wealthy elite" here in the UK.
Most people would consider me "rich".
...but I still need a job.
Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:
@simon_lucy @GossiTheDog It would take a lot to make me homeless. Having assets and established lines of credit in two different countries probably helps.
Simon Lucy
The, how many disasters from homelessness index.
As that becomes a review of how clustered are any assets it rapidly becomes clear that though the magnitude of disaster can be different the number that could clear anybody out is much smaller than they think.
Paul Squires
@GossiTheDog maybe? I’m not sure the word works.
There’s some complexity about the trappings of being rich - iPhones are quite egalitarian, is a big TV a sign, or is it gauche?
I’m lucky in that I can afford to do things that many other people can’t, but then I can’t afford to do things that other people do as well. It’s all about compromise but I don’t think an actual rich person would be having to make those choices.
System Adminihater
@GossiTheDog You seem actually rich due to the things that you post.
Demiurg
@GossiTheDog I think the majority of (western) people have no idea how finacially poor very large parts of humanity are.
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