How much money do you need to feel rich?

At what point does a person go from being comfortable to rich. We look at the varying opinions in the US, UK and Australia.

How much cash would you need to feel wealthy – a million, two million?

You might be surprised to learn that this varies wildly around the Western world, with those living in the United States seemingly less materialistic than other nations despite their pursuit of the American Dream.

Fancy joining the club? Read these tips from a stock market millionaire.

Americans want $2.4million (£1.05m) in the bank

Most Americans believe they’d need to earn $100,000 (£75,000) a year to feel wealthy, according to a survey this year by YouGov for stockbroker Charles Schwab.

In terms of money in the bank, the 1,000 respondents aged 21 to 75 said they would need $1.4 million (£1.05m) to be ‘financially comfortable’, but to feel rich they would need a further $1 million, so that $2.4 million (£1.8m).

Meanwhile, research by the Pew Center, a think-tank based in Washington, found that the figure understandably varied depending on the size of the household.

So someone living on their own would need an annual salary of $78,281 (£58,778) to feel rich, while a household of two would need a minimum of $110,706 (£83,125).

Of those surveyed by YouGov, 64% said they felt neither rich nor poor, while 25% considered themselves to be poor and just 5% admitted that they actually felt wealthy. 

British professionals: depends on the stage in their career

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Perhaps it’s the influence of the British class system but UK workers say they need to be earning nearly four times as much to feel rich.

In 2017, pollsters for salary comparison site Emolument found that British professionals don’t consider themselves wealthy unless they’re earning a staggering £370,000 ($490,310) every year.

This is more than twice the amount someone would need to join the ranks of the richest 1% in the country.

The survey also found that in the first five years of their career, employees needed ‘only’ to earn £93,000 ($123,240) a year to consider themselves rich.

However, as their career progressed, professionals said they needed to be bringing home more than three times this figure (£300,000:$397,550) once they had been working in their chosen field for five to ten years.  

For context, the same survey found French professionals required £310,000 ($410,800) a year to feel rich, while those in Switzerland wanted £208,000 ($275,630) – so it’s possible the only asked people with extremely high expectations!

A separate survey by the London School of Economics found the company you keep is a key factor on whether you feel wealthy or not.

Their 2017 survey found that dozens of high-earning workers in the banking sector who were worth up to £100 million ($131m), did not consider themselves wealthy because they were surrounded by others who earned far more.

Australia: Aus$1 million no longer enough

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You might expect the laid-back Australians to be less materialistic – and you would be right.

Their desired bank balance comes out on par with that of the Americans, although in recent years the rising cost of living has taken its toll.

Down under, those surveyed said they needed Aus$5.3 million ($3.7m; £2.8m) in savings to feel rich – seven times the national average household wealth of Aus$740,000 ($527,000; £396,000), according to a poll by comparison site Finder in 2017.

The poll of 2,005 people found that men would not consider themselves wealthy until they had at least Aus$5.9 million ($4.2m; £3.16m) put away, while women needed slightly less at Aus$4.8 million ($3.4m; £2.5m).

Bessie Hassan, head of PR at Finder, said that rising inflation and the spiralling cost of living means that simply earning a large salary isn’t enough to be considered wealthy.

“Gone are the days where being a millionaire was the benchmark of wealth.

“Now, you need to be a multi-millionaire to be considered rich in Australia, and this is just in savings alone,” Hassan told website News.com.au.

“Once you account for mortgage repayments or rent, household bills, travel, and the cost of having a family, there’s not a whole lot leftover in savings.

“You can be earning a six-figure income and still be clutching at straws.”