How Much Do You Need To Earn to be Rich in the UK? (Here's the latest data)

Links to Video references can be found here:

*//Investing Apps and FREE Shares*

💸 - Trading 212 - Get a Free share up to £100. Use Code: TOBY in your app if you do not receive your free share.

💸 - InvestEngine - Get between £10-50 when you sign up and deposit £100 (T&Cs Apply)*

💸 - Lightyear - Free Google or Tesla Stock (Deposit £50)

*//Want to speak with me 1:1?*
Email me here with your needs and we can book a 1hr 1:1 call.

*//Want to order the Wifi Smart Clock/ Stock Ticker seen behind my videos?*

*//My Favourite Credit Card for Points*

💸 - American Express Gold Rewards Card - Get 30,000 Points - £0 First Year

*//How I Make My Videos*

Artlist - Video, Music, Sound Effects and more

Disclaimer: This video is provided for information and entertainment purposes only. Please seek the help of a qualified regulated financial professional for any advice. Capital is at risk. Some links are affiliates and I will earn a commission from using them.

*InvestEngine (UK) Limited is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 801128)

[CatalinTilimpea]

Rich isn't about income, it's about wealth.

[vvwalker]

I think you need to do the analysis as London and rest of the UK. London skews the data

[chrispenn]

Interesting thanks. I was on a very good income, but the downside was long hours and high deductions for tax and NI. I was fortunate enough to plan early retirement at 52. My income dropped to a third of my salary, but when taxes and expenses were considered, I didn't feel much worse off financially and my time is my I did try a bit of freelance work briefly, but quickly realised the money wasn't worth the stress. I did plan this, but I also consider myself fortunate to have been able to do it.

[MedlifeCrisis]

Great video, thanks. The NHS ain’t gonna get me to that 1% so I’m relying on you youtube. I just need to increase my youtube income by [checks notes] 1200%. Easy!

[Abdul_Rahman]

Annual pay vs monthly intake post tax and deductions

35k = 2218 net
37.5k = 2371 net
40k = 2523 net
52k = 3153 net
75k= 4297 net
96k = 5359 net

[gingerbreadzak]

00:14 📊 The UK median income stands at £28, 863 annually or £2, 334 monthly, encompassing both full-time and part-time workers across all age groups.
01:39 💰 To be considered "rich" in the UK, an income of around £100, 000 is necessary, though this figure varies based on location and living expenses.
03:02 📈 Real wage increases have fluctuated over the last two decades, with noticeable impacts from events like the global financial crash and the COVID-19 pandemic.
04:42 💼 The top 25% of earners in the UK require an income of approximately £49, 974 or above, comprising around 5.93 million individuals.
05:57 💵 To be in the top 10% of earners in the UK, anincome of around £71, 900 annually is needed, translating to approximately £5, 991 per month before taxes.
10:33 💸 Membership in the top 1% of UK earners requires an income of approximately £217, 800 annually or £17, 640 monthly gross, with a take-home pay of £10, 192 after taxes and pension contributions.

[DaveGiant]

I think “rich” is an interesting term. At 71k a year, being in the top 10% it is unlikely the person would be classed as rich. Unlikely they will have kids in private school or be jetting around all the time. Their life will be comfortable if they manage lifestyle creep. If you are outside the top couple of %, “Rich” comes from wealth built up and passed down rather than salary income.

[mattsennett]

The more you earn ( salary ) the more you pay via PAYE is correct but with more disposable income it leads to a greater chance of claiming some of that tax back via tax efficient investment schemes such as pension contributions or EIS / SEIS investments. If you are on circa £50k and have a young family / mortgage you won't have much if any investment income to make the most of these efficient schemes and that's the key difference I think as it will shift the actual amount paid in tax after self assessments are filed.

[hockysa]

Glad to see a balanced view toward high earners.
People earning less often forget how much tax needs to be paid when earning a higher income.

[JammyDodger]

I spent 25yrs in the military as a PAYE wage slave but built up a portfolio of properties (each time I came back from an Operational Deployment with £ in the bank I bought a house) at the same time my wife (who's a midwife) started a company supplying bank nurses.

Clearly covid send the nursing business to stratospheric levels to the point she now does that full time and no longer works as a nurse.

In short we're now extremely well off (on paper) and live a very enviable lifestyle. But we've worked our butts off for 30yrs and taken some crazy risks to get here so I have no issues with the fact we're easily inside the top 1% figure.

Two more years to go and we'll be selling up and seeing out our time somewhere a lot warmer than Cheshire!

Being your own boss and maximizing tax efficiency is the only way to go.

[jameswlong]

Litterally half the viewers of this channel : “this cant be what the middle feels like”

[kimboston]

Toby, I definitely do not under estimate the level of thought and time spent preparing for this video. Really great work mate!

[carguyuk]

It's shocking how low salaries are in the uk. You have to remember we pay lots of tax after paying tax on your take home salary; council tax, fuel tax etc. How do people save for pensions, and buy cars, and holidays ? Credit? Life time of debt?

[markb]

As a beef farmer in Derbyshire, , we are extremely well off, , , but it's ALL tied up, ,you can't physically spend it..But money in the bank doesn't mean ""rich"" money is only a means to a end...Family is much better to have than cash.

[gadagaz]

I can't remember who said it, but it's not what you earn, it's what you keep for true wealth. I hear countless stories of people in the supposed top 10%+ bracket who live pay to pay... mind boggling really when you look at the monthly take home pay...

[RetroShotv]

Imo all these data points are misleading. First thing is the difference between london and ex-london. Second is income from earning vs income from other sources.

The wealth gap is much larger than the earnings gap but earners are paying most of the tax.

[X_]

I'm 38, live in the home counties of London on 140k excluding bonus, but get salaried on 90k. The reason being that I put 50k into pension to avoid the 60% tax bracket (Tax free allowance reduction + higher tax bracket). Although a high earner, you do not realistically feel like one as you do not see the 'extra' cash in your account, but the pension pot is growing.

[adm]

You may be interested to find the figures for total net wealth in the UK too (as opposed to income). I did it a couple of years ago, I can't remember the figures, but it was surprising to find just how little it took to be in the top 10 or 20%. I think I remember that it only took about £3.8 million to be in the top 1%. As that is total wealth including property, pensions, savings, investments, businesses, etc. I think a lot of people that seem rich based on their homes etc must have a lot of debt otherwise they'd easily be in the upper brackets. I also recall that the very wealthiest had much more tied up in businesses and higher risk investments.

[paulreilly]

In 1999, I was working in London as a contract business analyst for Merril Lynch on £550 a day. I left as the uk taxes were too high (circa 55% as I had to pay employer NI too) and went to Luxembourg and got paid double with much lower taxes. 25 years later though, I see rates aren’t much different in the uk.

[eddy]

It’s all interesting but not having self employed in here is the issue.
I’m PAYE and in the top 10%. I’ve lost most child care funding and with NI pay over 50% back to HMRC.
I know self employed people who are much wealthier as they earn from dividends and run car etc through the business.
So all I’ve learned is I’m the idiot for paying tax others aren’t paying