When even the rich think they're poor!

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It's an irritating quirk of modern Britain that many of those who are comfortably well-off see themselves as poor and feel financially insecure.....

Britains something of a loser's mindset when it comes to money: those that have money are concerned about losing it. This thought of loss tends to dominate over being thankful about what we've got.

I saw this first hand when I was doing interviews for the ELSA study a couple of years back - plenty people with over £100K in the bank, not feeling that well off....

About 80% of Brits with over a million pounds saved in cash don't see themselves as rich, even though objectively this puts you in the top 1% by wealth globally, easily.

The problem comes partly because we tend to compare ourselves to those above us in the pecking order: we look up rather than down or sideways.

The rich don't even think about, let alone see those on the median income of just under £17K a year!

The news doesn't help either, always talking about threats: tax hikes, pension grabs, inflation, house prices not going up. Every possible loss feels huge, even when our overall quality of life is actually really good compared to the past.

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Money just = Anxiety...?

It used to be the case, unless I am projecting idealism onto the past, that having some wealth to live off was seen as a blessing, people felt lucky, content, or at least smug in their illusion that it was all down to their talent and hard work.

Now, having money just brings anxiety. Home equity feels shaky, pensions feel exposed, and the future feels uncertain. It's weird: people with a ton of buffer against trouble feel like they're always under attack, while the truly poor often get ignored in public conversations.

The political and social consequences.

When a society such as ours is always looking up, it forgets how most people actually live. When those with plenty feel constantly insecure, real poverty just gets brushed aside.

It would be healthier to look down more, not to be smug, but to get a reality check. Recognizing you have it good doesn't mean you have to feel guilty – just honest. In a country where millions are struggling to buy basic necessities, someone with a million pounds in the bank feeling not rich isn't a financial insight; it's a look into their mind.

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I don't have that much in the bank, but I don't feel insecure. I don't have expensive tastes generally. If you want a couple of expensive holidays each year, flashy cars and to put your kids through private school then you need to be earning a fair bit, but those are not essentials. I see some headlines from the 'Torygraph' that make me laugh where people on high incomes are wondering how to manage. How do they think those on much less get by? Most people in the UK will be above average for income across the world, but then a lot of our costs are fairly high.

I feel quite lucky really.

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How can you not feel rich if you have a mil cash? That's crazy!!

Are we talking about cash only or total assets? Even if it's total assets, with careful financial management, one can live a comfortable life for a good few decades

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I don't get it either, I think for some people it's just cash.... you could easily be sitting on a million pound house in the UK and be in poverty!

I've some sympathy for this with widowers in the family home not wanting to sell, but limited sympathy!

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Living here in Ecuador showed me how rich I am, though I probably wouldn't survive on my salary if I went back to Germany. There are so many immigrants from the US and Canada here that have no clue about their privilege. That talk trash about the strikes, because they don't know what people are really living like in the rural areas, where 70% of the people live of less than 90$/month. And there's no will to change that perspective.

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