How much do you need?
Posted by: Roy T on 18 October 2005
Any comments on this short note from the Guardian?
£2.6m - the amount you need to live the millionaire life
Peter Richards
Tuesday October 18, 2005
The Guardian
Once it was the ultimate fantasy of everyone from Peckham's Del Boy to pinstriped high rollers in the City. But now it seems that becoming a millionaire has lost its lustre.
If you want to show that you have really made it in today's Britain, you need to be a "thrillionaire" with almost three times as much money to your name.
The phrase has been coined by the private bank Coutts & Co which believes that the value of £1m has fallen so much over the past 25 years that the term millionaire has lost its meaning.
Once that magical seven figure sum could, the banks says, fund a lifestyle that included a luxury five-bedroom house with two staff, two luxury cars, an apartment and yacht in the south of France and enough money to dine out twice a week and take two luxury holidays a year.
Now you would need nearly £2.6 million to pay for the same perks, Coutts has found.
Sarah Deaves, the bank's chief executive said: "A millionaire used to be someone who was seen as super-wealthy, a person who didn't have to work if they chose not to, and who was able to live a life of luxury simply by having £1 million in cash or assets.
"One million pounds is obviously still a sizeable amount of money, which, if invested correctly, can afford a high standard of living and provide financial security in later life.
"However, while 25 years ago £1 million would have been more than enough to comfortably live the millionaire's lifestyle a few times over, today it will only afford a small portion of the trappings."
Rising property prices are the main reason why £1 million no longer stretches as far as it used to, with the cost of a home jumping by more than 575% during the past 25 years.
But the harsh realities of an inflationary housing market have apparently failed to dampen the public's enthusiasm for millionaire status.
Coutts research found that 65% of people still said they would give up their job immediately if they won £1 million.
Just over half of those questioned thought they might become millionaires during their lifetime. The number of actual millionaires in the UK soared by more than 80% between 2001 and 2004 to reach 425,000.
Londoners needed £3.47 million to support a millionaire's lifestyle, compared to £451,000 in 1980. In Wales it was a snip at just £2.2 million.
£2.6m - the amount you need to live the millionaire
£2.6m - the amount you need to live the millionaire life
Peter Richards
Tuesday October 18, 2005
The Guardian
Once it was the ultimate fantasy of everyone from Peckham's Del Boy to pinstriped high rollers in the City. But now it seems that becoming a millionaire has lost its lustre.
If you want to show that you have really made it in today's Britain, you need to be a "thrillionaire" with almost three times as much money to your name.
The phrase has been coined by the private bank Coutts & Co which believes that the value of £1m has fallen so much over the past 25 years that the term millionaire has lost its meaning.
Once that magical seven figure sum could, the banks says, fund a lifestyle that included a luxury five-bedroom house with two staff, two luxury cars, an apartment and yacht in the south of France and enough money to dine out twice a week and take two luxury holidays a year.
Now you would need nearly £2.6 million to pay for the same perks, Coutts has found.
Sarah Deaves, the bank's chief executive said: "A millionaire used to be someone who was seen as super-wealthy, a person who didn't have to work if they chose not to, and who was able to live a life of luxury simply by having £1 million in cash or assets.
"One million pounds is obviously still a sizeable amount of money, which, if invested correctly, can afford a high standard of living and provide financial security in later life.
"However, while 25 years ago £1 million would have been more than enough to comfortably live the millionaire's lifestyle a few times over, today it will only afford a small portion of the trappings."
Rising property prices are the main reason why £1 million no longer stretches as far as it used to, with the cost of a home jumping by more than 575% during the past 25 years.
But the harsh realities of an inflationary housing market have apparently failed to dampen the public's enthusiasm for millionaire status.
Coutts research found that 65% of people still said they would give up their job immediately if they won £1 million.
Just over half of those questioned thought they might become millionaires during their lifetime. The number of actual millionaires in the UK soared by more than 80% between 2001 and 2004 to reach 425,000.
Londoners needed £3.47 million to support a millionaire's lifestyle, compared to £451,000 in 1980. In Wales it was a snip at just £2.2 million.
£2.6m - the amount you need to live the millionaire
Hi Roy, Fred, All,
I've thought a lot about this - over the years I've been dirt poor (lived on half a packet of Sage and Onion stuffing for 4 days when I was a student) and comparatively rich (3 cars, motorcycle, two Naim rigs and various trinkets.
Of course a lifestyle once seen as attainable with a million will get more expensive over time, so the inflation to 2.6 million concept doesn't bother me overly. I feel the comparison of 'then' and now is rooted at an arbitrary point in time though. I mean, there were millionaires around at the turn of the century, what would you need now to afford the things they could?
So for me, the 'how much' argument is moot, but the how did you get there argument is much more important.
The biggest single thing that's made me happy (and I know that's not the question but you invited comment) is the achievement factor - I worked hard and saved 85 quid to buy a nice watch when I was 18 (which I still have and still wear) and that achievement back then was roughly equivalent to working and saving my way up to my current CDX2, 252, Supercap, 300 Naim rig. Each achievement was equally satisfying yet at vastly different prices. Nobody ever bought me any of my stuff, and I wouldn't want them to.
So for me, its not the destination but the journey. If I was teleported to the end point I think I'd feel a little cheated!
Of course if someone wants to test me out by depositing 2.6M into my bank account, I'll PM you my bank details...
Cheers!
Rich.
I've thought a lot about this - over the years I've been dirt poor (lived on half a packet of Sage and Onion stuffing for 4 days when I was a student) and comparatively rich (3 cars, motorcycle, two Naim rigs and various trinkets.
Of course a lifestyle once seen as attainable with a million will get more expensive over time, so the inflation to 2.6 million concept doesn't bother me overly. I feel the comparison of 'then' and now is rooted at an arbitrary point in time though. I mean, there were millionaires around at the turn of the century, what would you need now to afford the things they could?
So for me, the 'how much' argument is moot, but the how did you get there argument is much more important.
The biggest single thing that's made me happy (and I know that's not the question but you invited comment) is the achievement factor - I worked hard and saved 85 quid to buy a nice watch when I was 18 (which I still have and still wear) and that achievement back then was roughly equivalent to working and saving my way up to my current CDX2, 252, Supercap, 300 Naim rig. Each achievement was equally satisfying yet at vastly different prices. Nobody ever bought me any of my stuff, and I wouldn't want them to.
So for me, its not the destination but the journey. If I was teleported to the end point I think I'd feel a little cheated!
Of course if someone wants to test me out by depositing 2.6M into my bank account, I'll PM you my bank details...
Cheers!
Rich.