DeadVim

Almost, it has a silent 'f' at the front

Deancm_MKII

In today's society that's called debt.

sammax

So, fwugly.

Hebe

Wealth is a subjective but to me it would be having enough money not to worry about what you are buying (within reason) over and above that you are probably rich.

On reading through this thread and other peoples perception of wealth I would probably be considered wealthy. However, whilst I accept that I am comfortably off, I do not, by any stretch of the imagination, consider myself wealthy.

My OH and I are both in our 40's and both are/were professional white collar workers, with careers that have, over the years, given us a good standard of living. We have enjoyed our life to the full but without incurring debt to do it. If we can't afford it then we either save for it or don't buy it.

We are both from the generation that saw the recession and property crash of the late 80's early 90's (in fact I cut my teeth as a young lawyer doing property repos for lending institutions) and therefore we are firm believers of putting something aside for a rainy day and not taking out a high mortgage account when interest rates are low.

Kim67

According to a lot of reports over the years, yes it does leach calcium, causing osteoporosis and soft teeth - therefore no amount of brushing will stop the effects. Everything in moderation is fine. We have it at parties and that's about it.

HelenTD

Diet soft drinks are not necessarily the answer, more info here: http://www.healthy-kids.com.au/categ...et-soft-drinks

LouiseR

Same with us and cocaine.

Kim67

Can't do cocaine in our family either.....same family of drugs as a certain anaesthetic that causes our major organs to shut down immediately. Praise the lord we're okay for our Friday night dose of chocolate.

mpgrewal

Even debt is shy to cover the <<<<<full price>>>>>. And 'wealth' is needed to cover the 10 or 20% deposit

elice_in_oz

I agree with the above. It is such a relative perception. I hadn't thought much about it before and it's been a very interesting thread to follow. The Oxford dictionary defines wealth as "An abundance of valuable possessions or money". Now let's define abundance

Again, it comes down to perception. And of course it's relative to what is around you. Here, I wouldn't say we are wealthy, although we are comfortable by all means.

I lived and worked in Bulgaria in the mid-90s and I was paid in France. My salary in French francs was pitiful by French standards (less than minimum wage - it was more like work experience type work), and my salary in Bulgarian leva was the same as any Bulgarian teacher. I was extremely wealthy by Bulgarian standards then (my French wages were worth more than a thousand times the Bulgarian ones!) even though by French standards, I would have been well below the poverty line... My monthly phone bill alone was as high as my Bulgarian salary for the month . I could afford to eat out every meal and to buy pretty much anything that took my fancy - not that there was much in the shops then. I doubt I will ever be in that position again, at least not in Australia or anywhere in the developed world.

The more I think about it, the more I believe that everybody's idea of who is wealthy and who isn't will always be different, and nobody's right or wrong in the matter.

Vash the Stampede

But we're all talking about what is around us in Australia, which means we have a common basis for comparison.

The average salary in Australia is $67,000. A salary of $200,000 is three times higher than the average, so it is difficult to understand how this cannot be accepted as a reasonable definition of "wealthy", if we're measuring solely by income.

You can't keep saying "it's all relative." Play that trick long enough, and you'll convince yourself that nobody's wealthy; not even Bill Gates, whose net worth is currently estimated at US$54 billion.

elice_in_oz

Indeed, you make a good point. I think that when wealth is measured only by income and in financial terms, then we can agree that anybody on 3 times the national income is indeed wealthy. And as that was my original question, I completely concur with you on that point.

I guess my thinking started to stray into muddier waters when I started to apply a more emotional slant to it (which I stated I didn't want to do in the first place ), that of perception. And if we talk in terms of people's perception of what is wealth, even just material wealth, then it becomes relative, which we have seen throughout this thread. I'm turning all philosophical in my old age

Deancm_MKII

And when you subtract the 80 - 90% debt from the 10 - 20% wealth, what are you left with?

BadgeIsBack

Agreed - it's about freedom of choice really. (You can be relatively low income but by decluttering achieve the choices you want in turn.)

The freedom of choice often comes from lots of assets which can be easily liquidated - and where debt can not bring the whole lot down easily. That's how I would amend that. Wealth is not about having 5 investment properties with 10k on each..but that is how it starts..

Agreed. The most wealthiest people I know are the ones who have a bit of cash, security and are also happy with the way they spend money and use it.
And sometimes, that is not spending it. Assets paired with education is a beautiful thing.

paulry

Thanks for the link. There I was thinking that diet soft drinks were a responsible alternative.