When can you call yourself RICH in India? [SURVEY of 381 people] (2024)

Are you rich? Do you have enough income or net worth for others to consider you wealthy in India? These are the questions that this post seeks to answer. I often daydream about becoming rich and wonder how much I would need to earn and what my net worth should be before I could call myself wealthy, and before others would consider me so. Would 1 crore or 10 crore be enough? Is an annual income of 5 lacs or 20 lacs sufficient to be seen as wealthy by others?

I conducted a survey on this topic and 381 people participated. However, I would like to mention that the group who took part in this survey does not necessarily represent the general population. The survey respondents were mostly net-savvy individuals with high income, representing the higher income group. These individuals are active on the internet, employed in large corporations and are perceived as successful by society. Below are the results of the survey.

How much Income makes you RICH ?

One of the survey questions was: “In India, how much yearly income should one earn to be considered rich?” Below are the results.

As you can see above, only if you earn more than 20 lakhs a year, most people will consider you as rich. Otherwise, you will be seen as middle class, which is a very broad category and not clearly defined in our society. People earning 1 lakh a year, 5 lakhs a year, and 12 lakhs a year all refer to themselves as “middle class.” Let me share some important income statistics with you. According to the website www.globalrichlist.com, if you earn an income of 10 lakhs per year, you would be among the top 0.22% of the global population. Can you believe that?

This means that if there were approximately 1000 individuals in the world, roughly 997 of them would earn less than you do if you earn Rs 10 lakhs per year. Therefore, you should feel content with this fact, but unfortunately, we do not tend to think this way. Instead, we compare ourselves to those who earn more and complain about how poorly we are doing in life.

What networth makes you RICH in India in other’s eyes?

The next question I asked was, “In India, how much net worth should a person have to be considered rich?” Below are the results.

If you look at the chart above, only 1 out of 4 people will call you RICH if you have a net worth of 2 crores in today’s value. 48% of people who took the survey feel that having a net worth between 2-10 crores is necessary to be called RICH, with some even saying that the threshold should be set at 50 or even 100 crores.

Let’s forget about crores for a moment – what if your net worth is just $100,000 or approximately Rs.60 lakhs? How rich are you really? According to a research report published by Credit Suisse in 2013, if your net worth is above Rs.60 lakhs, then you are among the richest 8% in the world and the richest 0.4% in India. So think about it again! Out of every 1000 people in the country, only five people have more wealth than you do.

Of course, some may argue that there is black money and many who do not disclose their income – which is true – but we cannot determine how many fall into these categories. Even after considering this, you would still be doing very well for yourself. The snapshot below shows data from Credit Suisse’s report.

Note that we are not talking about assets here, but net worth, which is calculated as assets minus liabilities. Many people hold real estate whose value they consider, but they forget to account for their home loan and other liabilities. Therefore, many people who believe they have a high net worth actually do not. According to the Credit Suisse Report 2013, personal wealth in India is heavily skewed towards property and other real assets, which make up 86% of household assets, similar to most developing countries.

But feeling RICH is a state of mind

I know many people will argue that “feeling rich” is a state of mind and should not be evaluated solely by money. I agree with that perspective. I also believe that it is not up to others to decide whether or not you are wealthy, but rather a decision only you can make for yourself. However, this article focuses solely on how others perceive your wealth based on your income and assets.

Most of the people are not happy with their currentstatus

Let me provide you with some interesting information. If you have a low income or net worth and are not satisfied with it, you should know that the majority of people are in the same situation, even those with high incomes. In a survey, I asked another question: “Are you happy with your current salary and net worth?”

Guess what was the result?

On average, most people are unhappy if they earn less than 10 lakhs a year. I understand that 10 lakhs a year is not considered a very high income nowadays, especially in big cities. Additionally, considering expenses such as home loan EMI, education costs, and lifestyle expenses, many people are struggling to keep pace with rising expenses. What may seem like a great salary to people in small cities may not be as impressive in big cities these days. Here are the results of a survey showing how many people are happy or unhappy with their current income and net worth.

If you observe people with a yearly income of over 10 lakhs, almost half of them claim to be happy whereas the other half say that they are not. However, it is noticeable that in the higher income range, a majority of people claim to be happy (although it is uncertain if they truly are). This is in contrast to those in the lower income range, who tend to be less satisfied. This is something many of us can relate to on some level.

You are doing well at absolute level

After writing this article, I realized how much our lives have been affected by money. We seem to be lost in a world where the sole objective is earning money. It’s important to be happy with what we have achieved and not focus on what we haven’t earned yet. I’m not suggesting that we should not aspire for more, but we should also appreciate what we’ve accomplished so far. Let’s slow down and take a moment to cherish and be proud of our accomplishments compared to millions of people who struggle with financial issues. Congratulations on being ahead of the curve! Wealth is certainly important, but it’s equally important to identify and appreciate our own definition of success beyond wealth. What are your thoughts? How do you define “rich” in your own terms?