[Lobogris]

I am really curious to know what people think is the threshold to be called rich in India? I would love to hear opinions regarding the criteria. Is it by having a minimum amount of assets? A minimum monthly income or a combination of both? Of course, the liabilities and other factors like owning a home or the amount of rent would also have to be considered. Should this threshold be 1 crore? 5 crores? 50? 100 plus? In addition, I would also love to know what level of income or assets would make people satisfied? Like a person could say that they would be content if they had 20 crores or an income of 5 lakhs a month as an example.

[Raghu M]

Well, there is never a limit to a man's needs and requirements. You really don't have an answer to - how much is enough money? You ask Ambani this question, he may have a different yardstick altogether. So, the simple answer is - when you think it is enough. No one can put a number to it buddy. It's all in the perception. When you think you have enough, that's it. If you list down requirements and needs, no matter how much you have it's never enough. It's all about being content. May sound philosophical but that's the harsh truth.

[ashis89]

^^
+1 to that. There's no limit to one's imagination and that can determine if we feel rich or poor.

Also depends on the cost of living in the city of residence and other liabilities. One can do more with 1L p.m. than another with 3L p.m.

[EV NXT]

You’re rich when you are content and happy with what you have without the hunger for more money. On the other hand you would be poor if you have 10,000 crores and still feel the hunger for more money.

Contentment is what makes you rich, not money.

[am1m]

While I hate to add to the inevitable number of posts that will take a philosophical route to arrive at the answer , I have to admit that personally I've seen my wants grow exponentially.

If at my first job, someone had told me I'd be making what I'm making today, I'd truly wonder what I'd do with all that money and surely that would be more than enough. Sad truth is today I think it's not enough.

A good friend from school came from a family of modest means. He was always conscious of that and wanted to get rich. He would set targets in the form of "if I could buy this, then I have enough, will stop working and start enjoying life". Today he's passed, gone far beyond several of those targets/financial benchmarks, didn't have time to really enjoy any of them though. Yet, keeps on working with the increasing stress.

So yes, after your basic wants are met, anything else- sky's the limit. And usually it will never be enough.

[whitewing]

Each one's wants and needs are different, that said, most of these will have some expense behind it. In my view, there cannot be an absolute number.

My formula would be,
Net income > Expenses
where the Net Income is calculated without the primary earnings stream being active(ex: Salary).

[tchsvy]

There are many contexts in this aspect, when you look at it from a broader perspective, you just need to earn Rs. 16 lacs to be among the top 1% in India. Then from society's perspective, the yardsticks keep changing, one would have been considered rich if he had a car in the 70s or 80s, but now it's something else, luxurious items maybe!? When you look at the multi-billionaires and the absolutely horrific things they do to get more money, you would think it's never enough. Further, numbers don't matter much, one crore ten years back would have bought you many things, but it won't get you a decent apartment flat in a tier-two city nowadays!

Then at the personal level, Maslow's theory of needs tells you that once you fulfill a need/desire, there will be one more to fulfill, until you reach the 'self-actualization' stage. The people who tell you money is worthless are mostly wealthy! I am not saying all the time, but most of the time, you need to go through these stages of needs to reach 'self-actualization'.

So unfortunately, it doesn't matter if you think 1Cr, 10Cr, or 100Cr are enough to be called rich, but it is not! It is true from both personal and societal perspectives, your needs increase and the yardsticks change.

[Shreyfiesta]

The term "rich" is a subjective one when it comes to real life. It completely depends on how you look upon them. It can vary from person-to-person. For a person who earns 20lakhs per annum with an asset of 1 crore might be rich from the view point of one who earns less than that. Whereas, for this person who is capable enough to possess assets worth ₹ 1 crore will consider the other one who owns assets worth more than this figure to be "rich". This is the simplest explanation from my point of view, correct me if I'm wrong.

Now comes the question, how much money is enough to be rich? Honestly speaking, there's no limits, man's need for money is never going to end. Only thing we can do is to work hard, earn well, spend wisely, save the rest of the money and live a happy and peaceful life.

[androdev]

Assuming this is not a trick philosophical question, I will try to give a pragmatic answer to this million dollar (?) question. We are talking about minimum threshold for a regular Indian family to consider themselves to be rich.

1. One loan free house for each child, one of which will be self-occupied till your clock runs out. This is a huge psychological comfort for typical Indian families, a mandatory checklist.

2. Loan free car for everyone in the family that needs to move around - one of the car should be a premium car (the family car) for the necessary ego massage.

3. Reliable income equivalent to a monthly surplus of Rs 2L after covering all the essential expenses.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

Well, there is never a limit to a man's needs and requirements. It's all in the perception. When you think you have enough, that's it. If you list down requirements and needs, no matter how much you have it's never enough. It's all about being content. May sound philosophical but that's the harsh truth.

Originally Posted by ashis89

^^
+1 to that. There's no limit to one's imagination and that can determine if we feel rich or poor. Also depends on the cost of living in the city of residence and other liabilities. One can do more with 1L p.m. than another with 3L p.m.

Originally Posted by EV NXT

You’re rich when you are content and happy with what you have without the hunger for more money. On the other hand you would be poor if you have 10,000 crores and still feel the hunger for more money. Contentment is what makes you rich, not money.

Originally Posted by tchsvy

There are many contexts in this aspect, when you look at it from a broader perspective, you just need to earn [url="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/this-is-what-it-takes-to-be-in-the-1-around-the-world/articleshow/74057315.cms"]The yardsticks keep changing, one would have been considered rich if he had a car in the 70s or 80s, but now it's something else, luxurious items maybe!?

Thanks for the responses. Obviously, people are never content with what they have and would always want more. Like a person with 500 crores might feel poor compared to someone like Jeff Bezoz. Here, I wanted to have a discussion based on figures and thresholds rather than simply a philosophical one. So the kind of answers I am requesting are based on each person's needs, wants, philosophical bend and personal situation. People can and should look at the impact of inflation but the thresholds can be at current price levels. So one person can respond that he or she would be content with 50k per month while another can say 20 lakhs or more. Similarly, people can respond that they would want at least 100 crores or simply a paid off home. Obviously inflation can be kept in mind when arriving at these figures.

[srini1785]

According to GOI, anyone spending less than INR26.00 in rural areas and INR33.00 in urban areas is considered below poverty line. Everybody else is rich. So, i can say with some conviction that all in T-BHP are rich.

PS : Definition of "Rural" and "Urban" is off topic.

[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by srini1785

According to GOI, Anyone spending less than INR26.00 in rural areas and INR33.00 in urban areas is considered below poverty line. Everybody else is rich according to GOI. So, i can say with some conviction that all in T-BHP are rich.

PS : Definition of "Rural" and "Urban" is off topic.

That does not move the others to rich category. People who earn more than 30 lakh annually are termed rich. It's roughly 13% of our population. The BPL is only to describe poverty status (the nos. should be revised of course).

[Jaggu]

For an upper middle urban fellow like me I would say 20 Cr plus would be where I can say I am rich LOL. Right now feeling so poor!

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

people are never content with what they have and would always want more.

Yes, defining "Rich" in terms of "Needs" is more meaningful.

IMO, anyone who does not have to work to meet basic needs is rich. This would mean :

1. Already owns Home(s) and other essentials like Cars etc
2. Enough Money to provide to common expenditure in future like Education of Kids , Medical emergencies
3. Enough assets to generate Monthly income
4. Some surplus to have "Wants"

A typical Family of four would need assets of 10 Cr to cover this.

[Bhargav7]

Originally Posted by tchsvy

There are many contexts in this aspect, when you look at it from a broader perspective, you just need to earn Rs. 16 lacs to be among the top 1% in India.

The article quotes a value of $77k for India. I guess that is far higher than INR 16 Lacs. It would be around 60-odd lacs. Considering that this survey is about 3 years old and incomes shot up drastically in that period, I would say someone earning about 80-90 Lacs today will be considered in the top 1% of Indian households.

I guess that would be the definition of rich. This may not sound philosophical - but we do have a definition of rich. Whether those rich guys are content with their life is a different discussion.