[JimothyD]

It's not about how much you have in the bank, it's about cash flow. Savings can be obliterated, salary can stop at any time (redundancy, illness etc). If you have assets that generate cash flow enough to pretty much cover your essential commitments, then you're truly comfortable. Everything else is a bonus.

[lottielaneuve]

£18,000 a year would be comfortable for me. It would be a lower amount than that, but the rent up here is just ridiculous, which is why I'm moving away soon... I'm broke at the moment, basically. :\

[DirtyBarrySpeed]

Originally Posted by JimothyD

It's not about how much you have in the bank, it's about cash flow.

How much you have in the bank can make a huge difference.

A couple of hundred thousand can net you a tidy income off the interest.

[JimothyD]

Originally Posted by DirtyBarrySpeed

How much you have in the bank can make a huge difference.

A couple of hundred thousand can net you a tidy income off the interest.

If you have a couple of hundred thousand sitting in a bank, rather than properly invested, then you're a mug. Inflation would rape that amount of money considering the pathetic interest rates on offer. And if you're living off your savings, then you're not comfortable (unless you don't plan to live long, or have millions stashed away). Savings tend to suffer attrition when you stop saving and start spending.

[DirtyBarrySpeed]

Originally Posted by JimothyD

If you have a couple of hundred thousand sitting in a bank, rather than properly invested, then you're a mug. Inflation would rape that amount of money considering the pathetic interest rates on offer. And if you're living off your savings, then you're not comfortable (unless you don't plan to live long, or have millions stashed away). Savings tend to suffer attrition when you stop saving and start spending.

You're a mug if you invest it in stocks and shares and lose a ton of it.

3.5% is a far sounder investment that sticking it in those crappy stocks and shares schemes which many bankers try to convince you to stick them in.

[cultureman]

If you are in a financial position where you work because you want to rather than because you have to, (and I mean over the course of your remaing lifetime, not just for a matter of a few months or years), then you are comfortably off.

[technology_love]

An interesting thread.

I'd like to say we are comfortable but we are not.
I guess we are getting by for now.

If I was mortgage free I'd be VERY comfortable. There would be close to 2K a month disposable income just from me.

One day.....

[tysonstorm]

I currently earn roughly £11.5k, to be "comfortable" I'd need to be on at least £15k+.