Are you wealthy if you have a cleaner? What about a kitchen island? When it comes to signifiers of wealth, these are among the things that make us think someone is doing pretty well, according to new research conducted in the UK.
A quarter of the general public thinks having a cleaner makes someone “wealthy”. It was a kitchen island for more than 10 per cent, according to a YouGov survey of 2,000 people commissioned by HSBC UK last month.
Perceptions of wealth, however, are increasingly shifting away from traditional associations with income. Instead, investments and lifestyle are emerging as critical markers of wealth, the research says.
In a pivot away from more visible signifiers, people are placing more value on “post-material wealth” such as experiences and wellbeing. So what does this redefinition of wealth mean for how you feel about your finances, does it differ between men and women, and how will it shape your decisions?
Redefining wealth
Higher earners are more likely to say that retiring early and travelling abroad frequently were bigger signifiers of wealth than traditional, more visible or material markers, according to the HSBC survey titled Your Money’s Worth: Defining Wealth in 2025.
Those earning £100,000 or more, about €120,000, are four times more likely to retire early or own a holiday home, three times more likely to have taken more than three trips abroad and twice as likely to maintain a good work-life balance compared with the general population.
Instead of owning luxury goods, the quieter approach of investing spare cash and saving so you can live well, retire early and in comfort are to them a greater mark of wealth. This is especially the case for women, the study finds.
Women generally consider wealth through a more holistic lens, it seems. They focus more on quality of life and long-term stability, rather than material goods, the research says.
Investing is perceived as the leading marker of wealth among women, regardless of income. Some 53 per cent of them said investments were an important signifier of wealth, versus 42 per cent of men.
Of course, not everyone has disposable income to invest. Low income was the most commonly cited barrier, with one in three women saying this was the main challenge they faced compared with one in four men.
People can, however, overestimate how much they need to invest, says Nick Charalambous, managing director of Cork-based financial advisers Alpha Wealth.
“Investments can start as low as €5,000 and, in many cases, €100 per month,” he says. Work out your financial objectives and break them into short- (zero to four years), medium- (five-plus years) and long-term or retirement goals. Invest only when you have a horizon of five or more years, he advises.
Wealth perception gap
You are comparatively more wealthy than you think. People underestimate their earnings relative to others by 30 per cent, according to the HSBC data. The report’s findings reveal a “wealth perception gap”.
Even with six-figure incomes, most high earners do not consider themselves wealthy.
Among the top 4 per cent of UK earners, of those earning more than £100,000, about nine out of 10 do not identify as wealthy themselves. That’s despite earning almost three times the national average.
A gross personal income of £213,000 (€254,000) is necessary to be considered wealthy, according to the nationally representative sample of UK adults. That’s more than six times the national average salary of about £37,000 (about €44,000).
In Ireland, it is only the top 10 per cent who earn €102,000 or more annually, according to Central Statistics Office figures from the end of 2024. Average earnings in Ireland are €50,000. About 1 per cent earn €290,000 or more.
Comparing our financial situation with others can be misleading, says financial psychotherapist Vicky Reynal, who commented on the study for HSBC.
“Many people live with a certain amount of shame about their finances, feeling they have fallen short of their own aspirations,” she says. “This distorts our perception by placing our focus on what we lack, and what others have.
“We often view others’ spending as a signal of wealth, without considering that such spending may be debt-fuelled and reveal little about the owner’s actual wealth.”
Social media amplifies high-income lifestyles, creating pressure to do better.
Of course, a very real problem is that a six-figure salary doesn’t have the same buying power as it used to.
“More and more are finding it a struggle,” says Charalambous. “This is particularly difficult for parents, with a lot more costs associated with school and activities as well as childcare which has risen so much.
“The increase in mortgage costs have caused a lot of higher earners to feel the squeeze. It can be really challenging for someone with a good income with kids to pay the bills and live off their salary.”
Many high earners aspire to retire comfortably, own a home or make significant home improvements. Few feel they are on track to meet these goals, however.
For millennials, aged 26-45, costly new life stages such as house buying or starting a family contribute to the feeling of not being wealthy, despite high earnings, according to the HSBC study.
Income is just one element of how we perceive our wealth. How we perceive our position relative to others also contributes to this perception.
Interestingly, successful women may feel they have outperformed their peers, according to the study, while men are more likely to compare themselves with ultra-wealthy individuals in their network, inflating their perception of what it means to be wealthy.
Increasing costs can make us feel out of control, but talking to a financial adviser or starting a regular savings or investment habit can improve how we feel about money.
Are women investing enough?
Higher-earning women are now investing and saving more than men, the HSBC research claims. Women in the UK who earn more than the equivalent of €120,000, are now saving and investing 8 per cent more than men on a monthly basis.
More women in Ireland are investing too, but they are still not investing as much as men, says Michelle O’Keefe, head of wealth advisory at Goodbody.
“We are not seeing what the survey is showing but we are seeing an increase in our own customer base of women investing at all levels,” says O’Keefe.
Women had in the past left investing to their partners, says O’Keefe. The gender pay gap has also curtailed women’s disposable income, she says. But this is starting to change.
“Women, especially in larger organisations, are now getting paid the same as men for the same work. They have more disposable income,” says O’Keefe. Hybrid working, too, has given them more bandwidth to consider what they want to do with their money.
You don’t need a huge amount to start investing, she says. “You just need to have disposable income. If you find you have an extra €500 or €1,000 a month, there are savings plans you can put in place to grow your money over time,” says O’Keefe.
“The biggest piece we look at for people who are earning is using a pension account – if they have disposable income, they should be investing it in a pension.”
Commenting on the HSBC study, Reynal said women must challenge the gender bias around money that they may have internalised.
“Financial competence is an entirely learned skill,” says Reynal. She advises women to seek investment education, identify habits to change and set actionable money goals.
Goodbody has run an investment club, a woman-focused community aimed at educating and empowering more women to invest. “Asking questions will make you financially savvy. Avoidance won’t,” says Reynal. “Women should schedule time to manage their money, just like you would your fitness or health.”
Mindset
Women appear to be paying heed to this advice, according to the UK research.
Regardless of income bracket, women set ambitious financial goals, according to the HSBC study. Retiring early is a priority for 29 per cent of women, while 25 per cent want to pay off their mortgage.
One in four also wants to prioritise rainy-day savings and 18 per cent want to upgrade their home.
Careful saving, however, can lead to an excess of caution, limiting growth, says Reynal of the study.
Concerns about money stem from primal fears of survival, she says. This can mean people save at the expense of investing.
She advises people to cultivate an “abundant mindset”. “This doesn’t mean ignoring financial realities, but rather prioritising agency over helplessness,” says Reynal.
“It’s not about how much you earn, it’s about disposable income and what you do with it,” says O’Keefe. “We meet all these women, they all have some sort of nest egg but some of them hold it in cash instead of investing it, which is the wrong thing to do. They can have it for years and all they are doing is adding to it.”
Savers miss out on the compounding effect of investments, says Charalambous. Investing the Irish children’s allowance at an assumed growth rate of 4 per cent would give you a 35 per cent greater return than saving it in a traditional An Post savings account at a rate of 1 per cent per annum, he says.
Though women can take longer to think about investing, and take lower risk, their investments tend to outperform men’s, says O’Keefe.
“When women make a decision about an investment, they stick with it. Men tend to make a decision, change it, trade more. They say there is 45 per cent more activity on a man’s account than a woman’s but by doing that, men tend to miss the market. They are in and out at the wrong times,” says O’Keefe.
Overall, perceptions of wealth are evolving, according to the study. It is increasingly being perceived alongside health and personal wellbeing, rather than as a signifier of something to others.
