As of: March 29, 2024, 5:15 a.m
By: David Holzner
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Is 3,000 euros net enough? Or are there many more? From this income you are considered rich in Germany.
A villa with a pool, at least a six-digit number on your account and every day you're asked which sports car you're driving today. Many people imagine wealth this way. But do you really need a house on Schlossallee to be considered rich? In Germany, much less is enough. At what salary you are considered to be among the “rich”.
Is 3,000 euros net enough? When do you become one of the rich?
Several houses on Schlossallee or an entire warehouse full of money. When are you really rich? (Symbolic image) © Sascha Steinach/Steinach/IMAGO
Can wealth be defined? At least there are certain guidelines as to when one is considered rich in Germany. According to the
Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
, anyone who has a high income compared to the overall population is considered rich. In official language: “According to a scientific convention, anyone who has more than twice or three times the median net equivalent income of the entire population is considered to be high-income.” According to the Federal
Statistical Office (Destatis),
this median was around 2,000 euros net per month in 2022. Triple that would be around 6,000 euros.
But there is no uniform definition of wealth. The
information service of the German Economic Institute (IWD)
gives the highest-income ten percent of the population as a guideline. Anyone who earns more than 90 percent of the population is considered rich. A single is considered rich with a monthly net income of around 3,500 euros. This was the result of a study by the
German Economic Institute (IW)
on the results of the long-term household survey
Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)
from 2020.
Singles with an income above |
are among the richest |
3,700 euros |
10 percent |
4,282 euros |
5 percent |
7,044 euros |
1 percent |
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Joint net income: When are couples without children considered rich?
Anyone who lives in the same household without children is in the richest tenth with a combined net income of 5,550 euros.
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Couples in the same household without children with a shared income |
are among the richest |
5,294 euros |
10 percent |
6,423 euros |
5 percent |
10,567 euros |
1 percent |
Families with two children under 14 earn more than 90 percent of the population with a combined net income of 7,412 euros.
Families with two children under 14 years of age with a shared income |
are among the richest |
7,412 euros |
10 percent |
8,992 euros |
5 percent |
14,793 euros |
1 percent |
According to the study, couples who do not yet have children or whose children no longer live in the same household have the best chance of being among the top earners. Single parents, on the other hand, are rarely found in the upper income range.
What does it mean to be rich? Citizens misjudge themselves
The
IWD
also states that when asked how much income someone counts as rich, German citizens gave much higher values than the statistics showed. One reason for this may be the so-called “middle class bias”. This perception distortion causes people to misjudge your wealth. They consider themselves to be middle class, although according to statistics they are among the “rich”. “People compare themselves to others who are similar to them in terms of income and wealth. If you assume that your own environment is representative of society as a whole, the so-called middle-class bias arises,” explained economist and wealth researcher Dr. Jan Schulz-Gebhard from the University of Bamberg told
Stepstone.de
.
What is considered rich? Income versus wealth
In general, however, a distinction must always be made between income wealth and asset wealth. According to
Sparkasse.de,
income wealth refers to regular income, while asset wealth consists of the possession of material and financial values. This includes real estate, money, investments, stocks, companies, and jewelry and artwork. According to IW, households are considered wealthy if their combined net worth exceeds 477,200 euros. Prosperity or wealth cannot therefore be measured based on income alone.