Although we like to think otherwise, we tend not to think of things on an absolute basis; we use others as a frame of reference. Our subconscious brain does a mental audit:
“How am I doing? Hmm, let’s see what how people similar to me are doing.”
The social media age has created an air-brushed life in which we look at others’ posts and feel dissatisfied with our lives regardless of the context. Someone may look like they are living their best life but we know no more than what we see in the picture; we create the story beyond the image.
It is true with our lives and our money (which are inextricably linked).
We judge our wealth, not by whether it is enough for us and provides us with everything we need but against the benchmark of what other people earn. And of course, we compare upwards not downwards.
Comparison is the Killer of Joy
Consider the following scale…
The median average weekly salary in the UK is £640 which is considerably more than the average global salary of £272.
Which is considerably more than the lowest-earning population in the world; Tajikistan at approximately £41 a week.
But we don’t feel wealthy because we earn considerably more than the global average, we compare our earnings to a benchmark we can relate to. Take professional footballers for example:
The median average weekly salary of a League Two professional footballer is £2,000.
But, they compare their earnings with those of players in the league above, League One.
The median average weekly salary of a League One professional footballer is £4,753
But, they compare their earnings with those of players in the league above, the Championship.
The median average weekly salary of a Championship professional footballer is £7,000
But, they compare their earnings with those of players in the league above, the Premier League.
The median average weekly salary of a Premier League player is £60,000.
But, they compare their earnings to the highest-paid Premier League footballers.
Mo Salah is reportedly the highest-paid Premier League footballer earning £400,000 a week.
But, he may look at what he earns relative to the highest-paid sportsmen and feel ‘poor’.
Ronaldo reportedly earns £3.4m a week since signing for Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.
But, that is nothing compared to Elon Musk who had a $1trn over 10 years pay package agreed in November 2025. That’s a mind blowing $1.92bn a week!
Here’s another way to compare relative wealth, based on the extremes of the earnings provided here:
The world bank defines someone as being in extreme poverty if they earn less than $785 a year. To match Elon Musk’s earnings they would need to work a staggering 2.45m years!
That’s a huge disparity in wealth that is hard to get your head around. But what does the amount of money you earn matter if you are miserable or unfulfilled? As I asked my kids the other day, would you rather be rich and miserable or poor and happy?
Fortunately, they gave the answer I wanted to hear.
