Ask them to define it - watch them go quiet.
Let's start with the word itself.
Rich. We throw it around constantly - in conversations, in goal setting, in the quiet late night thoughts about what we actually want our lives to look like. We say we want to be rich the same way we say we want to be happy. Often. Passionately. And with absolutely no clarity about what we mean.
So let's get some clarity.
What does "rich" actually mean?
Ask ten women in their 20s and 30s what rich means and you'll get ten different answers.
For some it's a number. A specific figure in a bank account that finally makes them feel safe. For others it's freedom - not a number at all, just a feeling. The ability to say no to the things that drain you and yes to the things that fill you up.
And for many - more than would probably admit it out loud - rich isn't about money at all. It's about a life that feels full. Work that means something. People who matter. The kind of richness that has nothing to do with what's in your bank account and everything to do with what's in your days.
Here's the thing though.
None of those definitions are wrong.
The problem with how we talk about money
The financial world has spent decades making "rich" mean one thing - a large number followed by a lot of zeros. And in doing so it's made wealth feel like something that belongs to other people. People who started with more. People who got lucky. People who aren't you.
That framing is not only unhelpful - it's expensive. Because women who don't see themselves as "money people" don't open ISAs. Don't increase their pension contributions. Don't negotiate their salaries. Don't ask the questions they need to ask because those questions feel like they belong to someone else's life.
And the receipt for that belief - the real cost of writing yourself out of the wealth conversation - compounds quietly, year after year, until one day you look up and wonder where the gap came from.
The gap came from the story. It always does.
Quick note - rich and wealthy aren't the same thing
Some of you are already thinking it, so let's name it quickly.
Rich is often about income - what comes in. Wealthy is about assets - what you've built and what continues to grow without you having to show up for it every single day.
You can be rich and broke at the same time. A high salary, a beautiful lifestyle, and absolutely nothing underneath it. Many people are.
You can also be quietly wealthy without ever feeling rich. Assets compounding in the background while your lifestyle stays exactly the same.
Most of us want both. And understanding the gap between the two is where the real financial education begins.
That's a whole receipt on its own. We'll get there. 🖤
Your definition will change - and that's the point
Here's the thing nobody mentions when they talk about becoming rich.
Your definition of it will change completely. And that's not inconsistency. That's growth.
At 21, my version of rich was visible. It was zeros in a bank account - as many as possible. It was a big car. It was the ability to buy a house as soon as humanly possible and designer bags that I genuinely believed would make me feel something good on the inside. The things where other people could see how well I was doing. The markers that said I've made it before I'd even figured out what making it meant to me.
At 28, rich looks completely different.
It's options. The ability to book a flight without a quiet panic about whether it will damage my bank account. It's not living paycheque to paycheque. It's the freedom to make choices that aren't driven by financial pressure.
But most of all - and this surprised me when I really sat with it - rich is seeing the people around me happy. Family and friends who love me. A home, not just a house. The little things. A Sunday that feels genuinely restful. A meal around a table with people I love. Moments where no amount of money in the world could make them better than they already are.
Neither version of rich was wrong. But one of them was building something real and one of them was performing it for an audience that wasn't even watching.
Give yourself permission to let the definition evolve.
So here's the RGR definition
Rich isn't a number. It isn't a postcode or a designer bag - and we say that with love because we also know who we are and a good bag is a good bag 🖤 - but it isn't what finance Twitter tells you it is either.
Rich is having options.
Options about how you spend your time. Options about where you work and who you work for. Options about what you say yes to and - crucially - what you feel genuinely empowered to say no to.
And that foundation - the one that gives you options - is built from three things:
Rich in mind. A relationship with money that isn't built on shame, avoidance, or the story that you're just not a money person. Because you are. You were just never taught. That changes here.
Rich in body. Taking care of yourself well enough that your health isn't the thing that eventually costs you everything. Your energy, your longevity, your ability to actually enjoy the life you're building.
Rich in bank account. The ISA. The pension. The emergency fund. The salary you negotiated properly. The side income you built with intention. The receipts you kept - and the ones you didn't let quietly slip away.
All three. In that order. And eventually - all three at once.
What rich means for you
Whether you're 23 and just starting to ask these questions, or further along your journey and realising your definition needs a rethink - this is the right place to start.
Not with an ISA. Not with a pension. Not with a budget spreadsheet.
With this question.
What does rich actually mean to me?
Not what it looks like on someone else's Instagram. Not what your parents meant when they said it. Not the number you picked when you were 21 because it sounded impressive.
What you actually want your life to feel like. The specific version of rich that is completely and entirely yours.
Write it down. Be honest. Be specific. And don't be surprised if it looks nothing like what you expected.
Right. We'll wait. 🖤
This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
— Editor x
