I am wealthy.

Two identical houses on the same street, the same mortgage, near enough the same salaries. One family feels comfortable. The other feels behind. The difference sits entirely in who they happen to be looking at.

Wealth gets measured against a reference point nobody chooses on purpose — a sibling, a school year group, whoever's kitchen you stood in most recently. Move the reference and the same balance changes meaning overnight.

Almost nobody picks that reference deliberately. Ask once who yours is, and whether you'd have chosen them.