Transcription
How much money do you need to be considered rich in Brazil? Is $2,000 a month considered rich, or $4,000 a month? Or does it need to be even more? And also, what kind of lifestyle can you have if you earn enough money to be considered rich here in Brazil? So, in this video, I'm going to look into these questions. And let's start off by looking at some of the stats, okay?
So, before we look at how much the rich earn here in Brazil, let's just have a look at average salaries in Brazil. So, this body called IBGE, and they do a lot of research on demographics. So, according to them, the average salary last year was 3,200 reais, which is $560 per month or $6,700 per year. So, you can see the average salaries in Brazil are significantly lower than Sweden and many other countries in Europe and the States as well. So, the average salary in Sweden's around $48,000 per year, and in the States is around $61,000 a year.
But then, if you look how much the rich earn here in Brazil, so the same institute, the IBGE, so they classified anyone earning over 20,666 reais per month, which is $3,600 per month, as being rich and being in the top 1% of earners in the country. Then there's another study by a body called FIPE Social, and in their study, they classify anyone earning over 27,000 reais, which is $4,750 per month, as being rich and being in the top 1%. And they also showed that if you want to be classified as super rich, being part of the 0.1% of top earners in Brazil, then you need to earn 95,000 reais per month, and that is $16,700 per month.
Now, for a foreigner who's not very familiar with Brazil, they'll be shocked by these figures and think that you're talking nonsense because in many countries, earning, you know, 4 to 5,000 per month, or between 50 and $60,000 per year, is close to the average salary because, like I said, in Sweden, the average salary is around $48,000, and in the US, it's around $61,000.
And then, if we look at the top 1% of earners in the US and Sweden, just to see how much they earn in these countries to be classified as rich. Well, in the US, you need to earn about $787,000 per year, which is roughly $65,000 per month to be in the top 1% of earners. And in Sweden, you earn around $120,000 per year, which is about $10,000 per month. So, you can see you need to earn a lot more to be classified as rich in these countries, and in particular in the States.
But then, another way of classifying someone as rich is looking at their wealth, their net worth, rather than their income. So, in Brazil, you need about 4.6 million reais, which is $810,000, to be classified as rich and being in the top 1%. And then, if you compare that to Sweden, you need about $4.8 million to be classified as rich, and in the US, it's $5.8 million. So, again, no great real surprise there that you need a lot more money in the States and Sweden to be classified as rich.
And if we look at the type of people who are in this 1% of top earners here in Brazil, and what you find is you've got the usual professions. So, you've got company directors, CEOs, doctors, lawyers. So, this website here, Glassdoor, is pretty good. So, they kind of give you an indication of salaries here in Brazil, and they show that directors of companies, they can earn between 10 and 35,000 reais per month, which is between $2,000 and $6,000. Obviously, if you're a director of a very big company, then you earn a lot more than that. So, yeah, so many of these directors, they are part of the rich.
Then you've got doctors. And average salaries for doctors are between 8 and 17,000 reais, which is $1,500 to $3,000 per month, which isn't enough to be classified as rich. But I mean, that's just an average. And if you're a specialist or a surgeon or something, then they show that you can earn a lot more, you know, 30,000 reais per month and above. And these professions in Sweden and the States also earn very good salaries, and a lot of them are in the top 1% in these countries as well.
But one thing that is a bit different here in Brazil compared to many other countries is that a lot of government workers or civil servants can earn very well here in Brazil and also be considered rich. So, obviously, you've got politicians, so ministers, senators, governors, and even mayors of cities, they can earn high salaries. So, apparently, the president of Brazil and a lot of his ministers, they earn 46,000 reais per month, which is $8,000 per month. Now, I'm not sure how accurate this number is, and obviously, he has many other benefits from accommodation, travel, food, and lots of other things which increased his value a lot more. But apparently, that's his basic official salary for him and his ministers.
And you've got others like senators, governors, and other politicians, they can earn between 30 and 40,000 reais per month, so very similar to the president and the ministers. But then they have many other benefits as well, which increases their income a lot more. And yeah, these would also be part of the 1% rich in Brazil.
But then, other government workers can earn very high salaries as well. So, I mean, if you look at the average salary for a government worker, then it's between 2 and 6,000 reais per month, which is $350 to $1,000 per month, which is relatively low. Then you have many positions that pay a lot more. So, I'm talking judges, prosecutors, managers of notary offices, they all earn very well. And also directors and managers in organizations in the state banks. All of these positions here can pay very high salaries, and again, they would be earning over 30,000 reais and be classified as rich.
So, then, if you compare that to Sweden, so the prime minister of Sweden, which is similar to the president here in Brazil, he earns around 2 million Swedish kronor, which is about $200,000 per year. So, yeah, he would be classified as being part of the 1% rich in Sweden. But then, the people below him, and then government workers, they earn significantly less. So, the average salary for a government worker is 37,000 Swedish kronor per month, which is $3,600 per month. So, I mean, they wouldn't be classified as being rich.
And if you look at, for example, a judge, which many judges in Brazil, they earn very high salaries, but in Sweden, the average salary for a judge is around 60,000 Swedish kronor, which is $6,000 per month. So, I mean, even judges in Sweden, a lot of them wouldn't even be classified as rich, while in Brazil, a lot of them would be.
Okay, so yeah, if you come to Brazil and you've got an income of, you know, four to $5,000 per month, then yeah, you'd be classified as rich, and you'd be part of the 1% club. And in terms of the lifestyle that this income can afford you, so yeah, you can afford to rent a really nice apartment in the cities or a nice house in the smaller cities and towns.
So, if we just have a look at a few examples, so we start with São Paulo. So, I'm just chosen a nice neighborhood in São Paulo, Pinheiros. Two-bedroom apartments, you can see you can get a nice big apartment, 100 square meters, over 1,000 square feet, three bedrooms, 7,500 reais per month, which is $1,300 per month. Although, if you want something super, super nice, then it's going to be a lot more. So, you've got an even bigger apartment, furnished, and that's like 16,000 reais, which is $2,800 per month. So, yeah, so São Paulo is expensive, especially the really nice neighborhoods. But saying that, you can still get a nice decent apartment for 6, 7,000 reais per month.
But if you don't want to live in the really big cities, you could choose a smaller city. So, Curitiba, for example, is very nice. That's the capital of Paraná in the south of Brazil. So, here you can rent a really nice apartment for a lot less money. So, here you've got a nice furnished apartment, 100 square meters, over 1,000 square feet, two bedrooms, and that's 5,000 reais per month, which is around $900 per month. And that's quite expensive. Then you've got much cheaper apartments as well. So, you've got this one, for example, for 2,900 reais per month, which is $500 per month. Nice modern two-bedroom apartment, 67 square meters, or 700 square feet. So, I mean, you can live in some really nice apartments in the smaller cities and towns for not that much money.
And also, with this, you'd be able to enjoy all the luxuries of life in terms of going out a lot, be able to finance a car, have no problems getting really good health insurance, you'd be able to do a lot of traveling, and have a lot of disposable income.
But in terms of how much money you need to live comfortably here in Brazil, there's no magic number. So, I mean, I've said many times that I live on $2,000 a month, and that's for me, my wife, and my daughters, so for three people, and we have a very good life. I mean, the key thing for us is that we bought a simple home. So, yeah, we don't have to pay lots of rent or mortgage payments. So, because of that, we live very comfortably on $2,000 per month. And I know people who live very comfortably on even less than that. But then I know some other people who need to spend a lot more than that in order to be happy and have a good lifestyle.
Okay, so hope you found this video useful. So, please subscribe, give a like. If you've got any questions or anything, leave in the commentary below. So, thanks for watching until next time.