Everyone earns different amounts depending on where they live, what their education was and the career path they have chosen, and everyone has different amounts of disposable income — the cash that’s left over after all the bills are paid. What do people typically do with it, besides the usual, such as going to the cinema or pub or travelling overseas on an amazing holiday? And how much spare money do people generally have to play around with, anyway?
New research compiled by Live Casino Comparer, a site that provides live casino reviews and information about online casinos, reveals the countries with the highest earnings and most disposable income — and possibly no one will be surprised that the mighty United States lands in the top spot.
Americans, it turns out, have the highest disposable income of anyone on the planet, at an average of $45,284 per household. They’re followed by residents of the tiny European country of Luxembourg, where people enjoy around $39,264 in household disposable income, while in third place is snow-capped Switzerland, with an average in spare cash per household of some $37,466.
Other nations making the top 10 list of countries with the most disposable income per household include Norway, at $35,725; Germany, with $34,294; Austria, which has an average of $33,541 in disposable income; Australia, coming in at $32,759; Iceland, with $31,929; France, at $31,304; and in last place, Sweden, with an average of $31,287 in available cash after all the bills are paid.
What Are They Spending Their Spare Cash On?
You might think Americans love to spend large chunks of their disposable income on fast cars, travelling around the vast country and perhaps trips across the ocean to exotic places like Hawaii and Tahiti, but you’d be mostly wrong. It turns out that, according to the research, which is based on figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development — an intergovernmental organisation that has 36 member countries — as well as individual reports from various nations, many Americans like to spend lots of money on self-care.
They’re happy to splash out around $199 a month on such things as spa treatments and other such non-essential items, and they’re also fond of spending big on special experiences they may only have once, such as a luxury stay somewhere. This compares with Luxembourgers, who, like many in Europe, have a sizeable taste for booze. There, women spend more than men on the tipple of their choice, at €291 versus €226, and takeaway food is also high up on the spare-cash spend in Luxembourg, followed by spending on personal hygiene, with women forking out more than double compared to men per month — €102 by the ladies and €42 by gentlemen.
The third-placed Swiss, meanwhile, also like to splurge on alcohol, as well as tobacco products and cultural activities. They also like leisure activities, eating out and staying at hotels, the research says.
What About the Brits?
Once-mighty Britain, which long ago ruled the waves and colonised countries around the world, languishes in 17th place in the list of countries with the most disposable income, a potent sign of how things have changed and other countries rise in economic power and incomes. Today, Londoners have the most disposable income in the UK, with an average of around £8,000, and they just love to go down to the pub and spend large amounts of it there. People under 30 years of age in Britain typically spend the most on takeaway food, according to the research.
For now, it’s Americans who rule in the wealth leagues, followed by a smattering of small European countries. Who knows if it might change in the years ahead, as emerging economic powers like China, India and Brazil experience rapid growth?
