£100,000 to change a life

Brits on average think they need £100,000 to make a significant difference to their lives.

However, those earning under £7,500 a year are more than twice as likely to say they would need £10 million to change their lives than those with an income of £30,000 to £50,000.

Over the last six months a quarter of people said they had received an unexpected windfall.

Over 15 million people earn less than the national average with collective debts of £35 billion.

But as the credit crunch makes borrowing harder, the aspiration of the lowest earners rise.

While men would be content with a £1 million windfall - 21 per cent compared to 15 per cent of women - women are more likely to need £ 10 million in order for it to make a difference to their lives. (21 per cent of women compared to nine per cent of men would need £10 million).

Across the UK, the people of Lancashire, where the average salary is £26,613, are most likely to say they need £10 million to change their lives (18 per cent).

In comparison – just nine per cent Londoners said they would need such a large sum. £10 million is 376 times the average salary of those in Lancashire and 263 times the average London wage.

At the other end of the scale, seven per cent of those in the South West say that a windfall of just £1,000 would have a big impact on their lives, compared to a national average of three per cent.

Deepak Varghese, head of private banking at ICICI Bank UK, said: “Whilst there are a growing number of millionaires in the UK today, the issue is actually to make your money work hard for you so that you can lead the best possible lifestyle on the amount you have."