What are the main differences between traditional middle class & new money?

[Firebird65]

Following on from the recent thread about normal things we consider posh. Most were arguing things were "new money" not posh.. So what exactly are the differences between new money & traditional middle /lower upper class?
I am neither & would love money new or old!

I know from work. I work with various AHP and there is lots of discussion around it and planning on how to address.
A lot of it comes down to who knows how to play the system and who doesn’t.

Oh DH and I are resoundingly New Money. After all, both our fathers grew up in council housing and our grandparents were 'in trade' [whispers].

But I was privately educated, DH went to a top university and we live in a refurbished Georgian house in a naive village so we have a very thin Middle Class veneer. Our house is full of books but I also drive the evil Range Rover Vogue though it's dark grey, not white.

But I never kid myself we're true middle class like my best friend who went to a famous girls' public school and her family home had stables and a bloody croquet lawn.

New money - flashy instagram wannabes, without social media we wouldn't know how much Tracey from Basildon has made by selling photos of her feet.

Last post was tongue and cheek.
People spend far too much time considering other people wealth and putting them into a social class box.

When reading these threads I wonder how many people that post with authority have ever actually met either old or new money.

Old money that ‘makes do and mends’ are generally asset rich and cash poor. They’re making do and mending because they can’t afford not to, given that the generational wealth is tied up in trust funds and governed by extremely strict rules. They may have millions, but that doesn’t mean they can freely access them.

Cash rich old and new money spend their money on exactly what they want to. I’ve never known anyone from old money not buy Louis Vuitton if they want it. Old or new money, some people like ‘flashy’ things, whereas others will be more understated. Others still will buy Louis Vuitton AND Brunello Cucinelli, because why not?

Ime it’s not ‘old money’ that gets uptight about new money, it’s those that are neither who are resentful of the upstarts for not knowing their place, who want to assure themselves that they’re still really above said upstarts in the social hierarchy.

New money tries hard to make their wealth visible. Old money are comfortable and confident walking around looking peasants.

Not all old money is asset rich and cash poor. But you will rarely be able to tell the difference through looking at them.

OP you forgot to add "lighthearted"—it's the caveat that lets us be as cunty as we like about people who've worked hard to build themselves up.

New money - I've worked bloody hard for everything I've got and I won't apologise for enjoying it.

TMC - everybody works hard, I don't see what you have to prove.

New money - <tells anecdote about life in a failing school>

TMC - that sounds awful. Why didn't your parents move into a different catchment area or change your school?

New money - <buys nice sofa> I'm looking forward to it being delivered.

TMC - Oh, that's nice for you <thinks 'why is this such a big deal? It's just a sofa'>

New money - I've had to work and fight for everything I've got. Nobody's taking it away from me.

TMC - why would anybody take it away from you? Surely you'd just ask parents/grandparents if things were difficult?

The difference is the knowledge, the absolute confidence that the world is a nice, comfortable place for the TMC and they will always belong, whereas New Money knows very well that it isn't and they've had to get themselves into that position.

The new money folk I know are DP’s siblings. Both self employed tradesmen who I suspect don’t declare all their earnings. Don’t give a damn about not contributing like most PAYE employees have to, just about getting what they can without the tax man knowing. So I guess a certain degree of deviousness and playing the system rather than the bank of mum and dad…

MN is super snobby about all sorts,
Wanting designer brands or expensive cars is poo-pooed...
....but go on any interior decor thread and people are scoffing and looking down their noses at IKEA, Dunelm, B and M (this was also singled out for spreading covid....as if it wasn't possible to catch it in waitrose 🙄) the range etc

I think its acceptable (in MN world) to spend money on cleaners, music lessons, super king size beds and lentils

That’s never been my experience. I’ve spent years around cash rich old and new money, I never knew either to walk around ‘looking like peasants’.

and lentils

Only if you're going to use them to ruin something that could otherwise be delicious, like cottage pie or bolognese or sticky toffee pudding

Taste - usually

Quite. Honestly, if you believed MN you’d think every upper or middle class person came straight out of the French & Saunders country women sketch. Meanwhile if you made your own money, the best you can aspire to is that episode of Only Fools and Horses where Del and Rodney find a Harrison watch.

Sorry, that was in response to @Imjustbrowsing

New middle class= first generation to go to university.

Totally agree with this and I just don't get the hate or snarky comments about them. I'm happy for people who have earned their money through hardwork/skill and always makes me wonder how the old money people made all that wealth in the past that it's been passed down on generations, no doubt exploiting people were involved or opportunities!

If you're trad middle class then everyone is a doctor, priest, army officer, lawyer, people have been to university for a few generations at least, you would be embarrassed to blow loads of money on flashy range rovers or large TVs, posh sofas and on high spec package holidays that cost £1000s.

You might not actually have a lot of money but you usually have a friend who's got a cottage in Cornwall, Brittany or Umbria which you can use for summer hols. And your family probably has one too and you can use it. You drive there your old estate car.

Your kids probably go to private school because somewhere in the family there is a school fees fund.

back in about 1980 I was walking past the Palace of Westminster Car park.

The House of Commons car Park was full of flash cars.

By contrast the Peers car park, and in those days most were hereditary so had inherited their seats, looked more like a scrap yard.

One of DS classmates Father is a tradesman, he's got his company listed on Companies house but the accounts show there's hardly anything in the business, yet they drive a top of the Range Rover, two or three holidays to Dubai and Marbella a year, expensive handbags for his wife, ( she doesn't work) newest iphones for the kids plus designer gear, DS told me that his classmate got £1000 worth of Robux for Christmas! It was mind boggling that the wealth they display doesn't match the company accounts. I know builders get paid in cash but even so...I think I'm going wrong somewhere! I might become a builder haha..

There are many ways to take cash out of a business in order to be more tax efficient. If you leave it in you have pay corporation tax on your profits. Best to remove.

The bum licking on here of perceived old money and sneering at new money is just like Basil Fawlty, think the episode was in fact called "Touch of Class".

I am middle class all through. Gentlemen farmers and scientists on one side, University lecturers and teachers on the other, back 5 generations. Also neurodivergent kids but not because of any aspiration to have them.

I never use the word "ghastly" about anyone.

I think "new money" to me means floors covered in shiny tiles, marble fireplaces, designer clothes, and a range rover. It's not my personal taste.

I find new money people are often a bit more down to earth. Less invested on saying the right things about caring for the environment whilst flying to Italy a couple of times a year, less keen on being conspicuously anti-racist in one's words whilst quietly moving one's child from the local primary because more than half the class have brown or black skin. Less hypocritical maybe.

I hear the previous tenants of our home were like this, tradesman and a SAHM, 4 kids and another on the way, always drove a brand new car, multiple fancy holidays a year. The neighbours did wonder how they were doing so well. We now get all their red letters, court summons and bailiffs...

I think it's funny that you're so sneery about them when you've looked up his company accounts so you can try to snoop on their assets. Ugh. That doesn't paint you in a better light than them.