Who are the people who are actually doing well financially in the UK right now?

[BeAlertBrickFinch]

I feel like I'm living in two parallel realities. Everyone I know — including dual-income households in London — is struggling. Struggling to pay rent or mortgage, worried about job security, cutting back on holidays, etc.
And yet... I see people who seem to be thriving. They’ve got two properties (sometimes more), their kids are in private school, they go on multiple holidays a year, and they don't seem particularly high-earning on paper — not doctors or bankers. Some even appear to have fairly average jobs or are self-employed.
So who are these people? Is it inheritance? Family money? Do they just hide their real incomes well? Or is social media creating illusions?
Genuinely curious — not bitter, just trying to understand the mechanics behind it all. Because in real life, everyone I talk to is barely staying afloat

Fucking bankers, accountants, people who work in IT architecture specifically AI. They’re all my clients, they’re all rich as Midas. And off their tits on their own importance and masses of drugs and huge houses.

(I had a bad day at work 😬), empathy hard to come by today.

The very rich who can afford to live off passive incomes and investments; and people who are on multi-benefits (such as UC, PIP and DLA all together - you won’t get rich from 1 lot of UC alone).

The rest of us are screwed.

I do think a fair whack is inheritance in lots of cases - plus as previous poster said some in very specific jobs - oh and quite a lot of tradespeople back to the ‘loadsamoney’ 80s culture now they can charge whatever they feel like and often do a shit job too due to a lack of Polish/ Romanian competition -

Not everyone has set up their lives the same. Some have no children, a small mortgage, a good sized savings account.

No way are people on UC and PIP sending children to private schools and owning multiple properties like the OP said

Who is doing OK? Middle class professionals who didnt overspend on their house thinking interest rates would be 1% forever and who didnt run up big debts and who don’t live in London where everything is ridiculously expensive

No but they have a high, reliable income with costs covered and no commuting or work expenses. They won’t be sending children to private school but they will be clearing far more than your average full time worker without worrying about redundancy etc

We're doing ok. No mortgage. No inheritance either. Good civil service pension. I'm still working but will get the same when I retire Both dc earning very well. I was out with some friends last night, none of whom are struggling. London based. I think age is a big factor.

I agree there are many on large amounts of benefits but many do worry about whether the PIP etc is suddenly going to stop after a review. Also there really isn't security in being on benefits when the government are looking to make huge changes and make them harder to get.
The only person I know who is able to send their kids to private school is married to the CEO of a company. She works in a low paid admin role which i guess is just pocket money for her.
We are ok, mortgage paid off etc but my fixed term contract will be ending next year so I am very worried I won't find another job easily or if I do it will be minimum wage. Our two eldest sons are earning ok but one saddled with huge student loans. Our ds3 at Uni can't even find a summer job. I am very worried for my kids futures in the current climate.

You’re hardly rolling in it if on benefits. Also, I thought pip and dla are the same thing so no one gets both?

I think the poster meant there are families where the parents are on PIP and possibly multiple kids on DLA meaning large amounts in benefits. Obviously higher costs with multiple disabled people in the household though.

PIP is for adults and DLA for children. Plenty of families claim a few lots of a combination of both.

No, that’s not completely accurate as some adults still get dla, might just be those over pension age.

Instead they worry about how on earth they will survive if their UC etc is taken away and/or how their disabled child will manage when or if they outlive them.

Sounds wonderful.

It won’t be. Any changes are fought tooth and nail; as we have seen recently.

The point is that everyone has worries. It's hardly an easy life, especially when you bring disabilities in to it.

It's also nothing at all like having the kind of money to send children to private schools or have multiple properties. It's a baffling comparison.

A pp said age. That’s true.
Older folk who’ve paid off their mortgage and no longer support their kids, perhaps living in the north and have decent savings due to a professional job, are going to be in a much better position than a young couple paying a high rent/mortgage and nursery fees. Single or divorced folk have no chance.

Obviously there are many situations in between those extremes. Inheritances or bank of mum and dad also make a huge difference. And some people just earn a massive amount of money!

Some people can manage to turn any thread into a bit of benefit bashing !

Absolutely.

It never will be though will it?

They asked, I answered. I haven’t attached a value judgement to it, I’ve just said somebody claiming 50k in benefits with the security that comes with it never seeming to be reformed, are doing better than somebody working 40 hours a week for 25k who has to pay their own mortgage or be repossessed.

In my social circle, and I’m in Ireland so might be slightly different the ones that aren’t struggling either have wealthy parents (not standard boomer, mortgage paid off holiday home in Spain parents but the ones whose parents have paid off their mortgage or gave them huge deposits , paid for a cleaner and childcare when their kids were small, that was my in laws and why my ex is rich despite a divorce) or the couples that aren’t afraid of debt, Range Rover on finance, holidays paid for with credit union laws, always paying off something but if it all came crashing down they’d own nothing. I could never let my debts outweigh my assets, if I want something I save for it….so I have fuck all 😆

As above.

It's also interesting that both you and pp jumped on the first point but completely ignored the second point about worries when it comes to disability.

We seem to have wandered into the Daily Fail ... I doubt OP will get a sensible discussion going now. Just waiting for someone to mention immigrants who get everything and we'll have a full house.

People who are mortgage free, ones with alternative incomes often family wealth.

age plays a big part