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

Hmmm. My kids went to private school, so presumably- other than the very few on large bursaries - we can assume the parents are not struggling hugely. All the parents owned their own homes. Their professions varied widely though, as did their relative wealth. Builder, convenience store owner, lawyers, music promoter, financial planner, IT, gardener/builder/handyman, middle managers in a variety of businesses, etc. Some had multiple homes some had the one and one child and took no holidays in order to pay the fees.
But most of the wealthier people I’ve come across do fall into the financial/IT/law/property investment fields, but they also work bloody hard and long hours with a lot of pressure.
My late DH and I had the same level of education (post graduate degrees), but I chose a creative field and worked in publishing and he was an IP lawyer in the city. He earned 20 times what I did (he also worked hugely more hours though both of us were ‘full time’).
As for those that seem to have no obvious source for their expenditure, it’s usually family money. For example I know a member of the Lily Pharmaceutical family and one here from a well known food brand. All the family members have trusts that have enabled them to work at whatever they want yet still afford large houses in London and fee paying schools and nice holidays. Or grandparents who pay the fees and buy houses for their kids.

I think we are in the worst bracket earn enough to not receive benefits but not really enough to actually live on! We rent & work to the absolute bone both self employed husband is a farmer and I’m a dog / walker / boarder / groomer ect and have three young children it’s definitely a struggle . Zero savings or anything to fall back on I worry all the time. Any one have any tips for a side hustle greatly appreciated 😂

PIP cannot pay for school fees. Neither benefits....
So they must have a scholarship or receive PIP and maintain good jobs.

Probably depends a lot on where you are, and your priorities.

DH & I are in our 20’s, 1 child with another on the way, both have good stable jobs, have a car each, holidays, we bought a house we could comfortably afford rather than a house at the max of our affordability, we certainly aren’t rich but we’re also not stressed about money and counting pennies or anything like that. I’d say most of our friends are in a similar boat, but we do also have friends in other parts of the country where cost of living is higher who are struggling financially.

We were in town shopping a few weeks ago and you’d never think there was a cost of living crisis by just walking down the main street. Every bar, pub, restaurant & cafe full to bursting, queues out the doors & people sat all outside too, shops very busy etc.

No it's not! Can you provide evidence to support that?

Cliched nonsense. How disrespectful to the people you work for, who pay your wages. Aren’t you a therapist? I’m sure I’ve seen you crop up on other threads.

what is forgotten is how much difference 1% makes with today's house prices. Hence all the posts about "we had 15% interest rates in our day" which actually aren't that dissimilar to 5% today when looking at the cost of houses.

@pennypans 15% interest rates are decades before my day - but yes, obviously a high price x 5% is similar to a low price x 15%. But the key point I was making is that WHATEVER level interest rates are there is always a risk that they can go higher, and that is something that people taking out a mortgage should ALWAYS be mindful of. And when they were already down at 1% surely there is even more risk that from that historical low point the next moves will be up as there is no way down. Again to re-iterate, it's the people who are clever enough to earn over £100,000 pa but who nevertheless did not take this risk into account properly that I have little sympathy for, as they COULD have been financially secure but have put themselves in trouble. Very different to those on minimum wage, or who struggle to afford a house at all.

@Crikeyalmighty it's so much harder these days to get that start.

The obvious one is don't have dc but taxes will have to go up to fund the ageing population so that may not work!

No family wealth in our case. No free childcare. One child in private school and the other will start next year. We own our house mortgage-free.

We both got good degrees from university and went into high-paying graduate roles. We spent our 20s and early 30s working in stressful, long-hours roles where it was expected that you would be available 24/7 and cancel holidays at short notice if needed. We frequently finished work in the early hours, worked weekends and pulled all-nighters. My husband still works in a similar environment but I changed career when we had DC as having two parents in those roles is impossible without the type of childcare that we couldn't afford (2 live-in nannies doing alternating shifts).

We rented a one-bed flat until our oldest child was 2, by which time we'd saved enough to buy a modest, terraced 3-bed outright for an exorbitant sum (London prices). We're still there, although it's getting slightly cramped with DC2 getting bigger.

We have one fairly old car (owning two cars on our street is quite frankly antisocial given the limited parking). We could afford holidays abroad but prefer UK breaks while the kids are still little. We save a fair amount each month despite school/nursery fees.

We're both very tired and quite frankly it's been a slog. But we're very fortunate and know it.

But the key point I was making is that WHATEVER level interest rates are there is always a risk that they can go higher, and that is something that people taking out a mortgage should ALWAYS be mindful of

I don't think the majority don't understand this concept.

And when they were already down at 1% surely there is even more risk that from that historical low point the next moves will be up as there is no way down

They were down for years though, economists can't predict rises & drops so why would the average person. I fixed in 22 for 5 yrs at 2%, largely because my dad told me too!

Again to re-iterate, it's the people who are clever enough to earn over £100,000 pa but who nevertheless did not take this risk into account properly that I have little sympathy for, as they COULD have been financially secure but have put themselves in trouble

Earning good money doesn't mean common sense or financial acumen though. I also think the majority who over leverage themselves don't fall into the "6 fig salary group" plus many of those will come from backgrounds that mean they have a safety net so can be a bit cavalier.

I had dc years ago but was shocked at the price of childcare. We will have to agree to disagree.

He actually told me to go for a 10 yr deal but I didn't want to, should have listened! 😆

Childless, mortgage free, property bought back in the day when it was cheap, inheritance from family, living up North with higher than average salaries, and both of us are working.

I'll bite.
I had a leg up aged 21 with a flat deposit in 1981. It was a huge boost but also accompanied by me working long hours and hard and doing well professionally. That allowed me to trade up to a house in London c1986.
Married DH who had prospects and was secure, hard working, honest and decent. Married for love and we stayed together.
Took a huge risk buying an expensive house where the developers went bust and the area was "under development".
My father died when I was 41 and left me a six figure sum.
DH's career took off.
I went back to work, part-time and in a small way but they paid for me to take Prof quals.

We are early to mid 60s now. We are both still working. The DC were privately educated and we have a home in France.
We have excellent occupational pensions to come and some investments.

In the mid noughties we set up trust funds for the DC including a small house each.

The DC are hard working, went to Oxbridge. One is an academic, the other a secondary teacher. I imagine people must wonder how they are as comfortable as they are, but they wear it humbly.

None of us are particularly spendy, bearing in mind income. It probably sums up at chardonnay tastes and champagne money. We never have a takeaway; I take a packed lunch and flask to work. Nothing is purchased on credit or has ever been except a TV on 10 months interest free credit in 1998 and I forgot to pay it up with 10th payment

As someone else said, age is a big factor in this. We are mid 50's, teeny mortgage left, DC working and not dependent on us, reasonable savings but neither of us early vast amounts of money. I'm part time self-employed and DH works for a big corporation in lower management. We are outside London but in the south.

We did this when we first bought our current home, I was 5 months pregnant and at the time working in central London. Didn't want to work in London after DS was born so knew that we would losing income.

We bought a house that we could afford on one salary. Took a 10 year fixed rate. I was, luckily, made redundant so we lived off that for a few months.

Once our 10 yr fixed ended, we took a 5yr and then a 7yr after that. The 7yr is finishing next year but we have overpaid on our mortgage for years so once the fixed rate ends, we will pay off the mortgage.

We could have stretched ourselves and bought a house twice the size but didn't see the point. We only have 1 child so our 3 bed house although small has coped with us for the last 21 years and will see us into our retirement.

Up to a decade or so ago, if you had the right opportunities and made the right choices you could make a comfortable living relatively easily. I graduated in 2002, and moved to London. Many people I know got a high-hours, low-pay job and suffered until their late 20s. Then the money went up, the hours went down, and the sensible ones bought a two-bed flat in a decent area with good transport links, then rented out the other room. 'Decent' areas were places like Hammersmith or Clapham back then. Some had a few thousand from the parents, but not usually wild amounts. Property prices went up and up as the areas attracted these bright young things, and by the time they were in their mid-30s they had a million pound property. Then they fell in love. With someone else who'd done the same thing and so also had a million pound property. They moved in together and rented one of their million pound properties, then decided to have babies and move to the home counties, so sold one of the million pound properties (by now more like £1.5m+) and carried on renting out the other. All the while, both salaries went up and up. So by the time they're 40 they and their angelic offspring are living in a very nice house in prime Buckinghamshire with a tiny mortgage which is easily covered by the rental income of the Fulham flat the wife sacrificed holidays and new clothes to buy back in 2009. And the rest of us have albums of travel pictures and long-gone-out-of-fashion designer gear, and no home, and no money. But we're definitely, definitely not seething with jealousy, as we sit in our Juicy tracksuits and Louboutins in our cramped, damp, crumbling little houses 😭😭

@OneForTheRoadThen

Families having to go to tribunals to secure appropriate education placements for children with special needs funded by the LEA has absolutely no bearing at all on families on benefits.

The family isn't paying it are they, and nor is it a benefit

Landlords are wealthy; the ones who bought up properties when they were relatively cheap and have sat back and seen the value of their 'investments' soar whilst the rents they charge go sky high. An unregulated housing market has been the ruin of this country; grossly inflated rents and house prices are what is draining the govt's coffers (in benefit payments) and making everyone suffer. Chairman Mao made an example of private landlords with some public hangings. Perhaps we should do the same?

This is great advice except you probably couldn't buy that home on one equivalent income in London today. It's a nice idea but now people have to stretch themselves to afford what was once modest.

@Ted27thats not the point I was making! I was saying that that is sometimes how families on benefits have children at private school, because they get a place through a tribunal. I don’t think I explained myself clearly as I was thinking in particular of the school I work at where 81% of the children are eligible for pupil premium and their parents are on benefits I.e some families on benefits do have children at private school so it’s not as unheard of as some people believe.

@SecretNameAsImShy I would have taken a 7 yr deal but the broker couldn't find one.

Now now killing isn’t the answer

but yes the profiteering on housing that has been allowed and encouraged has harmed Mrs Jo bloggs much more than the sir high and mighty

There are quite a lot of middle management positions that do not seem very glamorous but pay good money (80-100k), so a couple of professionals who can live outside of London and, as previous poster mentioned, have been conservative with the amount of mortgage, should have ample amount of money to support comfortable lifestyle once nursery fees are gone.

@mugglewump
Chairman Mao made an example of private landlords with some public hangings. Perhaps we should do the same?

Absolutely! But why stop at landlords? Mao made an example of anyone who was talented, intelligent or well off. Should they also be executed?

I’m managing ok but I don’t have children and not living in the UK. If I was in the UK, it would be a different story financially (much lower salary).

Just to add though, I don’t own a property and saving to buy one, so in others eyes that would probably translate as not managing ok.