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

@OneForTheRoadThen

But the families are not paying the fees from their benefits which is the point that some people were trying to argue.

@Ted27ah ok! I saw the comment that a couple of parents at their child’s school were on PIP. I didn’t see how the parents would know how exactly the school fees were paid - whether by the LEA or out of benefits. I was just pointing out how some families on benefits can have children at private school.

I think some pp's were trying to say that pip pays for private school which just isn't possible unless the person on pip also works a high paying job which would pay school fees.

I have already replied but forget about wealth to come.
My father died when I was a very young child and I inherited some land and property
However due to various reasons I couldn't have it until I was in my 30s and some of it is only now going to make me serious money now I'm in my 40s and into my 50s as I develop it.
I'm an asset millionaire but will become a cash one too within next few years.
However I've never rested on my laurels to expect this so really it is a bonus as I live a nice life as it is. However I'll go on to live a bloody fabulous life and will retire by 55.

Thanks Kirbet! I see that now, I was just pointing out how some people on benefits can have children at private school. I don’t see how other parents would know how exactly the fees were paid, whether from PIP ( if possible) or LEA?

People who don't have to pay mortgage/rent maybe they have a rich family who bought their house for them

It is almost always a special needs private school though for children with significant disabilities. PIP and/or DLA wouldn't come close to paying for it either.

We're doing well.

Household gross income just moving up by 40k, but comfortable before. Compressed hours so only child is in nursery 3 days a week. Modest 3 bed bought a good 200k under affordability checks. Either of us able to meet all the bills if we needed to. A few short holidays a year.

We earn well and we don't spend flashy amounts. It's a good combination.

There are many many children at private schools paid for by the local council because the parents will fight tooth and nail to say this is the only school that ‘meets their needs’. The problem is once the expensive school place is secured, they don’t turn up, and the place is eventually revoked. Round here the private schools ask for a year’s fees upfront as they were sick of allowing a place on a termly basis only for the kid to not show up. Then the parents fight for another school which will ‘meet their needs’. And it starts again.

We have always used Yorkshire Building Society. I think the deals at the moment are a bit shorter due to the uncertainty in the markets, we look ours out 6 yrs ago.

So every single disabled child who gets a place in a private school stops turning up after the parents fight for what they believe is best for their child?

Sure, if you say so.

Definitely not ‘every single one’ but enough to cause the schools to put this policy in place. I don’t think the public realise the sums that can be spent on just 1 child.

It's not a policy I've ever heard of and I have a disabled child and whilst he doesn't go to a private school, I know several disabled child who do. After many years of their parents fighting and they only miss a day when ill like any other child.

Even disabled children are entitled to an education and parents of disabled children are going to fight for their child to access education. Why wouldn't they?

My own child goes to a mainstream school but has an expensive EHCP which means he is able to access mainstream education. I make no apologies for that, though of course, it isn't as expensive as a private school but if I felt like it's what he needed, I'd absolutely fight for it.

@JamesMacGill

Have you any idea what it takes to get to an educational tribunal? Or how few and far between suitable places are?
No parent is going to go through a very long and stressful process, often with lawyers involved, to start it all over again for the he'll of it.
What's your evidence apart from asserting "round here'

The problem is once the expensive school place is secured, they don’t turn up, and the place is eventually revoked

@JamesMacGill why don’t they turn up?

People who live within their means are doing well; those who don’t, aren’t.

So if you haven’t overextended yourself with number of children, lifestyle, wasted spending, over-borrowed, etc you’re probably ok.

And often people who don’t live within their means can look richer, but they’re riddled with debt

I think its disingenuous to infer that people might be struggling because they've stretched themselves or borrowed too much when house price: salary ratio has massively skewed....so to get on the housing ladder at all meant you had to stretch. Some people might have over borrowed to get a fancy house, others might have overborrowed just to get something modest.

And buying a house outside London in cheaper area could mean paying a 5-6k+ season ticket to commute. (If you cant wfh) And you might be 1 hr+ away from kids school or nursery if you need to pick up in an emergency. There are of course cheaper areas but usually cheap for a reason with less facilities/schools/transport links....then factoring in how to get to those things also costs money....

economists can't predict rises & drops so why would the average person.

I wouldn't expect people to PREDICT interest rate changes, just be mindful in their planning that interest rates can rise, and those changes can be significant. Same as I wouldn't expect people to PREDICT when and where their car will break down, but I would expect them to consider breakdown cover.

Earning good money doesn't mean common sense or financial acumen though.

True, but personally I don't have much sympathy for people earning over £100k but with no common sense. Maybe that's just me.

We will have to agree to disagree.

Of course - difference of opinion is natural and arguably healthy: it's what makes for thought-provoking discussions.

I agree.

When I plan for work or home, I take the view that I don't know which bad thing will happen, but at one point something will.

Whenever I get a pay rise, I enjoy the whole lot for 2m, then put 80% of the extra pay onto savings. Lifestyle creep occurs a whole lot slower this way (and I tend to indulge in expensive pieces that will last with the 2m spending).

i am doing fine. No mortgage due to DP dying on a 4 bed house in the Home Counties, 7 figs in investments - DP plus DP’s inheritance, a fakr salary of £65k which covers day to day living and a couple of DP’s pensions worth another 12k a year. Income from investments covers uni costs for kids, house improvements and holidays. I haven’t had to touch any of the capital. My parents are still alive so interitance from them could be a while away but will likely be close to another 7 figs or there about. Inheritance from them will be due to dad’s hard work, he dragged himself up from absolute poverty without a penny to his name. Money from DP estate is due to a very high paying job, we bought houses young and benefited from a growing market and I always kept a hand in work so that if I ever needed to I could look after us hence having my income.

I am not extravagant. Was able to put kids through private 6th form, cover uni living costs but they took loans too as we felt they should invest in their education and I will be able to give them deposits.

We are comfortable, and we have no inheritance or family money. We work in tech roles for large US companies, and also have a significant nest egg built up from speculative investing about a decade ago (putting our own earnings into assets, not gifted money). We have a house in north London and 2 dcs at private school.

Most of the families at the school are doing very well - we don't know the details of their finances, but there is lots of chat about their summer holidays, sahms with housekeepers or nannies, no real concerns about the cost of VAT on fees. Some have inherited wealth, but most have earned it in finance, law, entertainment or entrepreneurship. Plenty of families with much bigger holiday budgets than ours, houses which cost twice as much, and a second home elsewhere. Some of them are surprisingly young (late 20s/early 30s). We are mid 40s and bought our first home about 13 years ago, but that didn't have a big impact on our wealth and we didn't gain much equity through house price growth as it was fairly static in real terms.

A lot of people are saying it’s inheritance, but those ‘paychecks’ are few and far between - maybe a couple over one’s lifetime. Unless they’re huge, life changing sums of money, they can’t explain the lifestyle OP is describing. That comes from stable, consistent high earnings - high salary, high return on investments etc. It’s the difference between a £100k inheritance and £100k net salary / net investment return every year.

This is a great post, if a little inaccurate in parts (2-bed flats in Clapham and Hammersmith are not worth £1.5m….). It’s true that prioritising experiences and having fun in your 20s and 30s often means less financial security in later life. However, what I think is happening now is that financial security feels so out of reach for young people today that they’re saying ‘fuck it’ and just having a great time travelling, going to festivals, exercising at bougie pilates studios instead of the park etc. And who can blame them.

But many young people were doing similar in the early to mid 80s. I was told so often that I was a boring fart and wasting my life because I had a mortgage and was in work at 7.30am until 7.30pm. And needed to go travelling and have fuuuun.

All those people who told me to have fuuun at 25 were sadly telling I was soooooo lucky aged 35 when I had a baby and was able to give up work.