To ask if you are rich, and if so how you made your money?!

[jinglebelly]

I run a small ebay business but after DC 3 starts school I'd either like to retrain/get a degree or start up a larger business... I don't know any very well off people hence why I'm asking on mumsnet!

Xenia - could you possibly expand on this a bit ?? It only started being better when I did that and eat what I kill. If I don't kill we starve

For me...FIL was a market gardener who landbanked and sold off to make enough to retire in his 40's. He has never worked since Ive known him and has moved and upsold at least 5 times in the last 14 years. He owns a few rentals too. So, landbanking was his way.

My parents - both in the same .profession, well paid. Relatives to my father family well known who own a certain department store, we have an established family trust philanthropic business. Pretty sure the initial forebears started with a barrow.

Presently not rich but never wanted for anything and never had any debt. I dont appear frankly am not keen to inherit given that would mean the olds would be gone.

Not rich here either but we are comfortable due to not living beyond our means - not scrimping either though

DH has been out of work for 12 months but put took out mortgage insurance and CC insurance prior to his redundancy so the house is safe for now - he has 2 interviews next week so please keep everything crossed for him - its heartbreaking to watch him trawl the internet job sites and apply for hundreds of jobs with nothing coming up

I am self employed and also ebay like a crazy woman to keep the money coming in - I buy stuff at car boot sales to sell on ebay and have kept things ticking over - and before anybody asks, I am a registered business and I do pay the taxman

my father is very well off, as in millions, he made his money in a number of ways. One thing I've always noticed about him is he would go back into a shop if he was shortchanged 10p! On a weekly basis he might have£20 in his pocket, and usually has still some out of that by Friday. His car,fuel bills etc are all paid from the bank but he does nor fritter money on say a cup of coffee, he just can't see the point think watching the pennies is the key

There are a few (legal) paths to being wealthy.

1. Top-drawer education then very hard work leading to equity partnership etc.

1. Having a genius idea before anyone else (eg inventing eBay).

1. Being self-employed and working every hour God sends. It's a cliche because it's true, but the people who own our corner shop are clearly well-off, because it's never closed, it stocks everything you could conceivably run out of, and they're lovely people who know everyone in the neighbourhood and coo at babies. Self-employment is the key, though - if you're essentially unskilled (or even moderately skilled) there's no point slaving away while someone else sits on their arse in Barbados and skims the cream. I know agency cleaners who work ridiculous hours but their earnings are always going to be capped.

The other big factor is living within your means. I have noticed time and again that the rich people I know are very enthusiastic about kitting their kids out from car boot sales, mismatched furniture and running old bangers, whereas the poorer ones are often sniffy about secondhand stuff.

I think, unless you are a banker, you rarely get rich working for somebody else. A regular wage gives security but rarely the chance to make millions.

DH and I are comfortable (and as Xenia so rightly said are blessed with happy healthy family) but have friends who are undoubtedly rich through running their own businesses. It needs a lot of commitment though and they have often paid for the financial success in terms of their health, marriages and happiness

The counterpoint to being self-employed is that all the risk falls on you, of course. Risk is always priced in; that's the way capitalism works.

DH is self-employed and has had years in which he earned very little. You just have to make sure that you make enough in good years to cover the bad ones.

I think that you can become comfortable by saving hard from a young age (compund interest and all that) but it'll take a long time to become 'rich' this way without taking some risks.

define rich?

I live in hope, my latest venture is a disaster.

I think you need to be lucky as well as work hard

well we are comfortably off, rich even by most people's standards, but we could not afford to send 3 kids to private school. We (mostly) own a house in zone 2 in london and have a car and always have enough money for food, clothes etc and a few treats. we go on holiday 2ce a year but usually in the UK to somewhere like centreparcs. My advice would be:

1. spend as little as possible. go on a budgeting course, like CAP. save everything you can

2. earn as much as possible. for us, this has meant: good GCSEs, good A levels, good degrees, professional qualifications then working 50+ hours a week in either a good profession (accountancy) or for your own business.

3. invest spare money where/when you can. invest diversely and in high risk things - well high risk for what you can stand to lose, and medium or low risk for what you can't.

4. remember true wealth is really in your family, friends and health

5. don't associate with rich people who will raise your aspirations for quality of life. be happy with "normal" friends and if you are more financially stable you will appreciate it more. remember most super rich people are actually not happy. if you only have a 60 ft yatch and your friends all have 100ft yatchs you will feel poor!

6. ultimately work out what you want and why you want it. having money is not an end in itself. a good quality education for your children, the ability to live somewhere with particular features (e.g. garden, countryside, in village community etc), or the ability to have enough to eat - these are the things you might really want.

7. remember money is always just a number. a financial crash, an economic depression, hyperinflation - many things can make your money disappear very quickly. its always best to have a live business that can continue to make value rather than a pot of savings that can devalue as inflation comes.

those are just some random thoughts from me after a few drinks!

lastly it always helps to have inherited some money. i'm not ashamed to say my parents helped me iwth the deposit on my first house. at the time i could not have bought a house without their help. 5 years later i sold up and moved to london and the proceeds gave me a deposit on the house i live in now. if I hadn't been given a relatively modest amount 15 years ago, I would still be renting - about the same cost month on month but a cost that goes on for the rest of your life instead of for x number of years.

ok, have had too much to drink now so time for bed.

good luck on getting rich but please remember its not the be all and end all. happiness is much more to do with good friends, family and emotional security than money.

I also think you need a bit of luck.

We were relatively well off but the recession and dh's ill-health has left us dirt poor.

bethelbeth - Xenia is a solicitor. She is very successful and well-known in her field.

One of my DM's friends worked as part-time for an insurance company before selling on ebay. last i heard of her, she was spending 15k a month at a wholesale warehouse, making it back plus 30k a month, every month. she employs 5 people, including her own DM. that was a couple of years ago, and i presume she is still going. she only had herself and her young DS to provide for so she was pretty well off in the end!

I think it is wise to namechange for this.

Leg up from parents, good education, hard work, sound investments, luck.

For my 18th birthday my parents bought me shares as I've always been interested in the world of finance (I read every book by and about Warren Buffet by the time I was 20). I have a degree in maths and worked in the city. Invested wisely. Dh's trust fund helped pay for our first flat. It was a bit of dump but in a very lovely area. We renovated and sold it for a profit a few years later. We married, and I left job to start family. Was not comfortable not earning my own money so set up my own trading account from which I still receive a healthy income (I use the Ben Graham method most of the time). We have used some of our money to buy plots in the UK and abroad and either build on them or sell them on for a profit. We also own a farm.

Dh worked in the city and built up a fab reputation, he later founded a hedge fund. He loves his job, his sector is interesting. He also financed a very well known US band when they were starting out, he (and they) are doing very well.

My mentor told me these things:

1. Never risk what you cannot afford to lose
2. Be bold and take risks
3. Never let greed overcome fear
4. Always leave 10% for the next person
5. Buy low, sell high
6. Create opportunities/luck

I am still young and would like to have 3 or 4 dc (we have 1ds and I'm pg with another). Doing what I am doing now will allow me to fulfil that without feeling that I'm missing out.

So in a nut shell, find something you enjoy and learn it well.

Dh and I are only comfortable, but my parents are rich (think 2 houses, 3 nice cars, no money worries at all).

They both left school at 15. My dad was a panel beater, my mum a typist. My dad was very driven, he came from an extremely poor background but he put himself through tech college whilst on an apprenticeship.

Anyway, he worked hard and became the foreman and then moved into a job doing sales. Did well and was comfortable. Then he was made redundant in 1981 as the company went bust.

He then set up his own business and just worked and worked and worked, selling a product around the country. Worked 7 days a week, would drive from Sussex to Newcastle and back to save on hotels. Stayed with friends, watched every penny.

Over the years the business did well through sheer hard work and not taking on any risky debt. They did everything in the living room and the garage for years before buying a factory in about 1995. Expanded worldwide and the rest is history really.

They are also careful to look for good deals and they never waste money. They bought their home in 1984 and have stayed there ever since, not upsizing for no reason (to be fair it is a lovely cottage). They are very very generous to the family (they paid my uncle's mortgage off when he got cancer etc but they don't throw money around).

My dad is an inspiration to me and I wish I could do what he did but I am far too chicken to do it myself!

I married well.

But seriously, we worked like buggery in the early years before having DS1 and lived really really cheaply, lots and lots of overtime etc.

Made paying off the mortgage no. 1 priority and I didn't get pregnant until we had it down to very very manageable.

We have also benefitted from the house price increase in that our house has doubled in value over the years (whilst obviously the mortgage has been going down).

DH makes an appalling amount of money for pushing the right buttons in the right sequence as far as I can see.

I also don't 'waste' money, I enjoy spending it sometimes but I don't like to hand it over unless I am getting my money's worth, so I don't buy coffee/bottles of water/bits and pieces. For every discretionary purchase I treble the amount in my head. So a $2.50 cup of coffee really costs me $7.50 if I take into account the interest I will have to pay on that $2.50 via the mortgage IYSWIM.

We may never be 'rich rich' because we won't take any real risks (I don't feel that it is appropriate for us with two small children to consider), but we should be comfortably well off for the rest of our lives and be able to support our children well through to adulthood. But shit happens, so who knows?

"I also don't 'waste' money, I enjoy spending it sometimes but I don't like to hand it over unless I am getting my money's worth, so I don't buy coffee/bottles of water/bits and pieces. For every discretionary purchase I treble the amount in my head. So a $2.50 cup of coffee really costs me $7.50 if I take into account the interest I will have to pay on that $2.50 via the mortgage IYSWIM."

Morloth, I love that idea - I think I might have to steal it!

I need to get better at that. We don't make much, but we don't need much, and I know we could save more if I were careful.

:( Annie, can I help?

Shit Annie, that's bad! :(
can we offer any practical help at all?

We are comfortable but not rich; but I think all of the important things have been covered.

Looking after the pennies so the pounds will look after themselves is a foundation to saving (or at least not recklessly spending) money; thereafter, hard work and a good modicum of luck are required. Getting that great idea is a help as well!

Pssht, I knew about it already. I didn't mean a handout necessarily, just a...brainstorming session or something. I desperately need to save/make more money too, we should trade tips or something.