To wish I was rich?

[antelopevalley]

Not mega-rich. But to own an ordinary house and have half a million in the bank rich.
I have no family beyond DP and the kids. It would be so lovely to have a really good safety net, and to choose not to work when life is tough.

@FemmeNatal

I don't think that is what anyone is saying what they are saying is that you want your kids to go into the world with their eyes wide open!

A realistic view of the world.

I tell my kids that they will have to work harder at school that many of their peers, and be mindful of their career choices as they will not have a large inheritance, help to buy a flat when they are older.

Yes if my daughter says she wants to rich, I tell her that one of the easiest route (from what I have seen) is to do well at school and try to do something not glamorous, finance related etc... Start young, and keep going, apply for opportunities don't take rejection personally.

If she wants more freedom, learn something (ideally difficult and boring) that not everyone can do that is in high demand..

But that in itself is a privilege- that I live in a city and can see several routes to wealth. That I am giving her this advice.

Where the standard tabloid media advice everyone has an equal chance, if you just 'dream' hard enough. It is unrealistic. Route to a lot of shame, credit card debt and misery.

MaybeIWillFuckOffThen But you literally just said in your post above that you could earn more but don't want to work that hard

Seperate issue. A care worker works fucking hard but they don't make as much money as a mid-level office worker. I once had a job proofreading applications and got paid £25kpa - for being able to read and spell. On my arse. All day. Whereas there are social workers on less than that having to read and see things that would live in my nightmares for years, working all the hours god sends and still being called negligent, on less money than that. Or you have people like the hon Rees Mogg who is making more money by the half hour than he will ever "earn" as an MP from investments his family made before he was even born (happily for him protected from tax in various offshore accounts). Is he working harder than an HCA?

You are twisting the words of those that you disagree with here to argue against a point that no-one was making.

It’s not about how physically hard the work is, or just about how many hours you do, the contention is that there is a route to earn more with the right training, gaining of skills, and with putting in the effort in the right direction.

No-one is claiming that a labourer on a construction site should earn more than a skilled surgeons just because their job is physically more demanding.

Everyone could always make more money. I could work three jobs, 110 hours a week and never see my children at all. I would get more money even if the jobs were minimum wage. But no one would do that for minimum wage unless they really had to.

I’ve seen many people using it as a real-world example, and no, it wasn’t being used as a metaphor, it was being used as an example. I understand that you think it’s funny to try to make fun of the English of someone for whom it’s not a first language, but it isn’t, it’s just crass.

Oh come off it how on earth would I know what your first language is. Your English on this thread is perfect as I'm sure you know. I'm not psychic.

And I'm sorry but it is a metaphor. It clearly is if you read the book. Because obviously it is not a like for like comparison. But even if it was your e.g. isn't fair because it's not like for like. The difference would be say a pair of Docs (£100+, last forever) vs a pair of the weird plastic boots you can buy for a tenner in Sainsbury's and last you 6 months if you're lucky. He was a policeman, not a style maven. No-one's saying high-fashion office shoes hold-up better than any given work boot.

Sorry that should have said 'obviously it's not a like for like comparison with the real world because it's a pseudo-medieval magical reality with a made-up currency'.

I’m French, hence my user name which is being used to mean “Born Woman”, while being a play on “Femme fatale.”

No-one is claiming that a labourer on a construction site should earn more than a skilled surgeons just because their job is physically more demanding.

maybe not. But if i had a skilled surgeon for a daughter, I wouldn't tell her she is working harder than a labourer on a construction site. Or indeed working harder than the person who comes in after she's finished and mops the blood off the floor and autoclaves her instruments. What I SAID was

"just because someone has more money than you doesn't necessarily mean they worked harder for it".

I find it hard to see what anyone has to disagree with there.

I’m French, hence my user name which is being used to mean “Born Woman”, while being a play on “Femme fatale.”

Hilarious. But not something I'd know just from your username. There's someone on here called Nanny Ogg and I'm pretty sure it's not actually her.

If you have many debts, you might find it useful to consolidate them. My flatmate did that and instead of paying several amounts here and there, she started paying just one amount which was smaller than the initial ones put together.

Money doesn't bring happiness or common sense but I wouldn't mind being an unhappy fool sipping champagne and eating good chocolate, while waiting for sb else to do the cooking, sitting in my fancy schmancy massage chair (imported from SK)! Though, it seems a husband could do the same job!

No one with a modicum of intelligence, who has genuinely gone from rags to riches could possibly believe that its something open to everyone. Those that have know what it really takes.
You can't have grown up in a disadvantaged community, lived alongside the people there, and harbour the belief that anyone with 'a plan' who works hard can become rich.
You can't have even a rudimentary knowledge of economics, and certainly not sufficient to suceed in business, and genuinely believe that wealth is an option for most people. How can it be? Who would do the low paid work?
So either some people very very stupid, are overplaying the humble nature of their own beginnings or are 'exaggerating' their current success. Either way, they are making fools of themselves and losing more credibility with every post.

I've been poor. We are now "comfortable" money-wise but I no longer have good health having developed a chronic illness about 6/7 years ago. Was definitely much happier when I was poor and had relatively good health. If I could swap one for the other I definitely would. When people say you don't have anything without your health they are right.

The person working on the construction site may be working harder, and may of worked just as hard to get that job.

You have to be physically fit, to work on a construction site, it is very demanding.

Also being a highly skilled surgeon is incredibly competitive. Not everyone who works hard will get to be a doctor. Not every doctor who works hard will get to be a highly skilled surgeon.

Being a surgeon requires being innately intelligent, having an excellent education, being emotionally resilient as well as working hard.!

Not everyone will have the emotional resilience, great education or intelligence to do such a role however hard they work towards that goal!

@ToldItToTheBees do not consolidate your debts without advice from someone like CAB or Step Change. Lots of people do this to make things easier and find themselves in worse problems.

@too people who are poor are more likely to have poor health as they get older than well-off people.

But again, no-one is claiming any different, or disagreeing. Some low-value jobs are incredibly hard work, some high-value ones involve sitting in a comfortable seat directing others.

But again, no-one is claiming any different, or disagreeing. Some low-value jobs are incredibly hard work, some high-value ones involve sitting in a comfortable seat directing others.

@FatCatSkinnyRat took issue with what I said and I was explaining to her. Not quite sure where you got involved tbh. Or why.

I think it's easy to argue between yourselves and difficult to understand others backgrounds from a few lines on the internet.

True example (me). Currently earn £75k ish. Very respectable nice house etc.

I would say I had an underprivileged upbringing: Homeless as a child, dad in prison, zero money, food banks and clothes banks were normal. 1 holiday to butlins in my whole childhood (paid for my a random uncle). I studied for my a levels sat in a skip on a council estate using textbooks stolen from Waterstones. Shoplifting was how I had anything beyond the most basic of food & clothing.

What hidden privilege helped me ..? Well I am white, not disabled, healthy, witty, intelligent. Those are all things I cannot control but absolutely helped me raise above the expectations for someone of my ilk.

Real world example -

I spent £40 on a pair of boots. they lasted one winter and were beyond repair and really hurt my feet.

I spent £150 on a pair of boots. I've had them about about £15 years and have spent £20 getting them resoled once. They still look great and are comfortable.

So, £170 over 15 years if you can afford £150 upfront. Or £600 if you have to buy the £40 boots every year...

I’d love a ‘small’ lottery win! I’d happily never work for an employer another single day in my life and use my time investing my win in shares (to grow the put), give my child all educational opportunities and activities she wants, go on multiple holidays, see my family more often and have a larger home (and a holiday home).

bliss!

It sounds like you and I have a lot in common. I also come from poverty, worked, did what I was supposed to, passed the exams, looked for something to do with them and found something achievable for me that paid ok. Then had the rug pulled from under me. Had to watch while rising inflation in housing and minimum wage made all of my work meaningless. Sidestepped, tried again, same thing. Officially retrained, found myself with no other really open opportunities other than education which is a godawful employment sector, and one in which I no longer believe. It’s done nothing for me; most people I know did better without trying, just living off their relatives which I don’t have, or simply by being older and being able to access housing before that went out of reach.

The reality is the world has changed and is changing. We are in the middle of a highly turbulent industrial revolution and an even more turbulent economic revolution. I really feel that people don’t realise how much change it’s had! Just 20 years ago the idea of half a million in the bank being ‘reasonable’ wouldn’t exit - half a million would be wealth beyond dreams! A debt of a thousand pounds was a huge event, now we’re told 50k debt is fully acceptable.

Britain is not the same country I was born into. All that matters in this new version is that you come from the right family with practical and informational support, and money. All the things we never had op. Things need to change so much. There needs to be continual lifelong education and opportunities open throughout our lives now to adjust - all the things Blair talked of while making damn sure he put them out of reach for all.

The poster claiming we should all just become investment bankers and we can all do that was pathetic even by Britain’s standards of duplicity.

@Dontwantanicknamethanks Migrants are those with the money and personal resources to emigrate. Most give their kids a lot of support to improve their lives.