AIBU to think most people have no idea how wealthy people live their lives?

[AnneValentine]

Just that really off the back of a lot of threads but most recently one where multiple people were adamant that the only way it’s possible to have no savings if you have salaries of £200k plus unless one of the couple is squirrelling savings.

Followed up with how do they pay for a broken down car with savings? Hasn’t even dawned on them that people on those salaries don’t have cars that are breaking down.

Is it so hard to believe that money literally eliminates money worries? That you can create a level of security that means savings and such aren’t needed?

So op doesn't have 'emergency' savings but has enough money swishing around that it lives in a current account and will be spent over a few months but as it's in a current account it isn't savings.

Investments are separate.

We do the same, but put unspent money which is likely to be used with a month or two into a bonus savings account each month so we get interest on it until we need to spend it. This covers holidays / home improvements etc.

Same money, just we call it 'savings' and earn interest on it.

I grew up living on the same road as a very wealthy family (mum and dad scraped buying a less amazing property at just the right time, otherwise they would have had to be very wealthy too).

Anyway, we could tell when the husband was away for work as the housekeeper's car would be in the drive all the time - she'd stay over to keep the wife company - and the wife would fly from CI to UK every few weeks to get her hair done by a particular hairdresser at a London salon.

Do you do that, OP?

I think it’s unreasonable for people to understand yeah. I’ve never been wealthy and I will never be wealthy, so I have zero concept what it’s like to be so.

It’s unreasonable to expect someone to understand something they’ve never experienced, of course it’s.

If you're not spending all of your paycheque each month and therefore have money left over/building up slowly in your current account, then you have cash savings. It's up to you if you want to leave it there rather than putting it in an account that'll make you more money, but that's just financial idiocy, not a lifestyle choice made by the wealthy.

decent investments with return

SAVINGS, you mean?

This thread is bonkers. 😂

So you have no surplus at the end of the month? Because that's all savings are. It doesn't need to be in a savings account. It's just an excess in your account that you generally don't spend.

If so, so you being in 10k a month and spend it, what happens when you have an unplanned accident and you need ready access to £200?

If you're spending all 10k what happens when the private school fees go up?

Doesn't matter if you're earning 1k a month or 10k a month, if you spend it all every month, you're opening yourself up to problems.

So the sensible wealthy do have savings, even if you don't. Perhaps it's you who doesn't understand how everyone else lives

I feel like the OP is making a pretty pointless distinction and there's a lot of tangents in the thread.

There's the Vimes Boots theory she's exemplifying in that if you can afford to buy expensive, high quality, up to date stuff then it is far less likely to need fixing or replacing. That's true.

There's an element of complacency that disasters will never strike - ok, maybe her husband is magically redundancy-proof but the assertion that high earners don't ever get sacked but sack other people is not universally true. And other terrible things can happen.

It's absolutely true that wealth inequality in this country means people are living utterly unimaginable and incomprehensible lives to others at all intervals along the scale.

But fundamentally, I think the point of savings is that you can pay for what you need and if an unusual expense comes up you can cover it. Whether that's by just having thousands in your current account or thousands in a cash ISA, I don't feel like there's an especially meaningful difference. I put money aside in Premium Bonds to pay my kid's school fees every term. I could just keep that cash sitting in my current account for three months and then pay - would that make it 'not savings' but moving it into PB makes it savings? I don't see a distinction. Except that of course financial institutions can collapse and therefore I make sure not to have more than £85k with any one provider so that my money is covered if a bank goes under - so spreading it between PB, ISAs, pension and investments makes sense to me. I wouldn't qualify as wealthy by the definitions on this thread, but I'm obviously leading a life pretty different to people struggling in a cost of living crisis. I don’t pride myself on that or consider myself better than them but there’s a real current of superiority and mocking of others in the OP's posts which I don't like. However, I don't have as much as £13k coming in per month so perhaps I just can't understand.

Yes, that's exactly what people living month to month do 😅😅

You just wanted to post that you have £13k a month coming in - here's your medal 🏅

The Disney holiday was £20k and we can afford it. What’s the difference between us saving to pay for it and just paying for it?

What other significant purchases do you think we would need to make?

Also there is a distinct difference between saving for a luxury item and having savings for a rainy day which is what I’m talking about.

How do you pay for your investments if you haven’t saved your money op ?

Pensions and investments are savings. So they do they have savings which they rely upon.

No they are bored and having delusions of grandeur. I would imagine people who earn (as opposed to get paid from whatever sources) that amount of wonga are seriously sorted and don't need to come on Mumsnet to goad other people and have a laugh.

I know I could just scroll by, but I have absolutely no idea wtf your point is.

No, this is clearly fantasy. I work with wealthy people. They have significant savings and investments, spread across multiple platforms. Much of the financial services industry wouldn't exist if OP's ridiculous posts were an accurate representation. Only people who have high incomes but still operate in the way OP describes are criminals who can't keep money in regulated places - and even they would have reserves of cash, gold, etc.

I am so confused by OP. All the wealthy people I know appear to have diversified portfolios that I’m sure usually include savings (they don’t tend to tell me details of how they organize their finances). I’m also not sure why OP feels the need to share so much detail on her personal financial situation to justify such an incoherent/convoluted argument. So strange but maybe I’m missing the point?

I think most people just don't give a shit.

It's true what people say about wealth not buying class. It's very crass to start such a goady boastful thread. Bit cringe really and makes me wonder if it's all bs.

Is this a real question? You think people save up money and then invest it? As opposed to just invest it?

@AnneValentine

The Disney holiday was £20k and we can afford it.

scratch my comment above - now I completely understand the point of your post. Bored and fancied a bit of bragging.

Again - we have investments. I’m talking about a pot of saving that we must have to pay for a broken boiler. Or car. Or holiday.

Everyone should have some cash on deposit. I earn £250k plus stocks and bonus but as other posters have said even C Suite people get fired or pushed. It's happened to me three times in three years. Most of the time I have to fight for my notice and other pay. I do work in start ups and overseas companies so the risks are high. I have a large mortgage and good equity but no other debit. I have art and jewellery if I needed money but let me tell you pawnbrokers and auction houses smell despatate!
I keep three months mortgage money in a traditional savings account. I don't buy cars on tick and I support our DD who is doing a very long degree. I also have a worsening disability that has seen me unemployed for a year. Not good if you are the main bread winner. Just be careful op. In less you have plenty of assets you are not wealthy. Well paid or comfortable but not rich. That's family wealth or multi millionaire catorgory.

At first I thought this was Xenia posting under a new username.

But to be fair to Xenia, she had a certain kind of strange charm if you squinted hard enough.

Working in HR I can tell you right now that you are incorrect. Even with payouts the biggest cost cuts come with the biggest salaries. It’s harder for them to get another job at that level too.

She is also much more coherent

But you have the cash to cover this stuff. How is it different because it lives in your current account to if you moved it across to a savings account? The point is - you have enough money that you can cover an unusual expense. Some people handle that by putting their excess cash into a separate account. You handle it by leaving that cash where it is. I don't feel like that's a meaningful distinction.

Yep.