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?

We paid on credit card and then instantly paid of the credit card. Whack in health insurance and the risk is very low.

Definitely worth £1500.

HMRC defines an individual, that is an individual NOT a household income of 200 k or more, and/or net asset wealth of over £2 million in the last three years. So it’s on an individual tax payer basis.

what I have learnt today is that I am wealthy and one of the 700 k wealthy people in the U.K.....yeah - go me.

Thanks OP - maybe I shall pop to the kinds road and treat self later for being one of the wealthy. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I think investments and a pension are a type of saving. Or do you mean on immediate access to funds?

what would you count and stocks and shares ISA as? Savings or investments?

I feel like this thread would be a lot shorter if it were titled, “AIBU to think that I do not need a Dave Ramsey style emergency fund due to my individual circumstances?”

Having a pension that you can retire on tomorrow is savings, as is having investments. Wealth is having accrued money so if your salary stopped tomorrow you'd still be able to live comfortably. If you have a high income that you spend each month (and investing, paying into pensions or other savings accounts do not count as spending) then you are not wealthy.

I have never met a wealthy person who would admit to using an airfryer.

Because the interest is then declarable
on self assessment and becomes a complete pain, for the sake of hardly any money. It wouldn’t be tax free. The tax free allowance is long gone.

The thing is… no one likes to think about bad things happening.
Some people will take out insurance and then merrily assume they’ll never need it or that it’s actually adequate.
Most people, wealthy or not, can cope with maybe one unexpected ‘bad’ thing at a time.
The real issue arises when more than one thing happens - then things really do fall apart.

@DownByTheLakes

It is probably not worth the hassle moving small amounts of money around .
Only the first £500 of interest is tax free to a higher rate tax Payer.
I would not consider myself wealthy but I usually only move any excess money once a month or possibly every other month.
Time is money, I don't want to fret about my bank balance, there are other things to worry about.

'We paid on credit card and then instantly paid of the credit card. Whack in health insurance and the risk is very low.

Definitely worth £1500.'

But if you'd paid on credit card and out the money you used to pay off the credit card in savings so you paid it on the due date rather than early, you would have earned interest on that £1500. Even at 2% that's a couple of coffees while you wait at the hospital, or some parking or even a donation to GOSH.

This.

Reminds me of a woman I met saying she doesn't believe in having savings, she just believes in living for the day. When pushed, it turned out she had substantial assets she could cash in if needed. Another saying she doesn't believe you should pay into a pension as you should just live for the day and you might day before your retire. Turns out her husband was set to inherit a massive asset that would provide their pensions.

So the question is really, why do wealthy people pretend they don't have 'savings' or financial security when actually they do?

I don't get it.

I wonder if this is a weird kind of reverse where the OP has realised that they have no "savings" and is panicking, her profligate husband has spun her some tale going "no it's fine, this is how all wealthy people live, dear, it's because we've made it!" and she's going to show him this thread and try to persuade him to open an ISA

So we both sit their individually then ironically as husband earns and the assets are largely mine.

Although married so not really.

To me it’s seeming like the OP/her DH have had large inheritances, have good base salaries and bonuses. Instead of a lot of discretionary spending, they have opted to use left-over money for buying property and investing and maybe paid off their mortgage.

So if their salaried income were to end, they would still have their home and be able to afford day to day expenses. We don’t know what age she is but I would imagine if this were to happen to a couple in their 50’s, it would be less impactful than to a couple in their 30’s as they’ve had more time to build up all this supposed wealth.

So wealthy that free money, ie the interest is beneath her. Interest on money sitting in a bank
account is only for the little people darling.

This OP is cracking me up - who forgoes free money?

Unless op and her husband are both additional rate tax payers, she would get some tax free interest. It's either £1000 or £500 before having to do a tax return.

But the op is probably too wealthy to care about an extra £500...

Oh no, I'm such a stuck record - this is what I meant by Premium Bonds, the prizes are tax free and don't go on your self assessment. Which is why I put my excess cash in them. Most months I win about £100, sometimes more and sometimes less. I would call it savings. And I think it's smarter than leaving that extra in a current account.

Am hoping that OP uses spell check at work for her ( or her husbands ) £250 k pm salary.

Oh no, donating to GOSH is not for the likes of her that pays lots of tax.....but for the poor people.

Op, are you really, absolutely 100% sure he isn't hiding money from you?

sorry

I don’t want to build up a credit card debt. We use the credit cards for added security when making purchases. It has to be paid off
for the next purchase.

Also - that interest would be taxable.

And - we do make charitable donations.

Do you honestly think if I was going to worry about a bit of money her or there it would be in a situation like this? Don’t be absurd.

😂😂😂

You win!

Honestly, this thread is so cringe-worthy now.

“You’re not wealthy. I’m wealthy.”

“£1000 to spend in an outlet is nothing.”

”You think [x amount of money] is a lot?!”

I work in a private school with lots of rich kids and they would be mortified to be involved in a conversation like this. Have some class!

so instead of keeping your excess liquidity in a nominated account you keep it as working balance in your current account. We all have got that now.

And emotionally speaking you don't worry about unexpected expenses as they will be a) usually covered by the working balance
b) Not that important and you don't need them - like a new car, you could just choose not to have it
c) if more costly and unavoidable, covered by a draw down from your deep investments.

Can you not see why we all think you are being snobby OP? You think we don't understand that this is what you're doing. It's crystal clear. But you are wilfully misreading others on different threads who say "Oh you need an emergency pot!" Savings/emergency pot there means the same thing as a) and c) above. You absolute dimwit.

Plus we are raising another point which is that you seem surprisingly illiquid and can't imagine anything might cause this to be a problem. Where do you think the advice to remain to some extent liquid comes from?

NB we are also HNWI...fwiw

That made me laugh! This is for sure one of the funniest threads on mumsnet ever!