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 do.

But how do you think he gets the information? I’m not transferring money between bank accounts a few times a month for the sake of a couple of quid!

But could she stop by the Mall at Millenia and pop into the Tag Heur/Bretling/Bvlgari for a new watch and jewellery for herself and her DH, then onto Chanel for a bag and maybe a pair of shoes. On to St Laurent for more treats, then to Louis Vuitton where she could at the least buy a shawl. On to Hermes for more treats. Maybe a few pieces from Tiffany for her children.

All without a second thought or glance at her bank balance afterwards.

we would put money aside in advance to cover that. Yes SAVE for a specific thing if we needed to.

Erm ..so you DO have savings. The fact that they are for a specific purpose does not mean they are not savings or they are more superior savings than 'Disney trip/boiler breakdown' savings.

It doesn’t matter to me.

I was more curious why people think you hit top 1% in this country and still think you need savings for a broken boiler.

I honestly think most people match their outgoings to their incomings, so you don’t necessarily feel well off even if you are.

We are a high income family but we still have to watch the pennies each month, and if we have a run of bad luck (car trouble + boiler trouble + big payment for something), we can quite quickly feel pretty stressed. We have savings in pensions and various places, but I feel like if we needed to access these quickly, we’d be on a downward spiral to not being very comfortable anymore! We’re both in our 30s and had children in our 20s so haven’t had many years yet of feeling back on track with our finances; maybe ten more years and I’ll feel differently.

If the majority of your income is PAYE then the cost of an accountant isn’t worth it. DH and I switch in and out of using one depending on circumstances.

Edited as of course the OP has one.

im in the category you describe - the 1 percent, and I still like to have a cash pot for those precise events that you describe. I think you're also saying the same thing? We dont spend what we earn each month. Whether it's in a current account or index linked savings, it's all the same right?!

If you are genuinely wealthy you don’t worry about being made redundant or not affording school fees 🤣
This is what the OP means.
For the truly wealthy ‘working’ isn’t needed. The wealthiest people I know have just bought a 11 mil house for their family of 4 (SE) That is just a fraction of their assets.

We take the point that you don’t need an emergency pot for your boiler OP, but that’s because you’ve got insurance on it, just like the rest of us plebs 😂

this Is too funny.....1 k at the outlets 🤣

Of course things can fail. But no amount of savings is going to solve that.

If an investment or employment failed then having the cash to keep yourself solvent until that was solved is going to solve that.

we don’t prioritise savings

Are you going to tell a fellow wealthy person (hi, me – you can tell me), that they are wrong to prioritise liquid savings? And if so, why?

Why does it bother you that you don’t meet some poster’s definition of ‘wealthy’?

Why would it be a few times a month? At the end of each month, I stick what's left in my current account in my premium bonds. One transaction. I win a nice little something (that is not taxable amd doesn't need declaring, however much it is). The month I pay school fees or book a holiday, either I've nothing leftover so don't move any to PB or else I take what I need out of PB instead of moving money into them. Either way it's one transaction a month, zero admin, a small return that is fun to have and is separate and distinct from pensions and investments.

How much do you earn and how much does your husband earn? Just being nosy.

It is worth it for us - the majority of husbands income is PAYE but there are other earnings and we have two trust accounts set up. We don’t just use it for tax returns.

"I was more curious why people think you hit top 1% in this country and still think you need savings for a broken boiler."

I know. When we hit the '1%' it was British Gas Homecare cover all the way. We like to live it large.

I have noticed that OP is far less engaged with the questions of the other ‘wealthy’ people on this thread. She either selectively answers questions or doesn’t engaged with them at all.

How do I tell the difference between them?

Sending over an annual interest statement from a savings account is hardly difficult. Either this is a windup or you have NO idea how to manage money.

"So if someone lives in a 7 figure house, mortgage comfortably being paid off, decent investments with return, two pensions in place that they could arguably retire on now by some standards, living a very decent quality of life you wouldn’t consider them wealthy because they don’t have a couple of grand in savings? What do you think they need that savings for? This is what intrigues me. How much savings should they have and what’s it for?"

A couple of grand is not savings! It's for adequate cash flow for day to day living.

A rental portfolio requires a separate liquid pot for any replacements such s new boilers , new roof or kitchen /bathroom refit . £20k would generally be set aside for repairs and renewals in an interest paying account but certainly not considered savings.

If you mean this comment I’ve literally no idea what you’re asking me. You appear to just be insulting me and resorting to ableist comments to boot.

Surely savings is just money that you don’t spend?

You my dear are simply living within your means. You choose to spend £1,000 in outlets so you have money left in the bank to cover any unexpected expenses, such as a boiler repair. Another person on the same salary might decide to have a little wilder spending spree and a more luxurious holiday and think oh, shit when if unexpected bill arrived. If they lived more frugally like YOU do, they wouldn’t have an oops moment.

I had noticed that myself!

BTW for people who don’t live in stupidly expensive parts of the country a 7 figure house in London is pretty normal and not necessarily anything flash. There are plenty of semi detached and terraced houses that cost well over £1m these days.

(Starts saving for DC in an actual savings pot 😂😂)

Well, that depends doesn't it?

Even if you are on PAYE some people don't have the time or the wherewithall to do a tax return, or would just rather pay someone to do it for them.

As we have established though, you do have savings. So... yeah.