To ask if you're wealthy, how did you acquire your wealth?

[PinataHeeHaw]

I'm sat here in the early hours looking at luxury Spanish villas, wondering how I've never got rich.

Comfortable but wealthy by many people's estimation. Financial gift from parents and invested well as young adults, degree educated and high earning profession.

Honestly think from working with this age group that having part time jobs from about y11 is one of the greatest life lessons for these kids. The highest achiever academically I’ve worked with, now at Oxford and like top of the bunch there even, worked at a chippy through y11 and sixth form and was an absolute top lad with such a good work ethic

so my DH is a very high earner, but I would be wealthy on my own without family wealth, and as a single parent, due to the business I set up before meeting him. I have been entrepreneurial in the context of my profession - so not salaried - and have done very well. You can’t be a wage slave and expect to be wealthy. Of course, the reality too is that being in a good relationship helps people to accumulate wealth as there is someone doing bits behind the scene, whether it’s looking after the children or running a house

@Cucythere are very real reasons why single parents are trapped in low paid jobs which no amount of ‘work ethic’ can overcome. So much of the bravado of well off people is largely circumstantial. Could you have made it up the ladder if you had a child finishing after school club at 5pm each night? Could you have done a second degree or retrained in something lucrative when UC these days actively discourages further education by working out student loans £ for £ rather than 45p per £ for those working?

A combination of factors most of which meant going without for years when we were younger.

I got on the housing ladder very young - I bought my own flat and worked 2 jobs to pay the mortgage. I couldn't afford a phone, a washing machine, a car, a cooker or even a wardrobe but it paid off in the end

DH salary sacrificed for over 20 years to acquire notional shares in the private company he worked for and then got over a million pounds when the company was bought out. The salary sacrifice meant we had to live very frugally when DC were small, second hand clothes for them and us, no holidays etc but it all worked out well

The absolute miracle of compound interest. We overpaid our monthly mortgage as often as we could, sometimes by only £20 a month, sometimes by a lot more. It lead to us being mortgage free by our mid forties. Similarly, we paid into pension schemes from age 22 which have accrued in value so I have private pensions that give me a solid income now. DP hasn't retired yet because he loves his work but he has a very healthy pension fund for when the time comes.

We are in our sixties now and set up for life. We can afford all the treats (theatre and travel for me, gigs and football matches for him) we didn't have when we were younger and appreciate them so much. We both inherited money when our DPs died and were in the happy position of being able to able to pass most of it on to our DC and my niece and nephew because we didn't need it.

I agree that having supportive parents when you are young who enable you to focus on study and not working all hours in part time jobs makes all the difference. I also made sure my DD didn't need to spend (waste) her time on part time working whilst studying at uni. All her focus could go on her studies. It paid off.

@Novotelchok , yes I could but outright and many times over.

Do you KNOW that about their backgrounds? People always assume my DH is privately school educated, including people he’s worked with for 20 years, but in fact he has a very working class upbringing having lived on a sink estate and having been to one of the worst schools in the country

My friend is wealthy - she owns a £1.5million flat outright and has about half that in the bank. She works as an economist and is fluent in about 5 languages.

She is also an only child, orphaned at 10 and shipped off to various boarding schools around Europe from the age of 13. She inherited all her wealth, but would give anything to have her parents with her.

I totally agree with this, nobody is promised tomorrow so enjoy life whilst you’re healthy and make plenty of wonderful memories.

I’m not wealthy. But I’ve worked with clients who are, and in the vast majority of cases it’s inherited. Either an ancestor was nobility and had lands or titles of some kind granted by royalty. Or a relative 3-4 generations back started a business and did well, and their descendants inherited and grew the business. A very small number have made their own money by being extremely lucky (yes they’ve also worked hard but they’ve been lucky to get rich, because many people work hard but don’t get rich from it).

I think this is right but only to a degree. It’s not just about working hard but it’s also about recognising that things you persist with over the long-term end up bearing fruit.

So if you have a child in club till 5 pm then clearly that impacts how you can work. But your child will not always be in club until 5 pm and in the years when they are in club until 5 pm you could do an open university degree very gradually by studying part time late evenings, or getting an additional qualification that will mean you are right for the promotion at work when the time comes

Similarly, having an excellent pension pot takes time to build up. But even small amounts invested each week over 20 years have a fantastic return.

there is too much of people thinking ‘well it’s not gonna make any difference so why bother’.

This

It's mostly inheritance/generational wealth together with luck/contacts/timing.

Ime it has very little to do with hard work. That is a rare exception. However some people can't see privilege.

So there’s two conflicting arguments here
1- working from a young age and having a part time job is good for you in the long run
2- good parents let you concentrate on your studies and don’t let you get a part time job so you can smash your A levels.
Could it actually be that there is so much luck and chance that we look back at our own past and imagine that all these small, inconsequential details made the difference and we deserve all the back slapping?
You weren’t born with learning disabilities, there you are, there’s a huge step up right there. Some of you weren’t born into some chaotic home life in which you were seven before you learnt that pasta should be cooked as you’d just helped yourself to it in the cupboard whilst your mum was passed out. Some of you were born white. Some of you had a warm SAFE house, quiet space to do your homework.
I also had all of those privileges so don’t get me wrong I’m not saying you didn’t work hard. But let’s not pretend that luck isn’t a huge privilege. I support people who probably had the brains to be doctors, lawyers, financial advisors, but life dealt them a shit hand. Most are now street homeless.

To be rich, really rich you need to own a business. No one ever got rich working a paye job or a 9-5.

@curious79I’m doing a masters now around my two children and it is fucking BRUTAL! That’s with the luxury of my own home, money for childcare and a support network. If I was not used to education, been out of school for a long time, dyslexic, had a child with SEN, health problems, unstable housing, noisy neighbours, no money etc there is no way I could do a full time job, come home and ignore my kids whilst I studied. Who do you know who does that? Which single mum can put their children in breakfast club, school, after school club and then come home and put their child to bed and then study for hours? It’s not realistic.

Hedge fund managers.

There’s no point in amassing wealth in this country. Inheritance tax is now an eye watering 40%.

Because l got thrown under a bus and left severely disabled... by an ex
He's still in jail for attempted murder .
Rather be skint and be back to how l was.. with my bowels and bladder intact.. without needed crutches / wheelchair etc... for broken hips and pelvis..been like this nearly 40 years

I’m curious as to what people mean by ‘comfortable.’ I would say on my £40k income I am ‘comfortable’ in that I have enough to eat and heat my home, I can comfortably clothe myself in supermarket/ high street items, can run my ford fiesta car and can afford a cat so I’m not lonely but I don’t have much left at the end of the month, haven’t been on holiday in over five years, can’t afford designer clothing or to upgrade my car or have a cleaner or to redecorate the house etc. I struggle if I have an unexpected vet or car bill, often end up in my overdraft and then have to budget carefully for a few months but for the most part I don’t worry about money so I’d say I’m ‘comfortable’ in that I’m never going to bed cold or hungry or worrying about bailiffs etc which I guess would be the definition of uncomfortable.

Worked very hard in a well paid freelance role, and didn’t have any kids.

This is what I am hopeful for.

I am a harder worker than anyone I know but then it’s disheartening to still not be financially comfortable.

I have always worked FT and studied PT. But because I’m studying PT it takes twice as long.
I have no social life or partner because the day times are filled with working/being a parent and then the evenings are spent studying, as well as doing all of the cooking, cleaning, gardening etc.

But you are right that my DC won’t always be dependent and the work I have put in should pay off.
I might not ever be wealthy but I should be much more financially comfortable and will hopefully be able to help my DC out a bit more.

Surely OP you have the common sense to realise that there are many different ways by which people are wealthy?

You obviously weren't born into wealth

You haven't won the Lottery

You didn't make a career that has lead to top 1% salary

You haven't married into wealth

You aren't a mastermind criminal

You can't play Tennis/Football etc etc to a very high standard

Etc etc etc

Well you don’t need that wealth when you’re dead, there’s a generous amount that can be inherited before tax, the very wealthy avoid it, and it’s not like those inheriting have had to do the old work hard thing. It’s luck if you’re born into a family that leaves you enough to have to pay tax on the inheritance. Taxes on unearned wealth should be higher IMO, and perhaps yes then those who do all this hard working can have income tax cuts.

True, they earn a lot but their families usually pay the price.