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.

DH and I met at uni (very average uni in the 90s). Neither have inherited anything or ever likely to. His family were refugees to U.K. Age 40 he sold a company and his share was about £30m. He has always worked crazy hours though (albeit with more flexibility than most as he was always self-employed). In contrast, I worked in the public sector until age 30 when we had the first DC, but I never went back to work after kids. In this sense, I was the 'balance' in terms of family life, both of us working would have been too much. He still works because he doesn't know how to stop really. But he does work from home now and only takes on what he wants to. He 55 now and I'm 52.

@TheHerboriste it's very unfair to dismiss a whole generation as "unearned housing wealth" just because Gen Z is not going to be enriched by the same phenomenon. Millennials and Gen Z are going to inherit big time once we boomers shuffle off the mortal coil. My DC is 25, and I would like them to have the personal satisfaction of making their own pay day rather than waiting until they're 68 (as we were) to inherit the residue of the parents' estates.

I concede that the boring bungalow we bought in 1997 has gone up in value enormously. But we have spent (from taxed income) about £10K every year on upgrading stuff. It's been re-rendered, which cost £16K, and the original 1970s double glazing cost almost £10k to replace to reglaze and refurb the hard timber windows. We bought it without central heating which cost £6k in 1997 and now we are looking at replacing the boiler because it hasn't worked since Christmas. We've replaced the kitchen (£22k) and bathroom, and added an ensuite (total for both £16k) to another bedroom. It's a good sized house that we paid £139k almost 30 years ago; we've spent £200k+ keeping it up to date. and the value is now roughly trebled, boosted by changes in society. If I need to argue about capital gains tax raids, I can.

Which profession?

'Unearned' housing wealth is only a thing if you sell and move to a cheaper area/much smaller house. I've put inverted commas around unearned because ime, houses need alot of money spending on them over the decades to keep them at a certain value.

@JasmineAllen . Thank you. Exactly as I pointed out. There is a steady spend to maintain property to maintain its value. .

I think it also helps if as part of a couple, you are very much on the same page -we could have been far more comfortably off but aren’t as my H has a mindset of living in very nice areas, a decent ish car and plenty of decent holidays/ mini breaks ( one main holiday plus 2 or 3 four day breaks a year) or he feels ‘depressed’ - and whilst it takes two he’s the one earning very good money so to some extent it’s been going along with his ethos-

This seems to be quite common in wealthy couples. Lots of people who met in their late teens / early twenties (ie at Uni aged 18-22)

Comfortable. We met at a Russell
group uni, both got graduate jobs - me in accountancy and him in IT. Both worked hard / promotions. But we did get help when we got married with a deposit, not a huge amount especially by todays standards, but we bought in the late 1990s when prices were low so we benefitted from rising house prices. We also lived very frugally for the first 5 years of marriage before we had kids.

I think it requires intention, eg after Oxbridge apply for graduate jobs with clear well
paid career paths, and then with intention look to move when needed to further career.

I didn't go to Oxbridge, simply because the top colleges were closed to me on the basis of sex (1974). I refused to apply. So I went to Bristol, which at the time was the most competitive to get into.

this is very true, when my parents gifted me money to buy a flat my ex was trying to get me to take out a mortgage as well and buy a bigger place than we actually needed. Very pleased I pushed back on that!

How do you sit without an arse?

I met DH when we were 27 and 28, so quite a bit older than a lot of the couples mentioned who met at uni. He was already well-established in his career and I was a low earner doing a second bachelors degree. We're not a stereotypical ambitious couple at all - we have coasted a bit and had a few lucky breaks. We married and bought our first property aged 33/34, so that wasn't particularly young either (but fairly average for London).

I agree. I have quite a few friends who did similar (and have stayed together - now late forties/early fifties).

We’re early 30s, both in good jobs. No kids so got a lot of disposable income. We’ve currently got 6 rental properties and live in a house with no mortgage. Could afford to both give up work if we wanted to. But all the properties were inherited and I would trade all of that for DH not to have lost his dad at such a young age, I would rather have nothing and him still have his dad for the next 40 years.

Depends - the size of the mortgage and the house value are relevant.

We are comfortable currently (income of £130k) but plan to be wealthy; my husband earns well as an employee but will set up his own business over the next few years. His income is roughly 80k currently but could be higher (he could earn 6 figures plus and has previously but as I’ve just returned to work full time and want to focus on my career, he’s picking up more slack at home currently). I earn 50k but am aiming for 60-65k over the next 18 months with a promotion and then 75-80 over the next 5-10 years. His income can be anywhere between 80-200k plus but to reach the higher amount, we’d need me at home more to balance family life and that doesn’t work for us really as our careers are important to us both. We are aiming for a combined income of 200k ish by the time we’re 50 (we’re late 40s).

We also benefited from some inheritance allowing us to buy a house in 2011 when prices were low. We bought for 165k and sold for over double that allowing us to buy a bigger house for 500k. We will likely inherit around 150k at some point, and my husband owns a small % of shares in his company which we will use to buy a second property at the point it’s worth cashing those out.

I am from a middle class background and he is very working class but we met at a RG university and have worked really hard since.

I did it - set up a business - when divorced and pre my second marriage. + Young children go to bed early. Older children give you space

So it’s brutal AND realistic to make incremental changes in your circumstances that end up bettering you

I wonder if it's bizarrely more socially acceptable to gain wealth through starting a business rather than through a well paid public sector role (i.e. ultimately funded by the tax payer). I know wealthy NHS consultants and there seems almost a slight shame about the fact that they are indeed wealthy as compared to a lot of the population especially given that protest in the medical profession about salary is very public and there is constant debate about the cost of the NHS.

A well paid public sector role combined with astute early investment and property purchase can give wealth but it tends to be a little hidden as if being in the public sector you are duty bound to live an austere life. If we get deputy head teachers popping up on this thread describing their wealth in their 50s say would there be a backlash?

Family Trust. Set up by v. wealthy gt-grandfather in 19th cent for his unmarried daughters. One did marry, well, invested wisely in land. Thanks, Granny and Gt Grandpapa.

Completely agree with this. Having drive is I’m sure an important element for many in becoming wealthy, particularly self-made wealth. But drive is as important in moving forward in careers that will never earn the big bucks but crucial to the wellbeing of society. I have drive and ambition but am not wealth-orientated and my NHS career is never going to make me wealthy.

Is anyone on Forbes list of billionaires, they are proper wealthy

@curious79my children don’t. My children bounce around until 10pm even on melatonin. Plus I think what you do in the day makes a difference. I studied around being a receptionist, it was nice, gave me a chance to use my brain. Now I’m a social worker, have to be very involved and working non stop, constantly fire fighting, it is much harder to study until 1am like I did as an undergrad.

These comments always make me laugh.
Plenty of people don’t have their parents around from the age of 16 and they didn’t get rental properties either.

If you haven’t got six rental properties to leave to your children for goodness sake get life insurance, let them at least have one house

@Staceysmum2025 yes I find posts like that odd- you don’t know how you would feel exactly, because you haven’t been in that position- it’s easy to say from a position of true financial security/comfort..plenty of 50 and 60 somethings on the elderly parents board here in an absolutely frazzled state dealing with parents who are not remotely greatful , run them ragged and haven’t got a bean to leave them either.