To think if you had this sum of money you’d be pretty relaxed about finances? Or am I out of touch?!

[Uuaner]

75k in savings and 150k mortgage on a 600k valued home.

if I was in this position with no debt I wouldn’t be anxious about so many things like temporarily losing employment, having a boiler breakdown, needing a new car… all sorts of financial stress would evaporate.

would you feel the same?

context is my best friend is in this position (inheritance) and is so so money conscious and always panicking about the next thing that may go wrong… even though she clearly has the money if needed?! Am I missing something?

Most of her net worth is tied up in a house though.

Some people have a very weird attitude towards houses. I know someone living in a massive under occupied house who could sell it and be worth a fortune in cash, but instead choose to keep it and live in poverty. They will never sell it.

Technically they are rich but in practice their refusal to sell makes them poor.

Some people may put their predicament down to their idiot mindset, but to them their house is everything.

Exactly, she shouldn't share her info with her friend whose goes online to talk about her.

I've been in a similar situation and DH lost his job. £75k in savings doesn't last very long depending on your outgoings. It took him over 7 months to find a new job and he wasn't being fussy. By that stage I assure you, we were worrying.

Financial security comes from having attitudes like your friend. I don't actually think she's in a position to be complacent because she has more in debt than she has in savings. Having money in the bank isn't a reason to abandon good financial management.

I have no mortgage and more savings than that but I still worry. I might not worry about a boiler breaking down quite so much but i'd worry if I needed a new car suddenly...even though I have money to buy one in cash. It's still a lot of money to have to fork out.

We do pay dd's rent at over 1k a month so things feel tight. My car is due an MOT next month and I'm worrying about an unexpected bill.

I'm careful with money, I don't go on holidays. I have seen a bag I like but it's £40 and that seems a lot. Guess it depends what your outlook is. I could lose my job, dh could lose his job...you never know.

Hard hat on OP - MN has an unusually high number of six figure earners so you’ll likely be told that is actually a very poor financial situation.

Judgy! You don’t know her salary, debts, cost of living expenses….

Some folk stress about money when there is little need. It is their burden.

I remember Iggy Pop saying that his accountant told him years ago that he didn't have to work any more, he would never be poor. But he said he still worries today about ending up broke somehow! I think his parents experienced a lot of poverty/insecurity and it left a big impact on him

Obviously that's a decent position to be in. People are ridiculous.

It is just another form of anxiety. In my experience the worry over anything does not correlate with the size of the problem. I worry more about money now than I did in the past despite having a lot more of it.

Salary plays a part too.

If I was in that position and dh and I earned £30k each - I'd be chilled. I'd be thinking that if the worst happened, even minimum wage is £25k so there are great odds of us just getting other jobs.

If we were in that position and reliant on one of us earning their £80k salary to maintain it - yeahhh I'd be nervous. One redundancy and your life could go down the toilet.

I don't have any savings and only the state pension to come another 5 years to go. So will probably have to keep working.

I didn’t realise it was someone so young with a job when I voted YABU. I am 65, I have quite a bit more money than this but I have no income, basic state pension next year. I’ve got a long way (hopefully) to make it last and I do worry about it.

I could survive for 5 years on 75k.

Thing is money can go so quickly. I've this year paid out for my brother's funeral and wake - 12k. A family members legal expenses 30k and we are subsidizing mil in a care home £1000 per month. So that's 50k of unexpected expenses since January.

Money is about control. €600k is not very much, it won't last a lifetime, she is sensible to be money conscious. She needs to continue building wealth for the next 15 to 20 years, then she can relax.

😂This morning, for the first time ever, at the tender age of 48, I put £25 into a savings account. (I do have a pension)

I think she will be fine.

I once read something about big lottery winners, that said unhappy, worried people who won millions were still worried and unhappy 12 months later, and that happy people weren't any more happy 12 months later. If someone is the worrying type there will always be something to worry about even if they have money.

Plenty couldn't. I know a lot of people for whom £75k would represent a year's salary or less. Plus, I have a lot in savings but if I spend it I'll have no pension money.

Depends entirely upon how anxious the individual is about money.

I think for many - Inheritance money feels like a gift that needs special treatment .

it is not for general day to day stuff. Most people I know that receive one know the blood sweat and tears that their family went through to have a bit put by and feel this money should be utilised wisely on paying off mortgage or school fees to enhance children’s life etc.

buying groceries with it or paying the electricity bill either it often seems ‘wrong’ to many people.

so they fon’t count this lump sum in their day to day expenses and although on paper may appear loaded - they aren’t actually better off day to day and still worry like we all do about everyday expenses.

everyone is different I guess but everyone u know has invested it in a big project either the house, kids or investor by accounts got retirement and so they are not actually better off.

if they used to receive benefits such as UC they are usually day to day worse off after an inheritance as then they will be expected to use this money and uc is vastly reduced if you have substantial savings.

I feel you, I work out that if I never work again how many years can I survive! Logically - if I never work again I can survive…..but logic doesn’t seem to come into it!

I've got a similar amount of savings and some assets (from inheritance after losing a parent young / investments made with inheritance) but I don't see it as money I can necessarily spend at this stage in life (late 30's) as I have a shit pension, a relatively low paying job and a young daughter to support, so I need to make the savings last. Ideally, the house I rent out I will sell much further down the line to fund retirement and I am keeping the rest of the cash in investments that I can't touch so I'm not tempted to fritter it away. I want those savings to last until my daughter is a teenager and all the expense that comes with that.

Last week I had only £5 in my current account and was desperate for payday.

Yes I can access the money if necessary but it would involve planning and liquidising things, and I don't have much prospect of building up the pot again once its gone, because I don't earn a high wage.

Yes I agree that inheritances can be tricky because they come with a lot of pressure sometimes (often self-inflicted, but mentally it’s a hard thing to deal with sometimes). I’ve received a good amount from my mum but I’m almost paralysed with fear about spending any of it sometimes because it feels so, so important that I do the ‘right’ thing with it, because it’s a last link to her, it was her legacy to me and it was important to her that she left that money to me and that it helped me with my life now she isn’t there any more.

So I do get anxious about money sometimes, not in the way of being destitute or anything like that, but it feels like a very heavy weight of responsibility sometimes to do the right thing with it, make the right decisions, in a way I wouldn’t if it was just money I had earned myself.

Inheritances come with so many other emotions and feelings. I’m so grateful for it, but I am basically not touching much of it until I can separate my emotions from it, so my financial situation day to day is relatively unchanged.