To be shocked that 50k in savings is seen as ‘ not much in savings’ - maybe on mumsnet - but think about how people are struggling to put food on the table.

[Ginandbitterlemons]

I posted about our savings of £50 k for a specific reason , and was asking advice .

A number of mums netters appeared to mention that that was not a great deal of money.

Now- its not a question of me being offended by such responses- but it has hugely struck home to me just how much society is divided.

There are people who consider this hardly anything - yet I am aware that so many sections of society would be glad to have this , or any, savings at all .

Am not sad for me that I have this ‘ insignificant ‘ amount of savings- but I am aghast that some people do not seem aware that its something than actually may be out of reach for many ,and how such comments may sound to those folk .

I was aware that mumsnet can be elitist- but for goodness sake- there are people really struggling out there.

I am not expressing this very well , but how do people think it sounds to others who are living day to day hand to mouth?
Its been really thought provoking- and made me both aware of what I do have , what my values are , and to up my donations to the local food bank.

Hope I don’t get slated for this - its just really made me think about the wealth divide .

It is a lot of money, I think some posters just like to humble brag. I often think some of the posters aren’t entirely honest about their six figure salary and high savings.

I often think they know how it sounds and that’s why they post it.

That is insane!!! In real life it’s like that thing where people talk about winning the lottery and by the end of the conversation are coming to the conclusion that after helping people, buying a property, savings etc etc actually millions will not do so much but that’s ridiculous because actually if you lost your job tomorrow, 50k would mean you could continue to live your life without worrying about not having a home, not being able to do your food shop etc etc

100% agree. Except there's nothing 'humble' about it.

They just want to brag.

Its heaps OP, don't worry! I've got about £900!

Of course it is a lot of money.

I think the stats were that 1 in 10 people in this country have zero savings and almost 40% of those who have savings have less than £1000.

I think quite a few people on Mumsnet live fantasy lives online and are not truthful when it comes to their finances.

Everyone on here seems to have investments and shares. I don’t know anyone who does. Or they save £900 a month. How?!

Yeah it’s crazy.

Well it depends what the savings are for. In some contexts it might be a lot but in others it won’t be considered much at all e.g. if you are nearing retirement age and £50k is the sum total of your savings for the next 25+ years then it it’s not a lot really.

It’s the same argument we see time and time again when someone posts they earn £80k and are struggling because they have huge childcare and mortgage payments. Out come the “how dare you complain, there are people surviving on minimum wage and eating tinned beans from food banks” brigade. There will always be people weathier/worse off than you. but it’s irrelevant when taking into account an individual’s specific circumstances.

It was said on here the other day that £40k a year private pension (there would be the government pension as well) wasn't enough. The OP would have been mortgage free and didn't have anyone relying on her. It's just madness.

Yeah don’t worry it’s a lot of money to many of us. I don’t earn anywhere near that in a year.

Yes it's extremely insensitive when it's common knowledge that a big percentage of the population have no savings at all.

It lind of depends on what the savings are for…
“Just” a fund for unexpected expenses etc - it’s a lot of money.
In a pension fund - not a lot of money.

I wish I had £50k savings! I have about 10th of that and thought it was reasonable. That’s just easy access cash - I have pension savings and investments but those I don’t touch. Cash savings is a poor investment but needed for emergencies…

It’s just bragging. And most of the people claiming it’s ’not much’ probably have a lot less. People on here seem to post about the life they want to have, not the life they do have.
FWIW we have a high amount of savings, but had many years of just scraping by and now are well aware of just how fortunate we are to have that safety net.

It depends what the savings are for - it isn’t much for a pension. It’s plenty but not particularly remarkable for a house deposit or loft extension fund in the south east. It’s loads for general rainy day savings.

MN individuals live on another planet. Completely divorced from the average person.

If you Google how much Britons have in savings on average (and many results include retirement savings!) you will see 50k is well above average.

Just one link: https://www.money.co.uk/savings-accounts/savings-statistics

How much does an average person have in savings?
Reports on the average savings in the UK vary. According to a 2025 survey by Finder, UK adults have an average of £16,067 in cash savings.
There is a great disparity between genders in regard to adults’ average savings balance. Finder estimates that men have, on average, 82.03% more in savings than women, with £20,810 compared to £11,432.
As a point of concern, two-fifths (39%) of UK adults have only £1,000 or less in savings. This means many adults would be unable to weather life’s uncertainties for more than a month or so. One in six (16%) adults have no savings at all, meaning they are unable to cover bills for a month, should their employment or financial circumstances change.
Survey results from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), revealed that, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, around a quarter of UK adults (11.5 million people) had less than £100 in their savings account, with one in six people having no savings at all.
MaPS also reported that 11.1 million working adults on low to modest salaries do not save regularly.

Would you count that as ‘savings’ though? When I talk about savings I mean the easily accessible cash we have available for emergencies. Not our pension fund.

PinkFrogss

thats disgusting- ! Its bragging .
Ive written this post because I think some people should read the room about real life struggles of many .

I entirely agree that £50K is a lot of money. I also agree that society is massively economically divided and many at both ends of the economic scale have no concept of the financial realities and/or pressures of others. However I do not agree that £50K would be enough to live your life absent of any other income without any concerns.

Someone will be along soon to tell you to read the room- shut up about your £50k - when others are using food banks.

That's the way MN works. Different people have different opinions on all sorts.

What response do you want from this thread OP? Should everyone with more savings/earns a bigger wage than you, pretend they don't because others in the country or on MN don't earn the same?

Surely its vastly different depending on where people live, what they earn, family dynamics- 6 or no children, single, widowed etc etc? Whilst I wouldn't condone people being blatantly rude, some people might be oblivious that £50,000 is a massive amount for many people. I've learnt many things on MN, including the poverty some people have. I'm not saying you OP, I mean people that literally don't have 2p till their next payday and no food in the cupboard.

MN is another world when it comes to finances. I usually avoid any finances themed thread as it annoys me so much.

It's all relative, isn't? My boss is on £500k pa, I try not to think about it.

I think Mumsnet is definitely out of touch on this kind of thing, but I don't think it's deliberately insensitive or offensive. I see posts like that and roll my eyes and think god, I'd love to swap and have your struggles 🤣 but it's all relative.

We're living hand to mouth - no savings, no pension, renting - but we did a shop this week, so there will be people thinking "you think you're hand to mouth? I can't even do a shop?". Equally there will be people on £20k and £50k and £100k, all with various amounts in their savings, thinking they're living hand to mouth too - it's all relative, I wouldn't overthink what people are saying.

For self employed people there can be a very grey line between pension savings and general savings….
For employed people, you are right.

Depends on so anything. For a 21 year old it’s massive. For a 60 year old less so.