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 .

I’m always surprised reading the ongoing Premium Bonds thread at how many mumsnetters are apparently holding the maximum amount of £50k. Their DH also has the full £50k, their two children also have £50k each…it’s not like PBonds are known to be the most profitable place to stash the cash so if they’ve got £100k pair couple in Bonds then I’m assuming they’ve got more money invested somewhere else. That’s mind boggling to me but it would be interesting to know how much of that money is from inheritances.

Planck

I get what you are saying - but some did say its not much money .
I get the context - and I agree that what we are doing in that context is perhaps unwise . My point - probably not v well made- was that the amount of money for many is significant.’

Perhaps I should have worded thigs differently .

We had no savings for most of our lives.
Inherited some and have kept £50k ever since. The peace of mind this has given us is immense and I'm grateful for it.

yes, that's the one. It's a high proportion to give away. That doesn't mean £50k is a small sum, only that it's not so large you can just be handing out £10k without serious thought. Bet those people trying to help wish they hadn't bothered.

You are approaching retirement age and want to give £20k of it away to your kids, leaving £30k in the bank for the active stage of your retirement. Of course it’s not a lot of money for that specific situation here in the UK, an expensive country. Hopefully you have decent pensions but going in to retirement often involves a downsize, relocation, nice holidays etc where cash money is useful. You don’t have enough IMO to give 2/5 of it away and that’s what people are getting at. But you know your own situation, maybe you are expecting a large windfall or haven’t had your tax free lump sum yet.

I'm amazed that people have any savings at all these days..

Everyone has different situations, money will be more important to some than others. We know we are fortunate, however at age where we have lost parents and inherited money, but would rather have them still in our live than have cash in the bank.

Planck
but I wasn't asking people if I should give money to dc- I wasn't asking for that advice .

I think they meant it's not much in the context of you giving so much away, not in itself.

Saving 25k each over 40 years = £625 each a year (not taking interest into account), not £312.

And you don't consider, for example, that people may have earned minimum/low wage, leaving little or no room to save; or have had periods of unemployment; or have taken some time away from paid employment to raise children. Or, as a pp pointed out, that they may already have had to raid their savings to pay for other things.

Whether that is a lot of money depends on so many things - if you are 30 years old, 2 primary aged dc and own a house then it’s a lot of money, if you are a 30 year old couple, no kids but saving for a first deposit in the se it’s about what you need, if you are 60 years old and very poor private pension savings then it’s not much at all. We have about £500k currently but dh has already stopped working and I will do fairly soon so that is our luxuries and house repair pot for the rest of our lives

YANBU in general, but haven't seen your original thread (context does natter- if you earn £500k a year, or need to find £30k a year school fees I'd probably agree it isn't much).

£50k is far greater than the average amount held in savings, and even greater still than the median (given that about 30-40% of people have less than £1k in savings from surveys I've seen.)

Of course a minority of people have a lot more than this, thereby dragging up the average. Mumsnet seems to attract a lot of London based high earners/ high outgoings and £50k probably seems a lot less to them. That's before you get on to the fantasists who exist all over social media.

I don't know where you posted, but if it was in Money Matters, I've found that board to be the real 'nest of vipers', not AIBU. For anyone trying to pay down debt or looking to get into the savings habit I'd swerve it and go to MSE boards. On MN it's full of people ready to tear people down about how poor they are, how dreadful anyone who gets into debt must be and how piffling the amount they've saved is.

Sure, but people are still free to give that advice (just as you are free to ignore it). My point is that they weren't sneering at you having £50k- they were trying to be helpful. It's the same advice that any financial adviser would give.

And I have £400 😂 I never got paid in September so have been living off my savings thank the Lord I get paid next week

Planck
ok - thank you - see what you mean now .
I have adhd and sometimes I am v v literal in my understanding! 😄

People exaggerate or even lie on anonymous forums!

To put some context around this, around 1 in 3 households has £50K or more in savings. That will include Gen X households in their 50s and 60s who have had longer to accumulate savings, lived through an era of cheaper property prices and accumulated less student debt.

If the Mumsnet demographic skews towards younger families, realistically, fewer than 1 in 3 households will have more than £50K in savings.

And I am going to be controversial here and say that if £50K savings include pension pots, it really isn’t a huge amount…

We have about £500k currently but dh has already stopped working and I will do fairly soon so that is our luxuries and house repair pot for the rest of our lives

The vast majority don't retire with a separate pot of half a mill for luxuries and house maintenance 😆

How……they earn more and/or have lower outgoings. It’s not rocket science!

Depends what point you’re at in life. In the thick of it with nursery/mortgage costs it can be difficult to build up savings. When you’re older, children left home and mortgage free you may be able to save more. It could be your last opportunity to save money to get through the retirement years.

If the Mumsnet demographic skews towards younger families, realistically, fewer than 1 in 3 households will have more than £50K in savings.

The average user is 55 plus I think

Oh do get over yourself OP, you need the internet to validate that you’ve got a lot in savings. 🙄

SumUp
not sure what pension pots are .. but we get over 2k a month ( 1,900 and £500 ) in work pensions .( if dh dies I get half of the larger amount for life ) Is that what you mean?

I think people are becoming more savvy about investing thanks to the internet.

It is quite straightforward to do, cheap, and you get a far better return on your savings.

If you keep your savings in cash, you’re probably losing money when inflation is taken into account.

You have to remember though that people on tax credits literally cant have more than £6k in savings.

In a way, that's engineered by the government. To keep them poor and to keep them in the minimum wage jobs that no one wants but have to be done.

BeLilacSloth I absolutely dont - not about that .