To ask what’s one stereotype about money you wish people would change?

[SoftPowerSaver]

For me, it’s the idea that money automatically corrupts people - that if you have it, you’ll become selfish, mean or disconnected from others. I think that belief stops people from wanting to grow financially or even talk about money openly. Yes, money can bring out the worst in some but it can also give people freedom, stability and the ability to help others.

AIBU to wish we could separate wealth from moral judgement a bit more?

Really? I don’t think it crosses people’s minds. I’ve never heard of anyone turning down a pay rise or promotion because they think they might be corrupted.

For me, it’s the idea that money automatically corrupts people - that if you have it, you’ll become selfish, mean or disconnected from others. I think that belief stops people from wanting to grow financially

oh don’t be daft 😆

I don’t mean people consciously turning down promotions, more that there’s a subtle cultural script that treats wanting more money as “greedy” or “less pure.” You see it in how people talk about “sell-outs” or how being financially ambitious is often framed as shallow. It’s less about individual choices, more about the stories we tell around wealth.

Eh? Although to be fair, most of the very wealthy people I've known have been twats.

"What's for you won't go by you" to mean that you will get what you believe you are entitled to - when in fact it is more a phrase to keep people in their place.

The belief "i can't do maths" as though it is not a skill that can be learned (and the maths needed to deal with personal finance isnt complicated.

The belief that it is better to save in cash if you dont want to take any risk that your capital will erode.

The belief that doing what your boomer parents did will leave you as financially comfortable as they are.

The fear of making the wrong decision.

That it is grubby to want to be financially secure.

That it is ok to tread on other people to make sure you get richer.

I don’t recognise your complaint.

Mine would be that wealthy people who become more wealthy are somehow cleverer than everyone else.

The big old lie that it can't buy happiness. Because while it can't prevent all suffering, it reduces it and gives countless options to do things to become happier.

That people in the higher tax bracket are loaded and live the life of Riley and deserve to have their money taken off them to pay for the feckless.

That buying a house is a “great investment”, totally ignoring all the many many financial and opportunity costs that come
with home ownership.

Maybe in your career

sure as heck not in mine!!!

what is your job op?

That a 'common-law partner' has any sort of protection and that marriage is 'just a bit of paper'. You may as well live with your mate for all the protection you'll get if you split up.

That you have a right to someone else's.

That rich people don’t pay their taxes. As a chartered tax advisor every single wealthy person I have advised just wanted to pay their taxes. I’ve never been asked if I can sort some sort of tax dodging scheme for them, or asked to do anything underhand.

Its SUCH a TIRESOME myth!!!

Sounds like you’re in a more straightforward environment than mine! I work in a sector where people talk a lot about values and “purpose,” so money can feel like a slightly awkward topic. That’s part of what made me notice it - how differently people treat ambition depending on the context.

Money does change people, though. It's insidious, people can't help it.

I don't think people should be forced to pretend that it doesn't.

Oh yes and that inheritance comes from income that has already been taxed! Err, no! Most people exceed the IHT threshold due to totally untaxed house price gains. And recipients of the inheritance are receiving a totally untaxed windfall.

Is it fair to tax someone for the income they get for hours and hours of cleaning loos for minimum wage while not taxing someone for receiving £500k purely due to who your parents are?

Finance
Law

i am guessing you are in public sector

Are you satisfied with your salary op? Your partner satisfied with their salary? Financially comfortable?

I think the worst stereotype is that money doesn't buy happiness. Well neither does the lack of it, and I know which way I'd rather be fucking miserable.

That when you earn a good salary it’s solely through hard work as if lower earners are just bot putting the effort in.

That if you’re rich you’re posh. That if you’re rich you’re somehow “better”. That money can buy class and manners.

A perfect example of how “money stories” vary. For some, wealth feels deserved because they’ve “worked for it”, while others see unearned gains as the real inequality. I think both sides feed into the same wider issue… we moralise money rather than just acknowledging the systems around it.

I’m comfortable, thank you but I’m more interested in how people think about money and what that says culturally. It’s interesting how quickly conversations about money become personal though, that’s part of what I meant by it being a slightly awkward topic!

Not really a stereotype but the inability of some with understanding of maths and tax principles. That double a salary does not equate to double the value home as often tax means its no where near.

It depends how the wealth has been acquired.

I think the character traits which enable you to make lots of money fast are not always ones which make for a satisfying life. I’ve met and heard of extremely wealthy businesspeople who have few interests outside work and whose extremely competitive nature gets in the way of relaxation and rewarding relationships.

We need wealth- creators. Anyone who thinks we can do without them is living in a world of fantasy. But I wouldn’t like to live next door to one of these restless souls.