To wonder why “new money” is so frowned upon in the UK?

[Namechanged2026]

Dh and I are what you would describe as ‘new money’. We both had very working class childhoods but have since earnt very well. We live in a big modern house, drive new cars (financed as it’s silly to put so much money into a depreciating asset - it works out cheaper to finance if you want a new car every 4 years) and enjoy a few abroad holidays per year (yes, we do like Dubai for the guarantee of weather, relatively short flight and quality of resorts (although we’re definitely not flashy Instagram types😂)). Our children go to private school and have had experiences that me and DH could only have dreamed of as kids.

We worked hard, got lucky and enjoy a lifestyle that we can afford. We don’t dress in tacky designer clothes (although we do have a few designer bags, belts, shoes between us), nor are we ‘flashy’.

But why is there so much snobbery towards this in the UK? Many people on super low incomes would talk about my situation negatively in a way that would suggest they would rather chose a lifestyle with a modest income and fewer luxuries because it’s almost embarrassing to want more than this. I see working class people use the phrase “money talks, wealth whispers” in reference to anything that looks like it might have been very obviously expensive. What do these people think that they would do if they all of a sudden had a super high income… just remain as they are as “money talks”?! Of course not. Yet they see no problem with the “old school” kind of wealth (country estates, kids at boarding school, muddy wellies etc etc).

It’s only in the UK that I think this attitude exists. In other countries it seems like such a positive thing to aim for a high flying career, to admit to wanting to earn as much money as possible, to discuss wanting to travel lavishly and experience lots of things. It’s actively encouraged. However in the UK, I think there is an attitude of mocking these kind of attitudes and suggesting people are shallow for aiming for this. I remember being at uni and telling a family friend that I wanted to buy a house in X area when I was older, only to be met with “is round here (a council estate) not good enough for you then?”.

I think he would as well - he's very big on how he came from nothing and worked his way up, but that doesn't mean he suddenly leapt to being upper class.

Nonsense.

While I don't think acquiring wealth or getting a good job automatically changes your class, I do think you can change class - but I think it's something that happens over the course of a lifetime - it's not instant.

If you and your dh have done so well coming from such humble beginnings why can't your kids do that without sending them private

It's like that in the USA. I have no problem with new money as long as you pay your tax and don't look down on those with less

I admit I haven’t rtft so apologies if I’ve missed something vital.

I agree with you OP! I’ve neither got a lot of money now nor am I from a particularly WC background (parents were fine although not posh) but I think the attitude in this country is ridiculous.

Whatever people say about Americans (and they can do some staggering stupid things like electing Donald Trump), one thing I really like about them is that they don’t have this attitude.

If someone has made their money all by themselves, to me it makes it more worthy of admiration, not less. It’s not particularly clever to keep money you already have, but it is to rise up from having little money to become comfortable or even well off.

I would avoid tax if I could.

I don t care how much money people have but i hate huge flashy cars

Exactly, you know you aren't the type of person this thread is referring to.

What you've described isn't really 'new money' it would have to be quite a lot more than that.
(not jealous. And not new money)

You’ve totally misunderstood the reference/point of ‘new money’ which was (maybe still is in some circles) judged by the upper classes as being lacking. It stems from the old ways where nobody wealthy actually worked for their money, it was handed from generation to generation and retained (broadly and as a sweeping generalisation) through the owning of the land etc. The system was disrupted by people who amassed huge amounts of wealth through actually earning it shock horror and where they then fitted into the world.

What you’re describing is out-earning your peers, essentially. Nobody I grew up with would understand my life now and they’d probably make similar confused comments if we were still in touch. Sometimes it’s jealousy and sometimes it’s genuinely not understanding why you’d want to ‘waste’ your money on certain things (private school being the number one divisive topic I can think of), and sometimes it is a combination of both. If it’s good enough for them, why is it not good enough for you? Do you think you’re better than me? Etc etc.

I don’t think there’s a dislike of money of any kind particularly on here, it’s more a number of people who feel the need to jump on posts and comment about what a waste of money something (anything…cars, schools, holidays, whatever) is.

Presumably they see her arriving in it?

It’s not money - it’s flashiness.

Buying designer clothes and cars for the label for example. I can’t imagine anyone would judge you for the holidays…. Unless you are showing off on instagram.

I don’t think being new money is looked down up, but more so the type of flashy, tacky new money sorts. That’s pretty much anywhere, not only in the UK.

Saying that, I wouldn’t give 2 seconds of my time to that. Who cares? I also find cringy and tacky the whole “old money” trend online.

You missed the context of the post, which was that the poster felt judged on social media - I asked how people on social media would know about her car unless was posting about it?

I don't think it would be in the Netherlands where they value frugality so highly.

Yes! Such is life!

He's definitely working class - and I am sure would describe himself as such.

It's this.

It's not the wealth, it's the flaunting it. It's seen as tacky and this would be true if it was new or old money but I think the stereotype is that it's more common with new money. I do think it's more to do with age though.

I work in an industry (high end landscaping) that is often used by wealthy clients so have visited plenty of homes that fall into this bracket. Almost universily the newer money is via younger couples and is flashier, clients want to impress their friends, expensive fittings, outdoor tvs, pools etc.

Older clients, tend to want peaceful and natural spaces where they can sit and read or enjoy the sun and that benefits wildlife, or grow their own veggies.

I suspect it's life stage, as the younger lot naturally host more and have young children to entertain.

It’s frowned upon in the uk because so many British people are bootlickers, insecure in their own backgrounds, culture and heritage.

Definitely jealousy, I’m low income and I look at those like yourself and I’m amazed, I also feel happy that they have managed to achieve these wonderful things that I can only dream of, unfortunately others don’t have the same thought process

Of course he is. I don’t think he thinks he is now upper class either does he? His kids are probably upper upper middle (UC is hereditary aristocracy and as far as I know Lord Sugar didn’t marry a duchess).

Being WC isn’t an insult, it’s just a descriptor of your family background.

I am also "new money" in that I've earned well and am quite well off. But I don't want all the same sorts of things that you do.

I would find going to Dubai utterly abhorrent, changing your car every four years ditto.

It makes you look flashy and money-driven, which is what other people don't like.

Oh, I don’t think his children would be above middle-middle, maybe wealthy lower-middle.

I mean, in my own case, DS leads an essentially middle-middle lifestyle, but his grandparents and extended family are/were bin men, cleaners, childminders, street sweepers, lorry drivers, retail and care home workers, so he knows that’s where he comes from. He knows his grandparents aren’t fluently literate. It makes his sense of his own identity a bit different to that of his friends whose grandparents were medics.

This