Calling those with a "high" level of savings/investments! (£50,000+)

YoungBusinessman

Some good points. Just trying to get some sort of plan together to set me up for 9 years down the line. Many business folks around my area not working more than 30 hours a week with the fancy car and house, so why not me?

There's going to be a lot more millionaires in future, I intend on being one of them. A self made millionaire at that.

gadgetmind

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

with the fancy car and house

Read "The millionaire next door"* and you'll see that going "fancy" is a good way to not be a millionaire.

* - I bought my copy 2nd hand and suggest you do the same.

somethingcorporate

Just don't get suckered into what the Jones' are doing - that is a way to end up with owning nothing but a shed load of shiny things on finance.

Our strategy has been slow, steady and diversified. We put small amounts of money into lots of places and you would be surprised how quickly it adds up - we have about 10 "pots" worth about £3-4k that we have built up since we bought our house last year. Having a decent income is a start, but acting like you don't is the kicker. We make about £130-140k PA but our net (spending) income is much, much lower given it goes into pensions, share-plans and houses. We do enjoy a few nice things (like holidays) but we live modestly so we can enjoy being secure for if things go wrong.

Good luck!

N1AK

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

Obviously this £50,000 figure is not that high yet it is in my own humble opinion!

Just curious as to all the different situations surrounding how you got there? How long it took you to get a decent amount saved/at what age?

I imagine I'm more like you than the people you are actually asking for advice but I've found a couple of things true when it comes to saving.

It became much easier for me to save when I realised that having more cr*p was making my life worse not better. My house was full, tidying was a pain etc so buying something new and shiny (to never use it: Kindle, kitchen gadgets etc) was causing a problem.

Having a clear picture of what you spend really helps as well. I use a program called Moneydance to record all income and expenditure. Being able to see how much I'm spending on takeaway, lunch at work, books, gadgets etc helps focus my mind on where I'm spending money but not benefiting.

Having a reason to save is also important for me. I don't mean short term goals like to buy a new car but longer term considerations. I know when I chose not to spend money that I am making a choice to support my long term priority. In my case that is having financial security and the ability to support children, if I decide to have them, through a good education.

N1AK

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

Many business folks around my area not working more than 30 hours a week with the fancy car and house, so why not me?

There's going to be a lot more millionaires in future, I intend on being one of them. A self made millionaire at that.

We know couples well who live in bigger houses and drive nicer cars but are doing so on finance and with big mortgages; In a couple of cases they aren't using the company pension scheme because they need the income now for the lifestyle. What I want to highlight is that the lifestyle visible to casual observers and the reality behind them can be very different.

The truth with money is that you can't make it grow on trees. Generally the only way to have more of it in 10 years is to either spend less now or to increase what you earn. Be careful not to make yourself unhappy for years scrimping with the intention of being happy 10 years from now; you'll invariably find when you get their that you can't get the 10 years back

somethingcorporate

N1AK wrote: »

We know couples well who live in bigger houses and drive nicer cars but are doing so on finance and with big mortgages; In a couple of cases they aren't using the company pension scheme because they need the income now for the lifestyle. What I want to highlight is that the lifestyle visible to casual observers and the reality behind them can be very different.

The truth with money is that you can't make it grow on trees. Generally the only way to have more of it in 10 years is to either spend less now or to increase what you earn. Be careful not to make yourself unhappy for years scrimping with the intention of being happy 10 years from now; you'll invariably find when you get their that you can't get the 10 years back

Great post.

I want to caveat your last paragraph though, I am going to spend the next ten years inventing a time-travelling delorean :cool:

lisyloo

Many business folks around my area not working more than 30 hours a week with the fancy car and house, so why not me?

Are you comparing yourself with much older folks?
The environment for people starting out now is nowhere near the same.

Don't get me wrong I applaud what you are you doing, but don't judge yourself by other people. They could be up to their neck's in debt for all you know.

A self made millionaire at that.

Living below your means is a great forumula for being, secure and confortable and even well-off but you'll never get rich working for someone else.

somethingcorporate

lisyloo wrote: »

Living below your means is a great forumula for being, secure and confortable and even well-off but you'll never get rich working for someone else.

Depends what you mean by rich.

Billionaire, probably not. Millionaire - almost certainly do-able even as a middle-manager in a big company.

jimjames

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

There's going to be a lot more millionaires in future, I intend on being one of them. A self made millionaire at that.

With inflation on the up, being a millionaire might come sooner than you think! There might be a lot of them in the future but if that is the average house price then it won't mean much.

As above the key isn't what you earn (though that helps) but living below your means. ALways spend less than you earn and you'll be in a good position. Those consistently spending more than they earn are the ones in trouble when circumstances change.

gadgetmind

They reckon that to be a millionaire nowadays costs about three million!