What is your attitude to discussing your finances generally?

Computer_Beginner

Just as a quick example;

A few months ago, I bumped into a guy I worked with years ago.
He's never been the most academic type, but is honest and hardworking.
Since leaving school he's always worked hard at labouring or factory jobs etc.
He would never touch drugs and I've only ever seen him drink sensibility after work, probably why he's always up early and on time etc.

He's now in his 40s, single and living in an HMO.
His employers constantly keep him as a casual worker, to avoid pension rights etc.

This guy's father was quite similar to him, but his father ended up in secure employment, married with a council house for life.

I think the difference is due to the govt, not the individual - in this case at least.

I'm not really a political person, but this is what I see.

Computer_Beginner

Sorry, may have gone off at a tangent;

My point is that as the UK population becomes less financially (and socially) secure, then the number of people likely to get involved in crimes and scams etc goes up.

So don't trust anyone.

Fatbritabroad

People mistake wealth with income alot. A friend of mine at work has a decent income 70k plus but spends everything he earns. His net worth is about a tenth of mine. One of the reasons why pensions are so misunderstood. Half a million in pensions sound alot but 20k a year doesn't but they are the same thing

Computer_Beginner

Fatbritabroad wrote: »

People mistake wealth with income a lot. A friend of mine at work has a decent income 70k plus but spends everything he earns. His net worth is about a tenth of mine.

That's quite true.
A lot depends on outgoings.

Over the last few years, I have also noticed more people on relatively low wages, who rely on handouts from their parents / older family for house purchases etc.
I may be wrong, but this seems to be increasing, maybe due to lower wages and increasing house prices.
How this will play out in the longer term, I have no idea.

Primrose

my husband,a side of the family had a very poor record of managing finances and because we were always very frugal with our finances there was a continual sense of entitlement that we would always be there to bail them out financially. We quickly decided that our finances would be kept to ourselves. I think that was resented but many subsequent incidents
proved that to be a wise move.

My OH and I are the only people who know what our assets are, apart from a financial advisor and that,s the way it's going to stay. These days there are too many people out there with a begging bowl. Also over the years, there seems to be a growing divide between between the "haves" and the "have nots ". Some of it is due to bad luck, a poor start in life or misfortune but there are also a lot of people who are poor at managing their income and choose to live a more extravagant lifestyle than they can afford.

We accumulated our savings by making a deliberate choice about how we wanted to live and were prepared to sacrifice some luxuries in earlier life for a comfortable retirement. I don't think people can have their cake and eat it but being too open about your finances could end up with you being put in an uncomfortable position by friends or family members who automatically think that their close affiliation with you entitles them to an automatic bailout.

Whitterbod

friends and family think i am tight ,but when i tell them what i saved on this or that most of the time they have a look at the things i have mentioned ,the people i work with are a bit different they are quite closed only a few talk openly about money and where it has gone . some are in debt just keeping up with the Jones.and as credit is cheap and no interest on savings they don't save .

Fatbritabroad

I'm quite open that I am interested in finance and invest. I've had a few people at work approach me to help with pensions SAYE (NOT financial advice just basic questions and cutting through finance speak so they understand it). I quite enjoy helping people so am happy to let it be known though I'm careful not to give specific advice. The closest I come is to say what I do and why but stress that I may not be right and they should make their own choices

Wesley_Donnelly

It might help if you told us the answer to your own question?

trailingspouse

Yes Prism - that's exactly our situation. We have three contractors on our books, so our turnover per day is nice. By the time we've paid two of the contractors (the third is my OH), paid the VAT, paid the Corporation Tax, paid the overheads of running the business, and paid our income tax, we're not quite at the same level of niceness.


Still earning more than we would in a real job though...

Teacher2

My other half and I are frugal and, though we could not save a penny when we first started out in 1979, we had a mortgage and then saved whenever we could. We never spent much on ephemerals like meals out, holidays or experiences but salted our spare cash away. We had a very tight period when the kids were young as we decided to leave then in the prep parts of the nurseries they attended and then when they were older, paid their accommodation at university.

Our income has been hit by my being forced to take early retirement and having my pension actuarially reduced by a quarter and my other half being made redundant. We have a pittance between us. But we own our house and have savings, otherwise we would lose everything.

What has shocked us over the years has been the bitter way others have treated us as, while they were spending up to the hilt and borrowing, they have cast us in the role of ‘rich villains’ as if we had been given the money we earned. (Between us we have worked and paid taxes for 76 years!) The jealousy is palpable even though we have never had the holidays, experiences and things that they had.

I think that this is a common thing in the country now. People are encouraged by politicians to envy others so they can divide and rule. Because of this I would never discuss my finances with anyone else. Our friends with substantial pensions would despise us and everyone else would resent us.

It is an odd position to be in. The person who identified the difference between wealth and income hit it on the nail. We have some wealth, I suppose, but little income. Asset taxes would tip us over.