Hidden Riches
The number of wealthy people in the UK is growing, a new report by Hiscox has found. As many of them don’t consider themselves to be rich, never before has there been more opportunity to market high net worth insurance services to the masses.
According to the Wealth Review 2008, the ‘working wealthy’ are professionals aged between 35 and 55, with an income of between £50,000 and £250,000. They see themselves as ‘no longer ordinary, but not yet extraordinary’ compared with higher City-type earners.
Steve Langan, Managing Director of Hiscox UK, said that, just like the Ritz Hotel, being rich is open to everyone and is no longer a reflection of inherited wealth or social position. “The UK has enjoyed a constant rise in general living standards since 1945,” he said. “Since then, home ownership, house prices and employment have reached record highs and there is greater social mobility.”
The report found that 1.5 per cent of the UK population – about 430,000 people – are already millionaires, excluding the value trapped in their properties. But it also found that the familiar yuppie character is disappearing and that the working wealthy are less ostentatious than the super-rich. When asked: “When would you consider yourself rich?” for example, the working wealthy cited being able to pay off their mortgages and have a steady disposable income rather than getting a swimming pool or employing staff.
Steve said: “When you reach a particular step on the stairway to financial heaven, is there a plush red carpet there to mark your elevation to wealth, regardless of your own perspective? Or is it, like beauty, judged in the eye of the beholder?”
Download a copy of Hiscox’s Wealth Report