I won’t call it a new year’s resolution as such but I’m hoping to be a tad more optimistic about wealth and personal finances in Britain in 2026.
The past few years have been relentlessly disappointing for those wanting to feel better off, with public spending rising unabated and taxes biting deeper and deeper. But there are still plenty of reasons to be cheerful, and certainly no good reason to move to joyless Dubai just yet.
The good news is that while a lot of our money troubles are outside our control it is still well within our power to feel better off in the long run by making smart decisions every day.
Our Times Wealth Survey last year revealed that most of those paying the very top rate of tax or even those with a million pounds to their name did not feel rich. Yet, ultimately, if you have a roof over your head, and can keep warm, healthy and well fed, you are better off than most in the world.
The reality is that for many of us, and I certainly include myself here, financial stress is very much self-inflicted. The uncomfortable truth is that many of us spend more than we should and, as a result, we don’t invest as much as we could to achieve financial comfort and stability long-term.
Whether it’s so-called lifestyle creep or keeping up with the Joneses, as our incomes increase invariably so do our outgoings. Higher incomes breed higher spending drives. No one is denying that inflation and taxes haven’t made life an awful lot harder, but better money management could go a long way.
Life in the modern world is expensive. Most of us now have costly internet and mobile contracts that expose us to endless new ways of spending, whether it be on shopping apps or on exotic holidays promoted to us on social media. Many of us have six-figure incomes and don’t feel rich, but spend as if we are rich.
Yet we don’t have to fall into this trap. Money does buy you happiness as it allows you to live a richer life, but only to an extent — and there is such a thing as spending more than you should.
Does anyone really deserve to swan off to Bali for two weeks when they’ve got a huge mortgage hanging over them? Does anyone really need to be buying designer clothes when ones without a logo cost far less?
• There are better ways to get cash Isa savers to invest
Why sign up for a costly gym membership this month that you’ll probably never use when you can run outside in the fresh air for no charge, or go for a long walk in our beautiful countryside?
A harbinger of the 2008 recession was said to be a drop in demand for football shirts. My own theory is that our economy cannot be so bad if people are still buying dog ice cream.
Avoid compulsive buys by giving yourself a day or two to consider every purchase properly. Don’t let yourself be suckered in by marketing tricks. Consider that £100 wasted today could have been worth hundreds more if invested.
You can, of course, keep spending your money as you please. After all you’ve earned it. But the next time you wonder why you don’t feel as well off as you should, consider whether or not you’ve been spending wastefully and indulging, and whether that money would be better invested for future comfort and reward.
My goal this year is to use my excess income more to save and cut my mortgage burden rather than treating myself to unnecessary luxuries. I’ll be forcing myself to invest before I have the chance to spend it. Rather than saving scraps left over before the next payday, I’ll be committing to investing a chunk straight away with a direct debit into a stocks and shares Isa.
Even by putting just £50 a month into a simple global tracker fund, you’ll soon see it grow and grow, and wonder why you hadn’t done it sooner.
I suspect many people spend now and save later because they feel hopeless when it comes to retiring rich or even buying a nice home. However, the truth is that the only tried and tested way to beat inflation and build wealth over time is to invest in companies that will make money for you. Work out a plan. What do you want your money to do in your life and how can you achieve that?
• How rich are you? Find out with our wealth calculator
A six-figure income doesn’t automatically make you rich in Britain today because it doesn’t always get handled wisely. We need life’s luxuries to feel better off but it’s essential to get the balance right, and that’s what I’ll be focusing on more this year.
So there you have it. That’s my attempt at optimism in a new year in which our money and what we do with it will continue to shape the quality of life we and our families enjoy.
Most of us should feel richer than we do and it doesn’t come as easy as it perhaps should nowadays. However, the good news is that it is well within our power. Britain won’t make you rich any more; you have to do that all by yourself.