Donate to Remove ads

Got a credit card? use our Credit Card & Finance Calculators

Thanks to johnstevens77,Bhoddhisatva,scotia,Anonymous,Cornytiv34, for Donating to support the site

How important is money to you?

A virtual pub for off topic, light hearted pub related banter and discussion. No trainers
UncleEbenezer
The full Lemon
Posts: 10689
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 8:17 pm
Has thanked: 1458 times
Been thanked: 2965 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429623

Postby UncleEbenezer » July 22nd, 2021, 12:53 pm

scrumpyjack wrote: I voluntarily moved a few years ago to a paid for account (£2 per month) because the credits that came with it ran to about £20 a month in cash). They have tightened up but I still get £10 cash credit each month (£4.50 for up to 2 direct debits and £1 for opening the mobile app once), so they are paying me £8 a month for the priviledge of providing the current account to me.

Not that begs a far more interesting question than bnc's story of a bank that wants him to take his business elsewhere ...

scrumpyjack
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 4811
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:15 am
Has thanked: 605 times
Been thanked: 2674 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429629

Postby scrumpyjack » July 22nd, 2021, 1:07 pm

UncleEbenezer wrote:
scrumpyjack wrote: I voluntarily moved a few years ago to a paid for account (£2 per month) because the credits that came with it ran to about £20 a month in cash). They have tightened up but I still get £10 cash credit each month (£4.50 for up to 2 direct debits and £1 for opening the mobile app once), so they are paying me £8 a month for the priviledge of providing the current account to me.

Not that begs a far more interesting question than bnc's story of a bank that wants him to take his business elsewhere ...


Not sure what you mean but it's nothing special. The only requirements are that you are over 18 and that you pay at least 1,250 per month into a NatWest a/c

https://personal.natwest.com/personal/c ... count.html

Itsallaguess
Lemon Half
Posts: 9129
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 1:16 pm
Has thanked: 4140 times
Been thanked: 10023 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429646

Postby Itsallaguess » July 22nd, 2021, 2:08 pm

UncleEbenezer wrote:
scrumpyjack wrote:
I voluntarily moved a few years ago to a paid for account (£2 per month) because the credits that came with it ran to about £20 a month in cash). They have tightened up but I still get £10 cash credit each month (£4.50 for up to 2 direct debits and £1 for opening the mobile app once), so they are paying me £8 a month for the priviledge of providing the current account to me.


Now that begs a far more interesting question than bnc's story of a bank that wants him to take his business elsewhere ...


Which is a bit unfortunate, given that this is what seems to be happening at his massage parlour as well!

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

brightncheerful
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2209
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 4:00 pm
Has thanked: 424 times
Been thanked: 799 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429701

Postby brightncheerful » July 22nd, 2021, 4:37 pm

Please tell me that is some kind of special account, and not a bog standard current account?


Lloyds Bank Gold Service Account. The account 'benefits' include credit card loss insurance, AA vehicle breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance, AXA world-wide multi-trip family travel insurance. Long ago i registered my credit cards with their provider but haven't updated for years and probably most cards are no longer valid: also I don't think the provider is the same as before. The travel insurance i am sceptical of and tend to make my own arrangements regardless. The breakdown cover never used as it comes with the car. I hadn't realised it included mobile phone insurance. The account is free provided I pay in at least £2000 a month but from next year the bank is removing the option to get the fee waived.

i shall have to work out which is cheaper: pay £179.40 a year in exchange for not having to pay in at least £2000 pm, and the difference between what it would cost to take out the insurances etc separately.

dealtn
Lemon Half
Posts: 6072
Joined: November 21st, 2016, 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 441 times
Been thanked: 2324 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429719

Postby dealtn » July 22nd, 2021, 5:32 pm

brightncheerful wrote:
Please tell me that is some kind of special account, and not a bog standard current account?


Lloyds Bank Gold Service Account. The account 'benefits' include credit card loss insurance, AA vehicle breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance, AXA world-wide multi-trip family travel insurance. Long ago i registered my credit cards with their provider but haven't updated for years and probably most cards are no longer valid: also I don't think the provider is the same as before. The travel insurance i am sceptical of and tend to make my own arrangements regardless. The breakdown cover never used as it comes with the car. I hadn't realised it included mobile phone insurance. The account is free provided I pay in at least £2000 a month but from next year the bank is removing the option to get the fee waived.



So its not charging you £14-95 for providing a current account then. It has packaged a range of services together with a current account in return for that monthly fee.

Presumably if it's not value at that price you can still have a free current account, but pay additionally, or not at all, for any of the other services?

Clitheroekid
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2856
Joined: November 6th, 2016, 9:58 pm
Has thanked: 1384 times
Been thanked: 3771 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429747

Postby Clitheroekid » July 22nd, 2021, 7:18 pm

I think one's attitude to money is heavily influenced by whether one has ever been without it.

I would guess that the very large majority of Fools are in the fortunate position of never having known real poverty. The knowledge that even when times are tough there is always a reserve to fall back on, whether it be savings, equity in a house or just generous friends and family makes an incredible difference. It means that one can speculate to accumulate, and as we all know, if you have spare money to invest it's not that difficult to make it grow, thereby adding to the underlying level of confidence.

For those fortunate people their attitude to money is, as has been demonstrated in these posts, jolly sensible - it's nice to have it, and it can be entertaining to invest it and see it grow, but it's not at all the main driving force of life.

But for those who don't have that solid infrastructure the acquisition of money is far more important, and often becomes an end in itself, with little consideration of what to actually do with it.

I'm sure we all know people who, in best rags to riches tradition, started with nothing and ended up extremely wealthy. Of course there are some who adjust perfectly well, and gradually adopt a Foolish attitude, but there are many others who continue striving to increase their wealth far beyond anything they could ever hope to spend.

I suspect this is not - or not only - driven by greed. There’s an element of fear there, as well. Such people have been mentally scarred by the memories of extreme poverty and a subconscious terror that the edifice may crumble, leaving them back where they started. Consequently, building wealth is like building a huge barrier between themselves and that poverty.

Strangely, I see an element of that in myself. I was brought up in a reasonably affluent, though not really wealthy family, so started off with that all-important infrastructure. But following a personal disaster in my 20's I lost everything I had and more. I was unable to work, and ended up for a while living on benefits in serious debt. Although I’ve no doubt my family would have helped me I chose, rightly or wrongly, to conceal my situation from them.

But it came as a horrible shock, particularly after living in relative affluence. I'd already accumulated a fair amount of savings, but they went remarkably quickly. Like most ordinary people I had no idea just how little a single man is entitled to in benefits (I don't know if it's the same now) and it really was very hard to manage.

One of the worst aspects was that although the benefits were enough to live on day to day they were certainly not enough to enable me to put anything aside, so any unexpected cost was a huge problem. And that meant that I was constantly worried about such a cost arising and how I would deal with it.

Fortunately I got through it, and rebuilt my life, ultimately becoming fairly wealthy. Like many fellow Fools I now have more than I could ever envisage spending during the rest of my life.

However, even though rationally I know it's virtually impossible I still have a fragment of that irrational background fear of losing everything, and whether it's due to my history or not I've ended up with a rather split personality attitude towards money.

On the one hand I can be ridiculously thrifty, rejoicing when something I was going to buy anyway in Tesco is reduced by 50p, or making sure that room lights are switched off to save wasting electricity; on the other hand I can spend a lot on a bottle of wine or a holiday without thinking twice about it.

Perhaps these odd attitudes are just two sides of the same coin. That memory of poverty makes me cautious about wasting scarce resources, but it also makes me rather reckless - an `enjoy it while it lasts' feeling.

I should also say that I don't give much thought to such matters on a day to day basis - it's just reading this thread that has made me consider it.

But unpleasant as it was I'm overall glad that I did have that experience all those years ago. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of it was that I discovered I could have nothing yet still actively enjoy life, despite the financial worries. I think that many people who worry about ending up in that situation genuinely believe they wouldn't survive it, so that the prospect is far worse than the reality.

Though I suppose the Government has a vested interest in fostering that belief! ;)

scrumpyjack
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 4811
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:15 am
Has thanked: 605 times
Been thanked: 2674 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429750

Postby scrumpyjack » July 22nd, 2021, 7:39 pm

Yes, CK, I very much agree with all that but would add a couple of points.

For some driven people who become very successful and make a lot of money, money becomes the scoreboard and getting more and more is, to them, increasing their score in life. So they seek ever more, not because they want to spend it on something, but to chalk it up on their scoreboard.

Also everything is relative and that is also very much the case with wealth. The less well off in this country would be considered pretty wealthy if they were in Bangladesh! People in this country can come from a well off family, but if all their wider family, friends and contacts are much much wealthier, they can consider themselves poor.

UncleEbenezer
The full Lemon
Posts: 10689
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 8:17 pm
Has thanked: 1458 times
Been thanked: 2965 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429757

Postby UncleEbenezer » July 22nd, 2021, 8:17 pm

Clitheroekid wrote:I think one's attitude to money is heavily influenced by whether one has ever been without it.

I think you're basically describing what I called financial security. There's a story (probably apocryphal) about Bill Gates (when he was still at MS and the world's richest man), buying some everyday thing in a regular store, holding up a queue faffing about over his change so the person behind him in the queue slammed down a ten dollar bill in frustration.

scrumpyjack wrote:The less well off in this country would be considered pretty wealthy if they were in Bangladesh!

Not quite that simple.

We're a money-oriented society. Try sleeping out in our streets, scavenging for food, and society will give you a hard time. I can't actually speak for Bangladesh: can you?

scrumpyjack
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 4811
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:15 am
Has thanked: 605 times
Been thanked: 2674 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429758

Postby scrumpyjack » July 22nd, 2021, 8:21 pm

UncleEbenezer wrote:
Clitheroekid wrote:I think one's attitude to money is heavily influenced by whether one has ever been without it.

I think you're basically describing what I called financial security. There's a story (probably apocryphal) about Bill Gates (when he was still at MS and the world's richest man), buying some everyday thing in a regular store, holding up a queue faffing about over his change so the person behind him in the queue slammed down a ten dollar bill in frustration.

scrumpyjack wrote:The less well off in this country would be considered pretty wealthy if they were in Bangladesh!

Not quite that simple.

We're a money-oriented society. Try sleeping out in our streets, scavenging for food, and society will give you a hard time. I can't actually speak for Bangladesh: can you?


The official definition of poverty in this country is one based on relative wealth, not an absolute figure.

"Households are considered to be below the UK poverty line if their income is 60% below the median household income after housing costs for that year."

UncleEbenezer
The full Lemon
Posts: 10689
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 8:17 pm
Has thanked: 1458 times
Been thanked: 2965 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429777

Postby UncleEbenezer » July 22nd, 2021, 10:26 pm

scrumpyjack wrote:The official definition

What's that got to do with anything in the real world?

Though to be fair, you said "less well off", I talked of the genuinely poor. Not the same thing.

scrumpyjack
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 4811
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:15 am
Has thanked: 605 times
Been thanked: 2674 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429785

Postby scrumpyjack » July 22nd, 2021, 11:18 pm

I said wealth is relative not absolute

Redmires
Lemon Slice
Posts: 786
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 6:49 pm
Has thanked: 831 times
Been thanked: 436 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429801

Postby Redmires » July 23rd, 2021, 12:50 am

There is nothing quite as wonderful as money
There is nothing quite as beautiful as cash
Some people say it's folly
But I rather have the lolly
With money, you can make a smash

There is nothing quite as wonderful as money (money, money, money, money)
There is nothing like a newly minted pound (money, money, money, money)
Everyone must hanker for the butchness of a banker
It's accountancy that makes the world go 'round (round, round, round)

Lootman
The full Lemon
Posts: 18674
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 3:58 pm
Has thanked: 628 times
Been thanked: 6559 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429855

Postby Lootman » July 23rd, 2021, 9:27 am

Clitheroekid wrote: there are many others who continue striving to increase their wealth far beyond anything they could ever hope to spend.

Like many fellow Fools I now have more than I could ever envisage spending during the rest of my life.

However, even though rationally I know it's virtually impossible I still have a fragment of that irrational background fear of losing everything, and whether it's due to my history or not I've ended up with a rather split personality attitude towards money.

On the one hand I can be ridiculously thrifty, rejoicing when something I was going to buy anyway in Tesco is reduced by 50p, or making sure that room lights are switched off to save wasting electricity; on the other hand I can spend a lot on a bottle of wine or a holiday without thinking twice about it.

Perhaps these odd attitudes are just two sides of the same coin.

I also alternate between acts of profligacy and acts of scrooge-like cheapness. Internationally I will fly long-haul first class and stay in 5 star hotels. But then domestically I never pay for first class on trains and often stay in a Ibis, Premier Inn or Travelodge. Likewise I blew £220 for dinner for three the other night but will buy myself a £2 salad from M&S for lunch.

Of course I could argue that a frugal approach to spending is all part of achieving financial success anyway. And in fact I suspect that there are very few Lemons who genuinely could not spend everything they have. It is just that they have a pattern of expenditure that means it is unlikely. Put another way I would bet there are many Lemons who are worth a few million but none who are worth a few billion, and it is only the latter who truly could not spend it if they had a mind to.

I do see my net worth as a scorecard, as someone else phrased it. The number has a life of its own irrespective of whether I actually spend it or give it away. And in fact it is only the spectre of losing 40% of it to IHT that has caused me to start being a lot more liberal with my use of money. I don't mind if I don't get around to spending it all but damned if I want the government getting 40% of it for nothing. So I now take the view that everything is on a 40% sale. Buy now!

brightncheerful
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2209
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 4:00 pm
Has thanked: 424 times
Been thanked: 799 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429866

Postby brightncheerful » July 23rd, 2021, 9:56 am

dealtn wrote:
brightncheerful wrote:
Please tell me that is some kind of special account, and not a bog standard current account?


Lloyds Bank Gold Service Account. The account 'benefits' include credit card loss insurance, AA vehicle breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance, AXA world-wide multi-trip family travel insurance. Long ago i registered my credit cards with their provider but haven't updated for years and probably most cards are no longer valid: also I don't think the provider is the same as before. The travel insurance i am sceptical of and tend to make my own arrangements regardless. The breakdown cover never used as it comes with the car. I hadn't realised it included mobile phone insurance. The account is free provided I pay in at least £2000 a month but from next year the bank is removing the option to get the fee waived.



So its not charging you £14-95 for providing a current account then. It has packaged a range of services together with a current account in return for that monthly fee.

Presumably if it's not value at that price you can still have a free current account, but pay additionally, or not at all, for any of the other services?


You have misunderstood. It is the account I have now - and have had for some 25 years - that has all those benefits, free of charge. It is from July next year that the Bank will charge a monthly fee.

dubre
2 Lemon pips
Posts: 124
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 2:41 pm
Has thanked: 205 times
Been thanked: 54 times

Re: How important is money to you?

#429878

Postby dubre » July 23rd, 2021, 10:39 am

Attitude to money changes with time and circustances. I have sometimes chosen to earn and acquire less, arguing to myself that I had no need.

On the other hand there have been times when I wished that I had put more effort into acquiring much more. More wealth may have enabled me to save my football club or perhaps, prevented a property developer from destroying some of our local Green Belt.


Return to “Beerpig's Snug”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests