Name: Wealth signifiers.
Age: We know from cave paintings and burial sites that Homo sapiens started to live a more settled life about 35,000 years ago – not just hunting and gathering, but trading, too. The ones who had the most tools, weapons, food and baskets were seen as the wealthy ones.
A bit of art on the wall, posh restaurants, a nice laundry basket from Etsy … nothing much has changed in those 35 millennia, then? Ah, well, funny you should say that. There’s actually some new research …
By? It was done by YouGov for HSBC UK’s report Your Money’s Worth: Defining Wealth in 2025. They surveyed 2,000 people across the UK.
What did they find? That wealth is signified by a Porsche and a gold Rolex? If they’d done it in the 1980s, maybe.
So what are the wealth signifiers today? For 49%, it’s having investments …
Boring! Next! Closely followed by being able to retire early (48%).
Ah, yes, the dream. And to travel often (also 48%).
Thanks, but can we get down to what today’s burial-site tools and Porsches are, please? A private driveway, according to 19% of those surveyed, without specifying what should be parked on it.
Nice. On-street parking is so common. And for 10%, a key marker of wealth is an island.
Now we’re talking – like the ones owned by the Barclay brothers and Richard Branson? Er, not actual islands – they’re for the extremely wealthy. Kitchen islands.
Fine, I’ll get one of them with a marble top. We’ll call it Capri. But it’s not just about material goods and money.
Isn’t it? Fifteen per cent think wealth is linked to strong personal relationships, while 14% see a good work-life balance and the ability to enjoy life as a sign of affluence.
What? Who are these people? The younger ones. The study found that under-35s are more likely to see wealth through wellbeing.
Of course they are. They’ll grow out of it. Of course they will.
Do say [in your best caveperson’s voice]: “Put that nice, big, shiny boulder down here, near the fire … Look, an island, we’re rich! Quick, get Fred and Wilma over.”
Don’t say: “I used to have a Thunderbirds Tracy Island, does that count?”
Article by:Source: Guardian Staff
