When Tom Robertson got a job as a senior investment analyst with a £70,000 salary, he thought he would finally feel “well off”.
But despite taking home almost twice the average UK salary and having built up a £60,000 savings pot, 27-year-old Tom, from Cardiff, still doesn’t feel financially comfortable. In fact, he still regularly worries about money.
“In most senses, I’m where I hoped to be by my mid-20s – I have a comfortable salary, I can pay my bills, and my partner and we have been able to buy our first home together,” Tom said.
“But despite all that, I don’t yet feel 100 per cent ‘secure’ yet. I don’t know what ‘well off’ even looks like any more. Prices are rising and changing so quickly now, so the goal posts are constantly changing.”
Tom graduated from Swansea University with a masters in finance and data analytics, and has worked in analyst roles for over five years, working up to his current £70,000 salary.
He has also been proactively saving money for over 12 years and managed to buy his own home. He has around £60,500 in savings left over, with £7,000 kept in a cash savings account and over £53,000 held in investments.
Yet, he still doesn’t feel financially secure and worries about having enough money for the future.
“Day to day, I know I’m comfortable, but it’s the more expensive choices like holidays and home projects where I still don’t feel comfortable spending, as I would wipe out a big chunk of my savings and investments. I’m at a stage where I don’t want to eat into what I’ve built up.
“I think psychologically, I’d need to earn or have six figures saved to feel comfortable. Despite being a comparatively high earner and having saved since I was 15 years old, I still just worry a lot that it won’t go far enough.”
Tom is far from alone in worrying about money despite earning well above the average salary. According to a recent survey by savings app Plum, one in five savers earning over £50,000 a year – almost reaching the higher-rate tax bracket – worry “constantly” about their savings.
Many don’t have even close to that number. One fifth of UK adults have less than £1,000 in savings, according to the latest data from the finance watchdog, while the median annual salary was £39,039 as of April 2025, ONS data shows.
Vix Leyton, consumer finance expert at ThinkMoney, said that earnings of over £50,000 are still thought of as being a “high salary”, but that amount of money can’t buy the same lifestyle that it could even 10 years ago.
“One of the biggest money myths at the moment is what ‘well off’ actually looks like. £50,000 to £70,000 used to sound like you had made it, but now, for a lot of people, it just means you’re slightly less stressed than everyone else,” Vix said.
“People still think hitting a certain salary should unlock a house deposit or serious savings, because that’s what it used to do. The reality now is that the same income just does not stretch in the same way, and that disconnect can make people feel like they are failing or behind when they aren’t.”
Camilla Esmund, senior manager at Interactive Investor, added that people earning medium-high salaries feel less well-off because of “fiscal drag” – a type of stealth tax where the government freezes tax thresholds so that as your salary rises to cover increasing costs, you pay a bigger proportion in tax.
“The individual tax burden is impacting so many more of us, now, not only those who we’d traditionally think of as very high earners. A core reason for this is fiscal drag, which is literally dragging more of us into a higher tax bracket,” she said.
“But this isn’t the only factor at play. The increased cost of living is a further squeeze on our finances, and inflation continues to bite.”
How to make your savings work harder
If you feel like you’re saving a lot of money but still don’t feel comfortable, it can pay to make your savings work harder – boosting the amount you have set aside faster.
Camilla said: “A great way to protect our money is to maximise tax-saving opportunities, helping you keep more of your growth and income. In a nutshell, this means using tax-wrappers such as ISAs and pensions.”
You can contribute up to £20,000 per year into ISAs – although from next April, you will only be able to put up to £12,000 of this into a cash ISA, where interest on your savings is tax-free. The other main type of ISA is a stocks and shares ISA, where you can invest your money and the returns are tax-free.
Camilla added that investing could potentially boost your finances if you’re aiming to save for the longer term.
“It’s worth remembering that inflation erodes the value of cash over time. If suitable for you, your stage of life, and your risk tolerance, investing in the stock market has the potential to outpace inflation and deliver better returns than savings accounts over time, but you must be prepared to be invested for the long haul.”
Camilla added that if you’re newer to saving and are looking for somewhere to start, there are tools on most banking apps like rounding up spending, which siphons off small amounts of money over time so you don’t even notice.
“It’s also worth occasionally auditing your background spend. Subscriptions are the obvious one – people are often surprised how much they are paying for things they barely use. You don’t need to cut everything, but being a bit more deliberate about what stays can free up money for savings, without making life feel stripped back.”
Hence then, the article about at 27 i earn 70 000 and have 60 000 in savings but don t feel financially secure was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( At 27, I earn £70,000 and have £60,000 in savings but don’t feel financially secure )
Also on site :