Saving is no longer enough to get rich for Britons

New research revealing that the average UK worker would need to save more than 50 years of pay to reach the wealth of the top 10% underscores a stark truth: saving alone is no longer a viable route to become wealthy, warns Nigel Green, the CEO of global financial advisory giant deVere Group.

The Resolution Foundation this week found that a typical full-time employee would have to set aside 52 years’ worth of income to join Britain’s wealthiest 10%, compared with 38 years in the late 2000s.

The report highlights that household wealth has become increasingly concentrated among those who already hold property and pensions — assets that have surged in value over the past decade.

Nigel Green says the findings are a wake-up call for anyone relying solely on savings.

“This confirms what we’ve long been saying: saving is not enough. Wages have stagnated in real terms while asset prices have accelerated.

“It now takes decades of disciplined saving just to reach where capital growth could take you in a few good investment cycles.

“The gap between savers and investors is no longer narrow, it’s generational.”

He continues: “You can’t save your way into wealth anymore. The financial system rewards ownership of assets, not accumulation of cash.

Inflation and rising living costs mean money left idle in savings is effectively shrinking. The only way to build genuine, lasting wealth is through investing, where compounding works for you, not against you.”

Recent data shows how economic advantage has become entrenched.

Britain’s wealthiest households have seen their net worth soar as property values and pension pots expanded, while younger and less affluent households have failed to keep pace. The wealth gap between people in their early 30s and early 60s has doubled since the financial crisis.

“The structure of wealth creation has fundamentally changed,” says the deVere Group CEO.

“Those who already own assets are benefitting from long-term policy and market dynamics that continue to inflate capital values.

“The challenge for everyone is to participate in that growth, which means investing early and consistently. Waiting until you ‘have enough to invest’ is how people get permanently priced out.”

He adds that the psychology of saving, while traditionally prudent, can now hold people back.

“There’s still a deep cultural bias toward saving as safety, but in a high-asset, post-inflation world, that safety is an illusion. Investors are being paid for taking calculated risk; savers are paying for avoiding it. The longer the delay, the harder it becomes to close that gap.”

While public debate increasingly turns to wealth taxation, Nigel Green says the real focus should be on empowering more people to grow capital through investment.

“The conversation around redistribution misses the bigger opportunity — participation.

“Taxing wealth does not build wealth. Educating and enabling people to invest does. Investing is the democratisation of opportunity.”

He concludes: “The era when hard work and steady saving could reliably build prosperity is over. In the new economy, capital growth is the engine of wealth, and investment is the driver.

“Those who act on that truth now will shape their future; those who don’t could find that saving has quietly become standing still.”