20 years on - 80s Yuppies reveal their financial habits

Yesterday's Yuppies Become Today's Anxious Majority

Almost half (45%) of yesterday's Yuppies say they struggle financially or fail to live within their means today.

Glitzy dining out and cool gadgets give way to green concerns and good causes.

Seven out of ten Yuppies of the 1980s acknowledge they should have put more aside for the future, and nearly half (46%) have less than £250,000 of 'worldly goods'.

Paying off their mortgage remains a top money worry today for yesterday's high spenders, as well as saving for retirement and paying off debts

Twenty years on from the height of the "Yuppie" phenomenon, marked by hit film Wall Street and Margaret Thatcher's third term re-election, a bespoke survey by financial group Liverpool Victoria reveals that former high flying Yuppies or 'Young Urban Professionals' have become today's anxious majority. Now well into middle age (45-55 years old), the buoyant and carefree images of Golf GTIs, giant mobile phones, filofaxes and glitzy dining out have given way to green concerns and the strains of everyday financial commitments, with almost half of yesterday's Yuppies (45%) admitting they struggle or fail to live within their means today.

The research from the UK's largest friendly society, Association of Friendly Societies Year Book 2006-2007, Total Net Assets Liverpool Victoria reveals that half as many former Yuppies still spend money today on dining out compared with the 1980s (20% in the 1980s, 9% in 2007), and a third fewer buy the latest gadgets (18% in the 1980s, 13% now). In contrast, twice as many make regular charitable donations nowadays (21% versus 9%) and five times as many are environmentally friendly or eat organically (16% versus 3% respectively).

With financial commitments straining their purse strings 20 years on, seven out of ten (70%) former Yuppies acknowledge they should of saved more earlier in their careers, and nearly a third (32%) worry about how they would cope if their regular income stopped.

Nigel Snell, Communications Director of Liverpool Victoria said: "Our research on Yuppies has found that yesterday's privileged minority appears to have become part of today's anxious majority. Their concerns span not only their own financial and family commitments, but also the wider environmental and social agenda.

"Despite the champagne lifestyle and optimism of the time, our research reveals that many former high flyers have ended up no better off than the average midlife family. They are just as worried about meeting the monthly bills, the cost of bringing up their kids and how they will fund their old age."