By Amol Rajan (The Indepedent) Published: 17 November 2007
With their fast cars, formidably slick outfits and flash Filofaxes they epitomised the brash consumer culture of the late Eighties, swearing by such unashamedly mercantilist slogans as "greed is good" and 'show me the money'.
But, two decades on, the once-profligate yuppie is no longer the toast of the town. Today he (or she) cuts a forlorn figure, harbouring regrets over his lavish lifestyle and wishing he had put prudence ahead of pleasure.
Almost half of yesterday's yuppies now "struggle financially or fail to live within their means", according to new research. More than 70 per cent acknowledge they "should have put more aside for the future", and 46 per cent have less than £250,000 of "worldly goods". Nearly one in three former yuppies is very anxious about how they would cope if their regular income stopped.
Twenty years on from an age of mobile phone "bricks", Volkswagen Golf GTIs, and Margaret Thatcher's third election victory, former yuppies, now approaching 50, prefer to spend their diminishing disposable incomes on worthier causes. The generation of middle-class money-getters, the "young urban professionals", have been converted into anxious do-gooders, pre-occupied by green concerns and eco-shopping.
Whereas only 9 per cent made regular charitable donations at the end of the Eighties, 21 per cent do so now. And while only 3 per cent used to consider themselves environmentally friendly or eat organic food, now 16 per cent do. As their ethical spending increases, however, other luxuries have had to be curtailed.
One in five yuppies would regularly have spent money on dining out, whereas only 9 per cent would today. Gadgets, once the most visible of yuppie status symbols, are also less important, with a third fewer buying the latest items upon release.
The research, conducted by the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, reveals deep-seated anxiety among former yuppies who are struggling for security now they've reached middle-age. Only 15 per cent say they now have more than £500,000 worth of assets, including their home, and 40 per cent believe they did not save "anywhere near enough" during their early career.
"We remember yuppies for their power suits, lavish lunches, and a live-for-today spirit, and many may well have thought the champagne lifestyle would never go flat," says Nigel Snell of Liverpool Victoria. But times have changed, and unfavourably.
More than four in 10 used to believe they were high earners for their age in the Eighties, but almost the same proportion believes they are earning less than the average salary for their age today. Nearly half say they worked too many hours at the start of their careers, and 35 per cent believe they still do today.
"Despite the optimism of the time, many high-flyers have ended up no better off than the average midlife family," says Mr Snell. "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."
With their fast cars, formidably slick outfits and flash Filofaxes they epitomised the brash consumer culture of the late Eighties, swearing by such unashamedly mercantilist slogans as "greed is good" and 'show me the money'.
But, two decades on, the once-profligate yuppie is no longer the toast of the town. Today he (or she) cuts a forlorn figure, harbouring regrets over his lavish lifestyle and wishing he had put prudence ahead of pleasure.
Almost half of yesterday's yuppies now "struggle financially or fail to live within their means", according to new research. More than 70 per cent acknowledge they "should have put more aside for the future", and 46 per cent have less than £250,000 of "worldly goods". Nearly one in three former yuppies is very anxious about how they would cope if their regular income stopped.
Twenty years on from an age of mobile phone "bricks", Volkswagen Golf GTIs, and Margaret Thatcher's third election victory, former yuppies, now approaching 50, prefer to spend their diminishing disposable incomes on worthier causes. The generation of middle-class money-getters, the "young urban professionals", have been converted into anxious do-gooders, pre-occupied by green concerns and eco-shopping.
Whereas only 9 per cent made regular charitable donations at the end of the Eighties, 21 per cent do so now. And while only 3 per cent used to consider themselves environmentally friendly or eat organic food, now 16 per cent do. As their ethical spending increases, however, other luxuries have had to be curtailed.
One in five yuppies would regularly have spent money on dining out, whereas only 9 per cent would today. Gadgets, once the most visible of yuppie status symbols, are also less important, with a third fewer buying the latest items upon release.
The research, conducted by the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, reveals deep-seated anxiety among former yuppies who are struggling for security now they've reached middle-age. Only 15 per cent say they now have more than £500,000 worth of assets, including their home, and 40 per cent believe they did not save "anywhere near enough" during their early career.
"We remember yuppies for their power suits, lavish lunches, and a live-for-today spirit, and many may well have thought the champagne lifestyle would never go flat," says Nigel Snell of Liverpool Victoria. But times have changed, and unfavourably.
More than four in 10 used to believe they were high earners for their age in the Eighties, but almost the same proportion believes they are earning less than the average salary for their age today. Nearly half say they worked too many hours at the start of their careers, and 35 per cent believe they still do today.
"Despite the optimism of the time, many high-flyers have ended up no better off than the average midlife family," says Mr Snell. "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."
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