I write this having just returned from a most enjoyable sunny day at the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace. This, for the uninitiated, is essentially a posh car show. Many extremely rare cars of various vintages, from ancient to modern, each bearing an eye-watering price tag that you’d more likely associate with real estate. We’re talking ‘if you have to ask, you can’t afford it’ prices. And each one buffed to pristine perfection by its proud owner, with not an oily rag in sight.
A vehicle auction was also taking place, and the lots were parked rather elegantly in two of Hampton Court’s many courtyards. The first car you saw as you entered was a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage in silver fern, the familiar vehicle of choice for Connery’s James Bond that reprised its role more recently with Mr Craig. A quick look at the guide price set the tone for the event; £900,000 to £1.2m. Ouch. As someone who’s been known to make the odd spontaneous automotive purchase, my wife often frets when I go to car shows. In this instance, she needn’t have worried.
Unsurprisingly, it was an event where there was much wealth in evidence. The main sponsors were a champagne house and a premium watchmaker, and there was a picnic hamper stall run by Fortnum & Masons in case you fancied a spot of al fresco dining in the ‘grinds’. People wore hats and blazers. And the cars were lined up like works of art, with a small sign in front of each one detailing the car’s provenance and the name of its owner. Reading each sign, it was obvious that most owners were individuals rather than businesses. Many were, to be polite, not in the first flushes of youth, and each had enough disposable income to have a six-or-seven-figure asset parked today on Henry VIII’s driveway. Prestige car ownership for them was a pleasant retirement pastime, a chance to show off their pride and joy while meeting like-minded people of leisure at events like this, all while smartly dressed waiters kept their champagne flutes perpetually filled.
However, for many people, working out what their own retirement will look like in the future – and how they can finance it – isn’t something they prioritise. The problem is usually three-fold. Firstly, because they’re not yet close to retiring, they don’t think of retirement planning as a ‘today’ problem, so it doesn’t make it onto their action list (until it’s too late to do much about the outcome). They’re so used to affording stuff utilising the income they earn today that they don’t pause to think what they could afford when that income stops.
