Could Wimbledon’s record prize of £2.7 million fund a millionaire lifestyle?

Apart from winning one of the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world, there may be another reason Carlos Alcaraz is celebrating his Wimbledon win. The prize for this year’s Grand Slam was the largest ever offered by the organisers of world-famous competition, standing at £2.7 million for the winners of the men's and women's singles champions.

That’s a significant amount of money and would be life changing for most people. If you thought it was enough to stop working and enjoy a millionaire’s lifestyle for the rest of your days you might be disappointed, although this would largely depend on your age.

With this in mind, let’s look at how much a millionaire’s lifestyle could cost in 2024. Before you do though, we need to consider what a ‘millionaire’s lifestyle’ might look like.

Millionaire’s typically have two luxury homes, staff and expensive cars

The best way to determine what a millionaire’s lifestyle might look like is to look back to 1980. This is because research published by the Guardian revealed that back then, £1 million would have bought you all the creature comforts usually associated with a millionaire lifestyle.

This would have included:

  • a five-bedroom luxury home
  • an apartment in the South of France
  • two members of staff
  • two luxury cars.

So against this backdrop, let’s look at how much these could cost you today.

A five-bedroom luxury home could start at £2 million

If you look at Rightmove in July 2024, you’ll see that a five-bedroom luxury home in London will easily eat up the prize money in one go. Homes in the smarter parts of London start at £2.3 million and can exceed £30 million.

For example, in July 2024, you could buy a palatial three-storey five-bedroom home that wouldn’t look out of place on television’s Grand Designs. Sitting in two acres of manicured gardens with tennis court and swimming pool, this majestic lair is located on one of Highgate’s most sought-after roads and could be yours for £32 million.

If you’re looking outside the capital, on the other hand, it’s much easier to buy a luxury home for less. For example, a five-bedroom home in a prestigious part of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, can be bought for £2.5 million.

Alternatively, you could opt for an impressive contemporary house with the same number of bedrooms for £4 million in Wilmslow, Cheshire. In Northumberland, you could buy an elegant looking Georgian stone property with five bedrooms, long stately driveway and five acres of land that includes elegant, landscaped gardens for £2.95 million.

An apartment in the South of France could cost millions

The South of France has always been the playground of the rich and famous, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that buying an apartment there isn’t cheap. According to Knight Frank in July 2024, a stylish two-bedroom apartment in the highly desirable town of Cannes could cost between £930,000 and £4.6 million.

Upgrade to a three bedroom and you could be paying a lot more. For example, if you want to ‘wow’ friends, you could buy a seventh-floor apartment that wouldn’t look out of place in a James Bond film, complete with views of the sea, 24-hour concierge and a spa, for £7.3 million.

Having two staff may could cost up to £60,000 a year

Having a cook or gardener to do the household chores while you get on with enjoying your jet-set lifestyle could cost you around £48,000 a year, according to Totaljobs. It reveals that a cook earns, on average, £23,000 a year in 2024, while a gardener could demand an annual income of £25,000.

If you’d rather have a butler or a chauffeur, your staffing costs could go up, as these two demand higher salaries. Totaljobs reveals that the average wage of a butler is £32,500 a year, with a chauffeur’s average income is £27,000.

This means your total annual wage bill for a butler and chauffeur could cost close to £60,000 a year, and you’d still have to mow the lawn and cook your own meals!

Owning two Rolls Royces will cost £600,000 or more

Nothing says “millionaire lifestyle” like a Rolls Royce. With their sumptuous interiors and magic carpet ride, the brand is synonymous with elegance, royalty and movie star status.

In July 2024, the price of entering the exclusive world of Rolls Royce ownership is £300,000, which is the starting price of a Rolls Royce Ghost. Its larger and statelier stable mate, the Phantom, begins at £428,000.

The all-electric Spectre coupe with its ‘ultra-luxe’ cabin and beautiful exterior that fuses elegance with a purposeful, sporty stance, starts at £357,700. All that said, you may prefer the idea of another prestigious vehicle from the UK and opt for a Range Rover.

Today, this one-time workhorse has become a must have for the rich and famous, thanks to its stunning looks, performance and luxurious interiors. While the entry-level HSE model starts at £110,105, if you want all the creature comforts you’d expect in a millionaire’s ‘ride’, you should expect to pay upwards of £161,775 for an SV model.

If you want your second car to have a bit more oomph, you could look at a Porsche 911. This has been a firm favourite with celebrities and the wealthy for decades and starts at £159,100. Alternatively, you could choose the limited edition 911 S/T, which his capable of catapulting itself to 60mph in 3.7 seconds and boasts a top speed of 186 mph.

Small surprise that Porsche claims the £231,000 S/T ‘maximises driving pleasure’, although you may need nerves of steel to fully appreciate it. If you want some Italian exotica, you could opt for a Ferrari instead, which could start at £175,000 and continue well above £400,000, depending on the model you choose.

To live like a millionaire in 2024, you need more than £4 million

As you can see, £1 million doesn’t go as far as it used to in 1980. One reason for this is inflation, which is the rate at which goods and services increase over time.

This reduces your money’s spending power, which is why £1m today buys less than it did 44 years ago. Indeed, the Bank of England’s inflation calculator reveals that you would need £4.16 million in May 2024 to have the same spending power as £1 million in 1980.  

The good news is that there may be a way to potentially protect your wealth from the effects of inflation. Investing it. Historically, investing has typically provided greater long-term growth than cash savings, which could help to protect your money’s value in real terms.

Always remember that investing carries risks, and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. As a result, you may get back less than you originally invested.

Get in touch

If you would like to discuss investing to help inflation-proof your wealth, and whether it’s right for you, please contact us on 01527 577775 or please feel free to speak to one of our advisers, as we’d be happy to help.

 

Wednesday 17 July 2024