My Name is William H. Pratt, Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht!
So what it is with fic writers constantly making Spike independently wealthy, with secret Swiss bank accounts and real estate investments and stuff? There's some support for the idea that Angel's got a source of money somewhere: he lives in a nice apartment, and has nice art and nice clothes, and hasn't been killing people for awhile, so he had to pay for it somehow. Later on, on his own show, while Cordelia and Doyle complain about money, he never does - and he still has nice art and nice clothes. Angel is also set up as a guy who, despite his moments of "Get 'Em!" is known to make long-term, fairly complex plans. So I can see where people get the idea that he must have an equally nice nest egg squirreled away somewhere.
Spike, on the other hand, lives in a crypt (or later, a super-ratty apartment) furnished with stuff that's obviously stolen or scrounged from dumps and thrift stores. He wears the same outfit all the time. But that aside, absolutely nothing about Spike's personality gives the impression that he's the kind of guy who prudently saves his pennies and invests them. He's a seize the day, live in the moment type. He was once plunked into a cavern full of treasure, and saving the one magical ring he wanted, he showed no sign of giving a damn about any of it. Of all the methods of giving him a fortune, saying that he kept all the loot from the cave where the Gem of Amara was located is probably the most plausible, but the fact remains that Spike's lifestyle in seasons 4/5/6/7 does not square in the slightest with the idea that he has tons of money. Spike's capable of the effort and focus it would take to get a large amount of money together in a short period of time*, but he wouldn't be able to keep it. He gets bored. If you gave Spike a fortune, he'd blow it on whiskey, smokes, and extravagant presents for Dru and/or Buffy in a hot second.
I understand the impulse to make characters' financial worries go away, because let's face it, financial worries are kinda dull. They're something we all have to deal with in real life, and most of us don't go to our favorite supernatural horror show to watch the characters fret about the mortgage. But on the other hand, making the characters' lives too easy is a sure-fire way to make them dull, too. My preference is to strike a balance: sure, give the characters a source of income, but don't make it too extravagant, and don't make it inexhaustible. That way you can tuck it into the background if you want to concentrate on supernatural menaces (Buffy can pay the bills because she has a day job at the ice rink!) or bring it into the foreground if you want to add a touch of real-life conflict (Oh, no! A Zamboni Demon destroyed the ice rink, and Buffy was laid off!)**
I suspect that at least part of the trend of making Spike a Sekrit Millionaire (or thousandaire, at least) comes from the desire to write stories which follow the traditional genre romance pattern of Older, Richer, More Powerful Guy. Same urge which makes him a viscount or whatever in so many fanfics which were written pre Fool For Love. People want to read stories about the girl being swept away by a guy who can take care of her in every respect. But one of the main reasons I like Buffy is that she can take care of herself.
*But he wouldn't be doing it with real estate investments. He'd be taking contracts for demon-killing or knocking over a jewelry store or something like that.
** I spend an unusual amount of time on my characters' financial concerns in my own fic, because one of my favorite things is figuring out how supernatural stuff interfaces with mundane stuff. Coming up with day jobs which can fit into a life of slaying with reasonable facility is my jam.
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