Why would you want to save?

[Deleted User]

I am 60 and I have saved and most of my savings are in inflation-proofed ns&i certs. I am laughing because my financial future is secure and no way on earth do I regret doing without exotic holidays, designer clothes and flash cars. It is wonderful to get to my age and to be able to make choices to suit me

It is hard to see ahead from 30+ to retirement but believe me it does come to all of us and it is a great great feeling to get there financially secure and able to live the high life if I so wish.

Aegis

Pssst wrote: »

Some people have put up moral counter arguements to my OP.

Again i say,if we have a system that

(a) allows you to live the high life then go bankrupt
(b) shifts the burden to the taxpayer via nil rate codes
(c) pays people who dont save/dont have a pension etc more on retirement

then morals dont come into it.

Say it as many times as you like, it doesn't make it any less of a non-sequitur. Morals by definition have to come into it when you're talking about one person trying to rip off the rest of society. In any case, you've completely missed the point with c) above, which is that the pittance you get for extra pension credit is absolutely nothing compared to what you could have by investing in your own future. Forgive me for wanting a better life than what I'd get with little over £100 per week, especially if I'd gone bankrupt and therefore didn't own my own property.

Its just business. Its not a matter of envy either. I just watch and learn. I see myself working all hours,living in a very modest house,driving an old car,saving for everything,having very little debt -even being worried to death about any debt and yet others,especially younger peeps,get loans,mortgages and finance up to the hilt,have bigger-better homes,bigger-better cars etc etc and i say again,when many of them have lived the highlife,the system and the state bails them out and passes the burden onto other people in the form of;
bankruptcy
income tax assistance
benefits
bailouts of finincial institutions with taxpayers cash (egt Northern Rock this week being allocated another £3 billion of OUR money!

You say it's not a matter of envy, but that's exactly what this sounds like.

chesky369

I feel a bit sorry for Psst........ Obviously he or she (will call him he for the moment, though I don't know) has absolutely no sense of style or taste, since if you want either of these things, you have to pay a higher price for them. Yes, you can bung them all on credit cards for the moment, but I suspect those times have more or less come to an end and the crunch will sort the sheep from the goats. So you won't be able to do that for much longer. Then, yes, you can get your IVA but you can't keep doing that and you have a very boring time until you've worked your way out again. And you've probably got years to go before the grim reaper comes to put you out of your misery. And, speaking of someone who's retired and hopes to have many years ahead, I'm REALLY glad I've got a decent pension. I work with the CAB and the poor !!!!!!s who manage to exist on pension credit really don't have a terribly great life.

I don't disagree with PSST from a moral point of view - believe me, life is much better if you've managed to save and get a cushion between you and the vagaries of life.

deaglecat

It seems to me to be a binary thing

... either you earn a good salary and save and will lead a comfortable life and provide for yourself and your family

OR

follow the "blow it all, spend, default, claim benefits" route.

just don't get caught in the middle where you scrimp and save / have a poor quality of life and just end up having enough to stop the state having to fund you.

StevieJ

Strange post, appears to me ironic but all the replies seem to take it at face value.

cheerfulcat

Pssst wrote: »

Some people have put up moral counter arguements to my OP.

Again i say,if we have a system that

(a) allows you to live the high life then go bankrupt
(b) shifts the burden to the taxpayer via nil rate codes
(c) pays people who dont save/dont have a pension etc more on retirement

then morals dont come into it.

Of course they do. The system may be morally bankrupt; this doesn't mean that we have to follow suit as individuals.

manic_saver

I don't just save for now, i save for the future. I made a big mistake a few years back of when i took out a loan for a car, not only was the car depreciating once i bought it...but the interest i was paying back on the loan could of been in my pocket, than in the companys vault.

I am only 29 and have organised my retirement, while my friends have no pension, and will probably struggle when they hit retirement. I and others on this forum don't just save, save, save, i have a budget of what i need when i need it. I still go out at the weekends, either drinking or going to the cinema, so my social life is still intact and my savings are not going to get in the way.

No matter how big or small you put away, it will always be yours untill you spend it!

Leighthal

StevieJ wrote: »

Strange post, appears to me ironic but all the replies seem to take it at face value.

Indeed.The OP only seemed to have asked a question.The OP has made it clear (it seems to me anyway-correct me if I'm wrong) that there are limited benefits for being a saver but loads of bail-outs for not being one. .A product of the "have it all now" nanny state that we seem to be in?

Milarky

Leighthal wrote: »

Indeed.The OP only seemed to have asked a question.The OP has made it clear (it seems to me anyway-correct me if I'm wrong) that there are limited benefits for being a saver but loads of bail-outs for not being one. .A product of the "have it all now" nanny state that we seem to be in?

And of course that's up the government to straighten out if it's 'bent and twisted'. There is an argument that, the state being slothful and cynical, the public needs to opt out 'en masse' so we get the reforms we need

[eg adequate benefits for unwaged/unemployed or disabled balanced by meaningful 'back to work' assistance and consistently applied sanctions - correct incentives for the 'working poor' with tax credits not so high in the first place and not effectively taxed at 70 percent - more like 40 or 50 percent - either scrapping national insurance 'contributions' or else ensuring they acutally do 'contribute' into some tangible benefit - corrollary being that the pension you get is more the higher you earn/pay tax whereas the state pension actually is going to become 'flat rate' under current plans - so scrap NIC nonsense and have a higher - and more honest rate of income tax - whilst on income tax - stop governments and oppositions from promising 'never to raise' it again - it's there to do the job of raising money equitably (and transparently) so the public has to accept the right of governments to increase income tax - and government should act as persuaders instead of talking into their hands]

But then the penny drops - the state will never discover these 'virtues' sort of a revolution - so 'civil disobedience' on the personal finance front won't work will it?

Oh for the 'golden days' when we all sat down in front of Morcombe and Wise at Christmas - a shared expereince and shared values. All gone! Sold down the river of 'free market' of globalisation. [or the 'common market' for DM readers to blame]

ed123_2

.........weeeeeeeeeeell some good points in the OP also the fact that the capitalist system relies on people spending every penny that they have plus money they don't have (in the form of loans/mortgages etc etc) to keep buying more & more useless *rap. After working many years(and paying into the state pot) the total sum I get is £17.75 pw dla so I'm rather glad I saved a few bob.........and you know what savings give you..........freedom...