'Are you richer than your parents?' Poll discussion

Plasticman

Not sure that this poll works at all. How can you tell if you are 2x or 3x better off than your parents were at your age?

Unless you can provide a chart of average earnings over the past 70 years and we all know what our parents earned then (to compare with what we earn now) then I don't see how you can provide an answer that is any more than a guess.

kittykitten

I find this really hard to work out! Nothing to do with the inflation problems that others have had, but to do with other reasons.

I was the first in my family to go to university, and I studied for a profession which means I have a job where I earn more (even allowing for inflation) than either of my parents did at my age. I actually earn more than my mum does now. However, at my age (25) my parents were married, and owned their own house. I'm still living at home, partly because I'm single and partly because I am only within the past 6 months ready to buy my own place but because of the housing situation can't raise a mortgage on my own.

I don't know for sure but suspect that either of my parents, at my age, had they been on their own, would have struggled to own their own home, but it's hard to work out because it wasn't really the done thing then! Also quality of life is very hard to compare, again because I'm essentially comparing one person (me) to a couple (my parents).

All in all I suspect I'm better off than my parents were at my age, particularly financially, but circumstances (the fact that I'm single and the economic situation) mean that I'm not as independent as my parents were at my age. So I don't feel I can tick any option!

halia

Interesting question but the poll doesn't tell us anything really. My parents are in the 55-65 age bracket, me and my siblings are 25-35.
comparisons
My parents got full grant, no tuition fees and could sign on during holidays whilst at university
result: no student debts
None of us got grants, I put myself through my degree p/t whilst working p/t, my brother has student debt and my sister simply said she couldn't afford it.

We were pretty poor as kids as neither of my parents got a graduate level job for ages and ages. My mum started teaching when I was 8 and things got easier then.

Their first house cost less than half my mums annual salary for a teacher
They paid off their mortgage about 15 years ago
Same house now would cost 3x teachers annual salary

retirement:
My mum will retire with a 3x salary lump sum, plus 50% salary pension aged 60.
My dad has a smaller pension pot plus their state pensions

No relatives left to care for, don't help out children in any way financially or in time. (ie care for grandchildren)

I guess I'll be working until i'm in my seventies to pay for my mums pension pot and then expected to look after her when she goes doolally.

mdr86

I'm a student at the moment, when my parents went to uni they got a grant not a student loan, so if you include what I owe SLC I'm vastly worse off (ie. me oweing a considerable amount vs. them having a small positive amount), if you ignore what I owe SLC I'm better off, but by how much I'm not sure.

jago25_98

Individual circumstances should be averaged out the more people vote.

There's lots of options but the results can be summerised/grouped afterwards.

Houseprices are key. They started to go off the rails in the 80's under Maggie's deregularation I think. This effects a great many of the results.

Grants for University in times past: Yes, it was grants not loans, but less people could afford to pay for the accomodation back then. Back then there was less support from parents. The extention of education beyond 16 - does it pay off? My guess is that there is more chance of it paying off than not, but it's still a gamble.

npw32jnw

There are a few things you need to consider - house prices (my house is worth over twice as much as the one they have lived in all their married life, mainly because we sold our first house for double what we paid for it, and invested this in a larger place). However does also mean that my mortgage is 3 times what my dad ever had.

Salaries - I earn over twice as much in my early 30s as my father did when he retired at 50.

Retirement - will I be able to retire at 50 - no way - I still have a final salary scheme but if I retired that early, it would eat into the amount they actually gave me for pension.

Type of job - my dad was strictly a 9-5 guy, whereas I am more flexible, so I get to spend more time with the kids.

Kids - I am the only one, but I now have 3 of the little blighters (I mean darlings...) - I am sure that this will hit home at a later date i.e. when they want to go to uni.

Uni - my dad dropped out after a couple of years, whereas I completed mine - is my education richer...?

There are just so many variables, but I do believe that I am better off now than they were at my age. As I said, I wont be able to retire when my dad did, so when I get to 50, the tables may have turned...

nearlyrich

My parents are no longer with us, they lived hand to mouth for all of our childhood, never had a decent car, never went abroad on holiday ( we took my mum to Paris for a long weekend after my dad had already died). My parents didn't own their house and my mum always said she had more disposable income the last few years when she didn't need anything much.

I, along with my siblings, was encouraged to work hard at school and we were supported in our career choices, my mum looked after my children when I went back to work and later she looked after my niece. Consequently I have a decent paid career and have driven new cars for the last 16 years or so and we have always had at least a couple of holidays per year. We have a nice house that is paid for and I am on track to retire at 55, my dad sadly died at 55 and never had a chance to retire and take it easy.

Olliebeak

Quite a difficult one to gauge.

My parents inherited a house from my grandfather, so were home-owners; both worked so two wages coming into the home. They could never afford the upkeep of the house they inherited and mum had to sell it after dad died.

I'm divorced (so only one wage coming in) but still manage to have a holiday every year, have a pension plan, no debts, bills are paid via DD, live in rented accommodation but no savings.

However, I feel more financially stable than my parents appeared to be.

johncolescarr

Many ways to look at this.

You will almost certainly be better off than your parents in absolute terms because of inflation. Therefore without knowing exactly what my parents were worth at my age and calculating using inflation its impossible to say precisely, therefore I voted

"03 Under 30 and substantially better off".

I reason this because I have a much greater portion of my salary available is disposable income, I save 25% of my salary and I would could cover my expenses for 6 months from savings. We have 2 cars, a 3 bedroom house and go on holiday twice a year (although scaled down to put more money into paying off mortgage). I also have a pension, medical insurance and life assurance

However, in terms of total worth, it I likely that I am just about breaking even or a few thousand net worth because of negative equity of our home. Although I am in the same position as my parents were, I believe I have a much greater earning capacity.

My parents support (or rather my Mum and Step dad) was pivotal in seeing me though College and University, coming from a relatively poor background gave me the drive to succeed and develop a financially stable future for myself and my family. I wonder whether it would be the same if I was lavished with cash, probably not.

johncolescarr

kittykitten wrote: »

I find this really hard to work out! Nothing to do with the inflation problems that others have had, but to do with other reasons.

I was the first in my family to go to university, and I studied for a profession which means I have a job where I earn more (even allowing for inflation) than either of my parents did at my age. I actually earn more than my mum does now. However, at my age (25) my parents were married, and owned their own house. I'm still living at home, partly because I'm single and partly because I am only within the past 6 months ready to buy my own place but because of the housing situation can't raise a mortgage on my own.

I don't know for sure but suspect that either of my parents, at my age, had they been on their own, would have struggled to own their own home, but it's hard to work out because it wasn't really the done thing then! Also quality of life is very hard to compare, again because I'm essentially comparing one person (me) to a couple (my parents).

All in all I suspect I'm better off than my parents were at my age, particularly financially, but circumstances (the fact that I'm single and the economic situation) mean that I'm not as independent as my parents were at my age. So I don't feel I can tick any option!

A small blip in long and successful future, you will almost certainly be substantially better off than your parents. They have been through 3 recessions as I'm sure you and I will in our lifetimes, if not more.

P.S by blip I'm referring to the current financial situation