Financial crisis of the 18-40s (as in people aged 18 to 40)

competitionscafe

Interesting article (it's the main front page article I think) in todays Guardo

Financial crisis of the 18-40s
· Official government study reveals a generation unable to cope with debts and soaring house prices
· 42% of adults have no pension
· 70% have no savings

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Money/news_/story/0,,1741079,00.html

nigel2smooth

Interesting I mean in the place i work everyone is in debt when i mention i save money they think I am weird or some sort of freak lol.Like i told a workmate the other week i have 2 grand in a deposit account he thought it strange people just dont save anymore.

competitionscafe

And.."Four out of 10 consumers who have an equity Individual Savings Account are unaware that its value can fluctuate with stock market performance."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4850160.stm

40% of people who have an equity ISA are unaware that its value can fluctuate with stock market performance! Unbelievable.

nigel2smooth you are right about saving - if you are working it's really easy to set up a monthly saving wether into shares for the long term and/or into a deposit account to save up some cash reserves, once it's set up you hardly even notice the money going out each month and it's amazing how even a small amount can build up over the years.

Deemy

The divide used to be those with degrees and those without degrees.

In the future it will be those with debt and those without.

ReportInvestor

I this crisis is bad, it will be much worse for the Under 18s who will have an extra £6K of student debt.

I'm not sure why the 35-40s were included in the Guardian article - unless that is the most common age for Guardian journalists .

This group avoided serious student debt and had plenty of chance to save and get on the housing market ladder in time.

mary

An insight into our first 4 children who ended up as follows, (when at home they were given reasonable guidance and advice on how to handle money):

1. Age 28. Graduate Ended up with student loan of £5K, as was under the old system where grant didn't have to be repaid but took out a small loan. Did run a car at uni. Finishes repaying student loan this April. Working abroad, earning reasonable money, saving for a deposit for house in UK. Has a company pension. The more he saves, the more the goal posts move.
2. Age 25. Graduate. Ended up with student loan of £14K, despite working throughout Uni and in holidays. Did run a car whilst at uni. Getting married in summer, paying for own wedding and trying to save for a house whilst living in rented accommodation. Earning reasonable money.
No pension as more immediate concerns, wedding + house.
3. Age 21. Graduate. Ended up with student loan of £15K, despite working throughou Uni and in holidays. Did run a car also at uni. Currently abroad doing his "gap" year after uni, then will face the real world upon his return to start finding a job and repaying student loan.
4. Age 18. Doing A levels. Off to Uni in Sept with the prospects of
a £22K student debt.
By the time the other 2 children get to uni, I hate to think what the figures will be.

cloud_dog

Mary

Based on the two children both incurring £14k & £15k of debt any chanve of a rough breakdown, i.e. is most of the expence rent, living expenses, course fees, etc, etc.

Thanks cloud_dog

ReportInvestor

Mary, why do you think the 18 year old's debt will only by £22K. Is he going to do part time work? £7K pa living expenses and £3K pa fees is a realistic figure going forward.

mary

ReportInvestor wrote:

Mary, why do you think the 18 year old's debt will only by £22K. Is he going to do part time work? £7K pa living expenses and £3K pa fees is a realistic figure going forward.

Student loan figures for the next academie year from our LEA are approx £4,400 p.a. and tuition fees are £3,000 p.a. That's what our daughter will be living on. As with the older sons, if it looks as though it won't be enough, then it's off to the supermarket/cinema for a job to cover the extras.

yesbutnobut

mary wrote:

An insight into our first 4 children who ended up as follows, (when at home they were given reasonable guidance and advice on how to handle money):
2. Age 25. Graduate. Ended up with student loan of £14K
3. Age 21. Graduate. Ended up with student loan of £15K
4. Age 18. ... prospects of a £22K student debt.

For the government to burden these young people with so much debt makes me so mad :mad:

Young people are told that because they will get better jobs after a university education, they must pay these extra fees via loans. If/when they get these better paid jobs they must re-pay these loans AND pay higher taxes! Surely this is double taxation

al_yrpal

Yup, when 'helicopter mum' is no longer around the little darlings spend spend spend. You can see them pootling around the shopping centres every saturday buying crap they don't need. They must have exotic holidays otherwise its an anticlimax after that gap year. Must have crap designer wear. Must have plasma TV etc etc. There is another way - don't shepherd them everywhere, don't overindulge them, don't bale them out of their debts, it doesn't help in the long run.

Why do 50% need to go to University anyway? It used to be a privelige, now all you hear is parents and kids whingeing about the cost of it - well somebody has to pay. Personally, I think its a mess produced by the attitude that everyone is entitled to everything. Looking at many of the kids that are going today, they are clearly not university material. This is later bourne out by the crap jobs so many of them end up in, despite their so called 'degrees'. Its noticeable that the really tough courses like Maths Physics and Engineering are sliding down the league tables. Why? Because these subjects are too hard for today's pampered little darlings. Britain needs to rethink this costly madness, its doing neither the kids or our country any favours whatsoever.