Winners, Losers, etc

Mr.Brown_4

kriss_boy wrote: »

I just day dream about the future to be honest.

My friends and I are all in our mid to late 20s and inevitably one by one we'll start settling down. I'd like to think that 2/3 years down the line we are all still sociable and sadly to me that means my girlfriend and I having a bigger house so we can throw the odd BBQ or shin dig.

A few of my mates are now married! Some even have kids! Very scarey indeed!

Back to your OP thought about winners and losers. Having a kid is probably the way to tick both boxes.

Baby born... "I'm a winner!!"
To be followed by "I'm screwed". In a nice way of course.

kriss_boy

Luckily the main group of friends I see on a weekly basis are a few years off the parenting stage.

I dread the thought of an 18 month phone contract as opposed to a 12 month one... imagine an 18 year contract to parent a child! AGHGHGHGH!

Mr.Brown_4

kriss_boy wrote: »

Luckily the main group of friends I see on a weekly basis are a few years off the parenting stage.

I dread the thought of an 18 month phone contract as opposed to a 12 month one... imagine an 18 year contract to parent a child! AGHGHGHGH!

Only 18 years - pah! You'd be lucky.

Thrugelmir

boomerangs wrote: »

Ultimately everyone's a loser as they are paying way, way too much for a basic human need i.e. housing.

And the person selling could be banking a large profit.

The Chief Economist at the BOE said that despite the increase in consumer debt in the past 10 years. There could of been a wealth transfer of as much as £250billion as houses changed hands. Created by people dying and their wealth been passed to their relatives etc or downsizing, and investing in other assets.

The richer are richer, the poor are poorer.

kriss_boy

I think a few more nice holidays, a mid life crisis car and a bigger house then I'll be ready to settle down!!!

Guess where I go on Friday... Austraila!!!! First stop Melbourne, first day - the deluxe neighbours tour

carolt

kriss_boy wrote: »

Luckily the main group of friends I see on a weekly basis are a few years off the parenting stage.

I dread the thought of an 18 month phone contract as opposed to a 12 month one... imagine an 18 year contract to parent a child! AGHGHGHGH!

Possibly you're not quite ready to parent a child, then.

When it does happen, if you are so blessed, I suspect you'll look back on this discussion of 'winners and losers' and wonder what on earth you were thinking of.

treliac

carolt wrote: »

When it does happen, if you are so blessed, I suspect you'll look back on this discussion of 'winners and losers' and wonder what on earth you were thinking of.

I made the assumption that he was using the words 'winner' and 'loser' more literally than he really intended. Rather that he meant more along the lines of coping and surviving due to luck in timing, instead of promoting a more materialistic position.

kriss doesn't come across as being particularly competitive or materialistic to me.

treliac

JonnyBravo wrote: »

I have no idea but I'd mostly echo what lir said.
All of my grandparents lived in their home til the end. Some had daily visits from home care, some didn't. This is much more likely to be the future than residential homes which are vastly more expensive. My parents have already said that when the time comes (thankfully still a long way off, touch wood) they want to do all they can to remain in their home. Same approach as my nan, bit of care from the state, some from family, some from charity, some from local GP etc etc

Home care done properly will be expensive. The service most have now, is not good enough.

Let's hope the govt actually fulfils their promise for all home care to be free of charge. But it will be at a considerable cost to the tax payer.

fedupfreda

the_ash_and_the_oak wrote: »

If you were to sell, and rent now, you would presumably have 140k in your back pocket which came directly from HPI - if you had rented the whole time presumably you wouldn't have this 140k? Isn't that the gain you've had from HPI?

On paper - yes. However would I want to rent now? No. If I STR'd I would have to rent privately - to rent a comparable 3 bed mid terrace I would be paying 2x what I am currently paying on the mortgage - if not more :eek: As my wages would remain the same, that increase would eat into my capital rather quickly.....:eek: And no, I would not downsize - I have 2 sons - bringing up a family in a one bed house is not fun.

On paper, I have, indeed, made a gain - but for me - at the moment -that gain is effectively unrealisable. Some time in the future - it might be within my grasp, when the boys have left home, and I am approaching retirement. So I am plodding on. But I am not doing it in the expectation that I will end up minted.

I was not disputing the fact that gains have been made - just the fact that for a lot of people, it's effectively as good as monopoly money. IMO the majority of us are just surviving - we're like swans - apparently calm on the surface, but paddling like fury underneath. It's all we can do sometimes, to struggle to stay afloat. Don't jump on the bandwagon " 'cos everyone else is making a packet and we don't want to miss out". Life's not always as simple as that.

the_ash_and_the_oak

fedupfreda wrote: »

As my wages would remain the same, that increase would eat into my capital rather quickly...

If you had sold and now rented you would be eating into your 140k gain. If you hadn't bought you would now be paying rent without a 140k sum to be able to eat into

On paper, I have, indeed, made a gain - but for me - at the moment -that gain is effectively unrealisable.

Perhaps the gain isn't that you could realize the 140k but the fact you have a 140k cushion that someone without the benefit of your HPI wouldn't have (and would now need to find)