How can people be so pessimistic all the time?

ThrowingStonesAtYou

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

I'll get an inheritance...... A good sized detached house in a nice area split between me and a sibling.

It'll be less than 18 months joint income for me and the missus.

Not exactly a large proportion of lifetime income.:rolleyes:

How long would it take you to save up that amount though? In my case my inheritance stands at 20 years savings.. and I'd imagine I save more than 95% of people my age.

Have you considered maybe you earn more than a lot of people for whom inheritance will form a large proportion of their lifetime (disposable) income?

wageslave

ThrowingStonesAtYou wrote: »

What do you expect to inherit if not the house?

Everyone on this forum is fixated on houses. It is an English thing?

I don't have a problem with inheritance as such, but I do have a problem when inheritance forms a large proportion of the income somebody will ever see in their life.

I will inherit far more than I will ever earn. I expect things to go exactly the same way for my daughter. There are only so many shoes one person can buy.

I dont see this as a bad thing.

We work and do our best and spend whatever we feel the need to spend and then we hand over what is left to the next generation.

To go back to houses, you hear it all the time. "It is for the kids". If it wasn't we would all get to a certain age and start withdrawing equity for face lifts and foreign holidays.

Even just looking on this forum, there are always topics about people seeking to profit as much as possible from inheritance, almost always about the house as they are now so expensive they are often 10x+ an average salaray whereas in the past they may just be 2 or 3x. I've seen some disgusting behavior first hand when a wealthy elderly person has died and the family have scrabbled to exclude certain people from inheriting any money, even to the point of not informing other relatives of the death. I'm sure this sort of thing is not new, but the stakes are so much higher now, and now for many ordinary people inheritance makes a huge difference to their life, it's like winning the lottery rather than a helping hand like it might have been decades ago.

I don't want to live in that sort of society, i find it depressing thinking about it really. It will destroy families and reduce our already dying work ethic in this country.

Inheriting your parents hard earned wont destroy families. That has been going on since before Jesus cast covetous glances at the family business.

There is a vast difference between some idiot stabbing their cousins in the back over their grannys bungalow and my daughter inheriting what I have did without to leave her

LydiaJ

ThrowingStonesAtYou wrote: »

Have you considered maybe you earn more than a lot of people for whom inheritance will form a large proportion of their lifetime (disposable) income?

Hamish generally sees the world from the point of view of DINK couples who are both earning significantly more than average. If you point out that most people are not in this situation, or cite specific examples of people who earn less, or are single, or have kids, or all of the above, then he will sympathetically agree that it's unfortunate that such people will find it very difficult to afford a house, but point out that this is down to the choices they have made in their lives.

Graham_Devon

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

I'll get an inheritance...... A good sized detached house in a nice area split between me and a sibling.

It'll be less than 18 months joint income for me and the missus.

Not exactly a large proportion of lifetime income.:rolleyes:

Do you go around in real life saying all these kind of things?

If you are so god damn rich, then buy some god damn houses. You never do though. You just tell us constantly how good an investment they are, and dont invest.

ThrowingStonesAtYou

wageslave wrote: »

Everyone on this forum is fixated on houses. It is an English thing?

I dunno I've never lived in another country, personally I wish house prices weren't an issue but I am looking to get a home for my family in the near future and the unaffordable nature of suitable houses in England is very much an issue in my life at the moment, however once I have one I won't really care until I want to move again.

wageslave wrote: »

I will inherit far more than I will ever earn. I expect things to go exactly the same way for my daughter. There are only so many shoes one person can buy.

I dont see this as a bad thing.

We work and do our best and spend whatever we feel the need to spend and then we hand over what is left to the next generation.

To go back to houses, you hear it all the time. "It is for the kids". If it wasn't we would all get to a certain age and start withdrawing equity for face lifts and foreign holidays.

I'm no communist but I believe that as much as is sensibly possible, people should have the same opportunities in life. Inheritance is unfair on those born into families where there is no big pile of cash/assets sitting around to guarantee a comfortable life.

The bigger the inheritance, the greater the unfairness - and now due to rocketing house prices in the recent past, there is a big inheritance for a huge number of families in this country (the ones who own houses), and those left behind (who don't own houses) will take generations of hard work to catch up.

wageslave wrote: »

Inheriting your parents hard earned wont destroy families. That has been going on since before Jesus cast covetous glances at the family business.

There is a vast difference between some idiot stabbing their cousins in the back over their grannys bungalow and my daughter inheriting what I have did without to leave her

Your family may not suffer a problem with this, and I'm sure many (most?) don't. However I've seen first hand family members stop talking to each other permanently over inheritance issues, so this is a common scenario. It is all the more common now that inheritance is such a big part of so many peoples lives now.

Another issue is that we now commonly see insincere relationships between parents and children (not exclusively parents + kids, but mainly), where either the parent is rich and blackmails their kids into leading a certain life with the threat of disinheriting them, or the kids suck up to relatives they don't like for financial gain. Without inheritance relationships would be based on families liking each other, rather than fake relationships maintained due to money.

Finally we are seeing an increasing underclass in society, or 'chavs'. I'm increasing seeing their point of view - why respect society when you have been excluded from having the same opportunities as everyone else - no matter how hard they work, only a small proportion would ever be able to live the lifestyles home owning families take for granted - so why bother?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

LydiaJ wrote: »

Hamish generally sees the world from the point of view of DINK couples who are both earning significantly more than average. If you point out that most people are not in this situation, or cite specific examples of people who earn less, or are single, or have kids, or all of the above, then he will sympathetically agree that it's unfortunate that such people will find it very difficult to afford a house, but point out that this is down to the choices they have made in their lives.

True.

True.

And true.

tommy75

Why do you lot always bite when these BTLers and estate agents make silly threads to wind you all up?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Do you go around in real life saying all these kind of things?

Yes.

If you are so god damn rich, then buy some god damn houses.

I'm not rich, and I already have two. Strictly speaking, I have no need for more, although I am looking at a ruined cottage in the highlands as a holiday house. Not as an investment, but as something to use and enjoy, and because it'll be cheaper now than later.

You never do though. You just tell us constantly how good an investment they are, and dont invest.

No, I tell people constantly that houses always go up in the long term, which of course has a 100% track record of being true, and that if you need one to live in it'll probably be cheaper now than later, and even if not it's unlikely you'll recover the additional lifetime housing costs of rent by waiting.....

phil_b_2

Afriend wrote: »

Oh yeh been to the pub...are kebabs healthy? I've somehow bought one.

Error, they are almost the worst thing you can have. I think fish and chips, burgers then pizza are ahead of them by quite a bit on the calorie-ometer!

wageslave

ThrowingStonesAtYou wrote: »

Inheritance is unfair on those born into families where there is no big pile of cash/assets sitting around to guarantee a comfortable life.

Life isn't a fair business. With respect, it is henwitted to expect it to be

The bigger the inheritance, the greater the unfairness - and now due to rocketing house prices in the recent past, there is a big inheritance for a huge number of families in this country (the ones who own houses), and those left behind (who don't own houses) will take generations of hard work to catch up.

Most never will no matter how hard they work. We are back to the fairness thing again......

Your family may not suffer a problem with this, and I'm sure many (most?) don't. However I've seen first hand family members stop talking to each other permanently over inheritance issues, so this is a common scenario. It is all the more common now that inheritance is such a big part of so many peoples lives now.

I have seen people half murder each other over a tenner. People are what they are. My family is no different from anyone elses in that respect

Another issue is that we now commonly see insincere relationships between parents and children (not exclusively parents + kids, but mainly), where either the parent is rich and blackmails their kids into leading a certain life with the threat of disinheriting them, or the kids suck up to relatives they don't like for financial gain. Without inheritance relationships would be based on families liking each other, rather than fake relationships maintained due to money. .

You idealist you

Finally we are seeing an increasing underclass in society, or 'chavs'. I'm increasing seeing their point of view - why respect society when you have been excluded from having the same opportunities as everyone else - no matter how hard they work, only a small proportion would ever be able to live the lifestyles home owning families take for granted - so why bother?

In the same way as I will never have a yacht moored in Marbella, not everyone will own a home.

Lifestyles of home owning families? You are making the same mistake as say a pedestrian makes about a motorist. Just because you are standing on the pavement it doesn't make the road that good a place to be.