Do baby boomers feel guilty about shafting younger generations?

Oldernotwiser

ukcarper wrote: »

I'm afraid I can't agree with that I bought at 22 in 1970 as did a quite a few of my friends

I doubt you lived in the south east.

Harry_Powell

Do regulars on this forum who use sock puppets to post inflamatory threads feel guilty about being so cowardly?

baby_boomer

It's ironic when BBC presenters come over all concerned about this and other equality issues from their "privileged" position of £100K+ salaries - a modern development not available to most baby_boomers twenty or thirty years ago.

Cleaver

Just to add a general comment (which I'm know most people are aware of already) is that most parents pass on a lot more to their kids than money, and some of these things help you financially even if it's in an indirect way.

My parents helped me by instilling values in me. They helped me understand why getting jobs and paying my own way right from the age of 16 was important, and why I should save a certain amount of that each week. I remember at a really early age sitting down with my Mum when she did the family accounts and being impressed at how organised she was. I watched them pay off their mortgage early. I saw how they didn't spend money on flash holidays and big cars, but did use their money to help both sets of grandparents to ensure that they had everything they needed in their twilight years. They helped me through school and college by keeping me on the right track. Even now, my Dad is a great source of advice for work when I have a problem or when I'm thinking of changing jobs. There's many a job I fancied applying for, but after a chat with my Dad I have had second thoughts and I've been very glad of his advice. He's also been great at advising about my wfie's career and often helped with presentations for job applications etc.

As I mentioned on a previous thread a couple of days ago, my parents did help us out with a deposit for our first house (link). But they have also helped out in so many other ways, some of which have just been great generally, but in other ways that have indrectly helped boost our finances. The way we budget, save, invest and try to overpay our mortgage, for example, is purely because of the influence of my Mum on me.

I hope my Dad spends every penny of 'my inheritance' (it's not 'my inheritance', it's 'his money') on having fun, he's helped us out enough already. He won't though, as he's from a generation that likes leaving stuff for their kids.

carolt

Harry_Powell wrote: »

Do regulars on this forum who use sock puppets to post inflamatory threads feel guilty about being so cowardly?

I don't know, Harry. Do they?

What do you think?

Cleaver

baby_boomer wrote: »

It's ironic when BBC presenters come over all concerned about this and other equality issues from their "privileged" position of £100K+ salaries - a modern development not available to most baby_boomers twenty or thirty years ago.

I'm not sure what the salary you earn has to do with being concerned about certain issues or your feelings on equality?

I have certain values and opinions and these wouldn't change if I suddenly got a job tomorrow paying £100k.

carolt

Cleaver wrote: »

Just to add a general comment (which I'm know most people are aware of already) is that most parents pass on a lot more to their kids than money, and some of these things help you financially even if it's in an indirect way.

My parents helped me by instilling values in me. They helped me understand why getting jobs and paying my own way right from the age of 16 was important, and why I should save a certain amount of that each week. I remember at a really early age sitting down with my Mum when she did the family accounts and being impressed at how organised she was. I watched them pay off their mortgage early. I saw how they didn't spend money on flash holidays and big cars, but did use their money to help both sets of grandparents to ensure that they had everything they needed in their twilight years. They helped me through school and college by keeping me on the right track. Even now, my Dad is a great source of advice for work when I have a problem or when I'm thinking of changing jobs. There's many a job I fancied applying for, but after a chat with my Dad I have had second thoughts and I've been very glad of his advice. He's also been great at advising about my wfie's career and often helped with presentations for job applications etc.

As I mentioned on a previous thread a couple of days ago, my parents did help us out with a deposit for our first house (link). But they have also helped out in so many other ways, some of which have just been great generally, but in other ways that have indrectly helped boost our finances. The way we budget, save, invest and try to overpay our mortgage, for example, is purely because of the influence of my Mum on me.

I hope my Dad spends every penny of 'my inheritance' (it's not 'my inheritance', it's 'his money') on having fun, he's helped us out enough already. He won't though, as he's from a generation that likes leaving stuff for their kids.

I think the problem with this thread is that it mixes up a genuine problem with blame.

I do think the baby boomer generation that you describe (though I suspect your dates are a bit late to describe what are normally seen as boomers) did have great economic advantages that young people now don't have - access to free university education, in many cases following access to a large network of good, free grammar schools (both my parents-in-law, for example, benefitted from that, and were the first in their families to go to university as a result), relatively cheap house prices, and a thriving job market. And will go on, if they haven't got there already, to enjoy considerably more generous pensions than their children expect.

BUT that is not to sa that everyone who benefitted from this happy state of affairs is in some way personally to blame for the fact their children may not enjoy the same.

The ony baby-boomers I resent for this are (a) the politicians - who are more or less entirely this age - who have deliberately pursued policies to benefit their BTL portfolios and to the detriment of the younger generation, and (b) those, not to name any names on here, who having benefitted from this themselves, then accuse the younger generation en masse of laziness, fec klessness, etc etc, ignoring the fact that they do not enjoy the same easy benefits the 'boomers' themselves enjoyed.

The reality is for those leaving university within the last decade, starting with tens of thousands of pounds worth of debts, and sky-high house prices, times are harder.

Not their parents' fault. But a fact nonetheless.

Cleaver

carolt wrote: »

I do think the baby boomer generation that you describe (though I suspect your dates are a bit late to describe what are normally seen as boomers)

My parents were both born in 1951, so right in the middle of 'boomerness'.

carolt wrote: »

The ony baby-boomers I resent for this are (a) the politicians - who are more or less entirely this age - who have deliberately pursued policies to benefit their BTL portfolios and to the detriment of the younger generation, and (b) those, not to name any names on here, who having benefitted from this themselves, then accuse the younger generation en masse of laziness, fec klessness, etc etc, ignoring the fact that they do not enjoy the same easy benefits the 'boomers' themselves enjoyed.

Fully agree with you there.

carolt wrote: »

The reality is for those leaving university within the last decade, starting with tens of thousands of pounds worth of debts, and sky-high house prices, times are harder.

Not their parents' fault. But a fact nonetheless.

Again, agree with you. I guess what I was trying to say earlier in the thread that these are not necessarily factors which determine your 'quality of life'. It's an immeasurable thing: some people will see not owning a house and having student debt as two factors which dominate their life and hold a lot of resentment because of it, others will see 'quality of life' in a variety of other things and will not see home ownership as a priority, or even something to care about.

I guess I should bow out of this thread, as I just can't empathise with the main point raised in the first post. And I think that's because myself and my friends must be different from the norm. Pretty much all of my friends who have wanted to buy a house (I'm 29 and most of them are around the same age with boomer parents) have done so, some with help from their parents and some without. The ones who haven't bought a house are not bothered about that because they are still not 'settled', i.e. are travelling, are still studying, are having fun renting with friends in London... etc.

I think my friends and I know that some aspects of life are harder for us than our parents (you've pointed these out well in your post) and some stuff is 'easier' or 'better' (both rubbish terms to use) than it was for our parents. But I'm quite happy to concede that we must all be different from the norm if the norm is resentment for the boomer generation from my generation.

ukcarper

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I doubt you lived in the south east.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ukcarper
I'm afraid I can't agree with that I bought at 22 in 1970 as did a quite a few of my friends

I'm sorry it should have read 1972 and I lived and still live in Surrey

seven-day-weekend

I think you are all a load of moaning minnies/michaels.

Yes, our houses have increased in value (although I know many who did not have the money to buy a house). Yes, SOME of us (by no means all, nor even the majority) have decent pensions (but women and part-timers were disadvantaged in these).

So what? We were just the ones that happened to live through those times. Your generation will have advantages that ours never had (equal employment and pensions opportunity for one thing, equal pay and far wider access to education). Your children will probably grizzle about your lot having it cushy.

So what do you think we baby boomers should do? Give it all to your lot now?