Do baby boomers feel guilty about shafting younger generations?

Malcolm.

Cleaver wrote: »

How have you moved from me having admiration for my Dad and his generation to me not empathy for young people today? Quite a leap you've made there.

House prices, especially for first time buyers, are high. And out of a lot of people's reach. I don't think that's very 'fair' (if that's the right word) and I have a lot of empathy, maybe even sympathy, for my friends who can't afford to buy because they live in an area of the counrty where a home is out of their reach, even though they are on what you would describe as a 'good' wage. To be honest, most of my friends who live in London don't seem to give a monkeys that they can't afford to buy. Most of them seem to be in jobs they love, with loads of fantastic friends, a very busy social life and seem to do lots of travelling. Their lives seem rich and they seem happy. If buying a house was such a massive priority for them, most of them could transfer their job to a number of places in the UK and buy a house. Nothing is keeping them in London really, no family. That is their choice and they would tell you that their quality of life is ace.

I also don't get what you wanted, or want, the boomers to do about it. They bought houses to live in and paid in to pensions. Because of a massive range of factors, these things have gone up in value. And it really is a massive range of factors, it wasn't as if boomers sat round and made a decision to currently become rich.

And let's have a look at Gen Y. When Mummy and Daddy offer to pay for Uni, did they turn it down because the money being used for that was got through high house prices? When the dear little one had a gap year travelling to Peru, Australia, India and South America and the parents helped out, did they actually decide not to go because they felt uncomfortable where some of that money came from?

My main point was around quality of life, which is what the article was about. And I'll say again, quality of life is not just about pensions and house value. I grant you that some of it is, but only a small amount. Quality of life is good friends, great books, a loving family, listening to great music, breakfast in bed on a Saturday morning, a job that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning. Basically, who gets up in the morning and says "I have a massive pension and huge house. My life is great". No one.

And lastly, you say that I'm fortunate. Which is true to some extent. But as with most people my age I've got what I've got through a mixture of good fortune and luck, but also with a hard work ethic. And you're thinking I'm fortunate because I own a house, but without sound flippant, owning a house doesn't really give you any day to day pleasure. As I said above, quality of life is about so much more.

I feel you're made a leap to an incorrect conclusion and/or misunderstood me.

I am talking about the present where one in five eighteen to twenty four year olds are not in work, education or training. With many of those that are increasingly unable afford to buy there own home.

We could talk about personal circumstance until the cow's come home. Who's worked harder to get where they are, which of us has more money.

I'm talking about the bigger picture....

seven-day-weekend

Cleaver wrote: »

I think you're expected to sell it, downsize and give a chunk of the money to a 22 year old who can then have 6 months 'finding themselves' in Indonesia. Or something along those lines.

I'll give you the address of my cousin so you can send him a cheque. He seems to spend his days doing not a lot, so would probably enjoy a stint in the sunshine.

Can't downsize much from a mid-terrace!:rotfl:

We do have a house in Spain as well though.........

Radiantsoul

no_fat_chicks wrote: »

The two most common answers are:

a) no, i'm rich so !!!!!!!! to them
b) what are you talking about we were so poor we lived in a ditch and ate dirt and cowpat and walked ten miles in the snow to school every day without any shoes and my dad worked down the mines for 80 years and died 3 times but people were tougher back then so he deserves what he has now

Life was tough back then.
Friends with benefits hadn't even been invented.

Malcolm.

no_fat_chicks wrote: »

The two most common answers are:

a) no, i'm rich so !!!!!!!! to them
b) what are you talking about we were so poor we lived in a ditch and ate dirt and cowpat and walked ten miles in the snow to school every day without any shoes and my dad worked down the mines for 80 years and died 3 times but people were tougher back then so he deserves what he has now

Welcome to the board. You make a fair point.

Cleaver

Malcolm. wrote: »

I am talking about the present where one in five eighteen to twenty four year olds are not in work, education or training. With many of those that are increasingly unable afford to buy there own home.

And in your eyes that is the fault of a generation who decades ago generally worked hard, knuckled down and were pretty sensible with their money?

Kohoutek

Cleaver wrote: »

And in your eyes that is the fault of a generation who decades ago generally worked hard, knuckled down and were pretty sensible with their money?

There aren't the blue collar jobs there were for baby boomers. In the 60's and 70s' manufacturing was what, about 60-70% of our economy? Now it's about 13%. Add to that Labour's devaluation of the education system and relatively high levels of immigration and the current situation is very tough for many young people.

Malcolm.

Cleaver wrote: »

And in your eyes that is the fault of a generation who decades ago generally worked hard, knuckled down and were pretty sensible with their money?

I feel the young of today shouldn't be paying for gold plated unfunded public sector pensions, which they can only dream of receiving, if that's what you're asking?

delerium

As my mum likes to remind me on a regular basis it will all be mine and my brothers in time....

my mil says the same to me and dh.......

Personally I will try and refrain from telling dd this until I am really at deaths door but hey the same will stand she will receive all of our things house etc.

For the time being both sets of baby boomers lent us the money last year to get on the housing ladder which we now have some equity in....not through anything but paying a little extra......

As an aside both me and dh are adopted to maybe we could tap a second set of parents each......

ukcarper

Another thing people forget is that people got married a lot younger in the sixties and seventies I got married when I was 22 my wife was 20 and that was not unusual.

Kohoutek

Malcolm. wrote: »

I feel the young of today shouldn't be paying for gold plated unfunded public sector pensions, which they can only dream of receiving, if that's what you're asking?

Exactly. The current unfunded liabilities of £2 trillion is a lot of money, particularly in a bankrupt state with a ruined economy!