a day in the life of a baby boomer - please give some info

thorsoak

OK - the story of my/our lives.

OH - born in 1940 during Portsmouth Blitz - bombed out at age 6 months. Spent rest of the war in Oxfordshire countryside with mum a postwoman. Father demobbed from Navy early 1945 to recommission gas works in London, then move to Midlands where he went to village school, then grammar school, then age 17. trainee engineer with BP - with 1day release & 2 evenings to get to HND.

Me - born 1943, with older brother & 2 younger sisters. After the war, father cycled 8 miles to his work in GPO. Went to grammar school, leaving at 17, going to work as junior secretary in accountant's office.

We met when I was 16, he was 19, got engaged when he was 21, we saved and married in 1963. With an income of less than £19 per week, we managed to get a mortgage (£3,250), courtesy of the old LCC (later GLC) at a fixed rate of 6.125% - paying £20.5s. 9d per month. Train fares to work came to £6.10s per week. Had #1 son in 1966 - I worked up to 6 weeks before birth. Maternity grant £20. No maternity pay, no child benefit - had to wait until #1 daughter in 1969 before getting 9s.0d per week (45p). #2 & #3 sons born 1972 & 1976. Sold house in 1976 for £10,500, bought 2 semi-derelict cottages for £10,500 - spent next 5 years renovating cottages, increasing mortgage as we improved - floors, walls, roof, elec, plumbing, staircase, c/heating, kitchen bathroom etc etc etc.

OH ill in 1981 - I went back to work. (No benefits) After almost 9 years, OH was able to go back to work - not what he had done before, but he worked. We increased our mortgage to help children with their deposits/savings, as our parents had helped us - not massive amounts - but enough to encourage.

We retired - OH at 68, me at 65 we sold our home in 2008 - at the very last minute, having to accept being "gazundered" by our purchasers and the money that would have been our pension pot was severely diminished - but we thought we would still manage - and have just. But now, just two years into retirement, we've been dealt the worst possible blow - OH has terminal pancreatic cancer with just weeks left.

Anyone want to swap places?

Make the most of what you have - you don't know what the other person's life plan has in store for them!

iolanthe07

And don't forget that many of us boomers left school at 15 and so have contributed 50 years of tax and NI. I think we're entitled to a little bit back.

lostinrates

iolanthe07 wrote: »

And don't forget that many of us boomers left school at 15 and so have contributed 50 years of tax and NI. I think we're entitled to a little bit back.

Countered with for my generation retirement age will be later and my guess is pensions will be means tested. We don't count on receiving a state pension.

thorsoak

lostinrates wrote: »

Countered with for my generation retirement age will be later and my guess is pensions will be means tested. We don't count on receiving a state pension.

We didn't count on maternity benefits/housing benefits/working tax credits.

lostinrates

thorsoak wrote: »

We didn't count on maternity benefits/housing benefits/working tax credits.

Many did receive state housing, a greater bite at buying a home and more chance of a job for ife though!

I think we could do this allday....the truth is we can always find ways for life to suck if we are so inclined. To me, your story suggests why we should look for the reasons to enjoy what we have,

Elaine_Wilson

I don't think I fit the stereotype either.

So, what's important. Born in 1950 so well qualified as a BB. Employed for 17 years, then own business for over 27 so far. Never made a fortune. In fact, I have only earned more than £20,000 in one year. Or if you consider earnings in real terms as adjusted by the RPI then make that three.

By the time I had worked for 7 years I had saved a deposit of just over my annual gross salary. That represented about 21% of the cost of a small flat. Took a mortgage for 4 times my annual earnings. (Yes, I told a fib)

Moved to my present house which cost £45,000 quite a time ago. I gather it may be worth a bit more now.

About five or six years ago I had reduced the mortgage to £500 which is covered by a similar amount in Premium Bonds. I then decided to drastically reduce my working hours to about 30 to 35 a week. Okay, my income dropped to below £10,000 but I could then spend more time doing things for various charities.

So at the moment I have a mortgage free house, an eleven year old car with a sum in the bank to replace this when necessary. A few small investments to provide some luxuries in my retirement. And a pretty good life, really.

LilacPixie

I'm not a boomer, i'm an 80's child, my parents both are boomers, aged 59 and 63. Dad retired 4 years ago to slow down a bit but keeps up his interest in football, my mum didn't really 'work' she raised me and siblings (older brother, younger sister) now she does some church stuff playgroup and a coffee morning and looks after my kids while I work. My parents own their own home mortgage free, live on dads pension + savings plus whatever 'board' my sister gives them. They seem to manage ok, no debt etc. They have a 2nd home bought 120km outside Valencia. Spanish house was bought outright in the late 90's.

The way I see it is my parents, dad especially had to work damm hard to get what they have, I remember him missing lots of stuff, working 12-14 hour night shifts and not seeing him from one week to the next, him being off the coast of Africa and missing my sister being born. I think they have earned the right to just enjoy the rest of their lives..

Oh they have 2 cars as well but only dad drives.. one is a Nissan and the other is a classic that is older than me that was dads 'project' as he was winding down to retirement

FATBALLZ

My parents are boomers, they live in a house worth around £500k that they paid £130k for in the early 90s, although they've probably done about £70k worth of work to it in that time. It will be mortgage free in the near future. My dad does earn good money, but my mum has only worked more recently but doesn't need to. They managed to bring up a large family on the one wage, in fact still support a number of my siblings who are unable to hold down jobs. Despite this they still go on holiday 2-3 times a year, in various places around the world. They also have 2 cars (one a brand new 'luxury' car). They have good pension provision and savings.

PasturesNew

My parents were brought up in the war. Mum did 'war work' but then was chucked out when the blokes returned from war. Dad had to do national service, which enabled him to work with stuff he was interested in, then got a job doing that - and in those days there were 'proper evening classes' that you could attend to progress (all long gone now, the cr4p you can do in the evenings is expensive - and most evening classes have been replaced by daytime classes for people with kids to progress).

Their age group is therefore 'pre boomer', they are parents of boomers.

Dad worked full-time in one job, ended up a manager and his job took him around the country/sometimes abroad, until he was laid off after 25 years. He was on the dole for 2 years, then got a menial job for the next 10 years and retired. Has two pensions.

Mum always had a part-time job, but paid extra for a pension of her own, I think it was worth £12 when she started collecting it.

Dad bought his house when he was 40, paid off the mortgage with his redundancy money about 15 years later. Sold that to buy their retirment house which was about the same size/type but in a cheaper area, so they pocketed about £10k.

Now they get by, they've never been one for going out, or holidays, or new things at all.

We didn't have any double glazing, or central heating, or fitted carpets in our house when I was growing up. Everything was mend and make do, but nothing was owed to anybody (except the mortgage). Holidays were spent in tatty caravans with a chemical toilet in a small shed next to the caravan, in a farmer's field. But we did have one of those holidays every year.

I think if I carbon-dated what my parents are wearing right now, the clothes on their backs are about 20+ years old, but they won't let me buy them new stuff.

SingleSue

So what is my generation called? I was born in 1970.

Sure it has been put on here before but beggered if I can remember!