Why the baby boomers shouldn't feel guilty

ALIBOBSY

Should the BB's feel some guilt? Yeah a bit, but on the whole they just had the 2 l's luck and alot of it-rising wages and house prices made alot of that generation much richer than their parents and large numbers-alot of their "luck" came from the fact that it was such a large generation.

Whilst I don't think they should weep and wail over what their generation did/had the fact is they had all the advantages and the next couple of generations will have to deal with the fallout. Being a bit more honest about it would help, "hell yes we enjoyed ourselves took all the advantages and never thought about the future (like most generations) sorry about that".

My Mum is a classic BB who EVEN NOW still talks about "stretching to the biggest mortgage you can, as your wage and house prices will shoot up over time so you won't notice it in a few years". When we got our last mortgage she advised us only to get it based on OH's salary "like they did" just in case.

I suppose if you take a longer term view eventually gen x will inherit whatever BB has left re houses/savings etc (some will swell the tax pot and lets face it thats looking empty right now) and so some will trickle down to gen y and over a few generations when birth rates are steady things will even out.

We will all keep plodding on the best we can and deal the cards we get you can do no more.

Ali x

treliac

julieq wrote: »

And any other scapegoat du jour that prevents you taking personal responsibility for outcomes I guess?

What characterises successful people of all generations is that they play with the cards they're dealt, and they don't make excuses or look for other people to blame when things go wrong, whether that be the preceding generations, bankers, politicians, or the international lizard conspiracy and new world order.

Quite right. Most people consider themselves neither successful nor unsuccessful. They live without blaming other generations though cannot avoid being affected by the prevailing political and economic climate.

If house prices hadn't risen to the heights they have, I wouldn't have made money by good luck in buying a house when I did and my children would be less disadvantaged by comparison. Fortunately they don't blame my generation but they do see how other influencing factors have played out.

treliac

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

".
We will all keep plodding on the best we can and deal the cards we get you can do no more.

Ali x

Agreed.....

ruggedtoast

Generali wrote: »

Generali's investment recommendation? Invest in assets that produce a yield as baby boomers will be looking all over for it. Senior corporate bonds and preference shares might be a good bet, ditto utilities. Even mortgage backed securities, although they are not for the faint of heart.

If I knew what any of those things were I would definitely invest in them.

And thats my final word in this thread.

treliac

ruggedtoast wrote: »

If I knew what any of those things were I would definitely invest in them.

And thats my final word in this thread.

I am faint of heart. ISAs and NS&I are about my limit.