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Question for the wealthiest 10%... how?
Comments
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With the benefit of hindsight I think you have been right about housing so far, although I don't see how the multiple of house prices to average wage can continue rising indefinitely.HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »there's virtually no way to beat housing long term simply from the principle that its the only form of leveraged investment available to the common man.
House prices have been driven by restricting the supply of new builds, but you can see the pressure to release some of the so called 'green belt' for building is growing when even the Conservative Party Leader is calling for it.
Aren't there other leveraged investments available - shares for instance (not saying they are better though)“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” --Upton Sinclair0 -
You can use leverage for equities, but anything over 50% is both unusual and risky.
Compare and contrast with mortgages. 95% used to be common and we even saw 100% and 110% !
Yes, with hindsight I do wish I'd had a little more property exposure, but for every success story in BTL I've seen a horror story or two.I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.
Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.0 -
gadgetmind wrote: »I've seen it work both ways and I'm really not convinced that achieving your full potential (whatever that means!) is any harder now.
For instance, there are many great ways for bright people to directly engage with a global market with very little up front investment. Go back a just a few decades and "working for the man" was pretty much the beginning and end of it.
19 old Etonians have become Prime Minister... That does indicate that great wealth does increase the chances of becoming a PM!
Like it or not, but family background is a fairly good indicator of future status.0 -
doughnutmachine wrote: »19 old Etonians have become Prime Minister... That does indicate that great wealth does increase the chances of becoming a PM!
Yes, but not much else.Like it or not, but family background is a fairly good indicator of future status.
I guess it depends on what you mean by status. I'm sure there are jobs where it's the old boys club (though not as much as it once way) but the vast majority of roles are open to all, and starting up on your own has never been easier.I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.
Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.0 -
gadgetmind wrote: »Yes, but not much else.
I guess it depends on what you mean by status. I'm sure there are jobs where it's the old boys club (though not as much as it once way) but the vast majority of roles are open to all, and starting up on your own has never been easier.
i would say the easiest way for a "council house kid" to become middle class is education. it must be hard for someone from a poor family to pay living expenses/ university fees for three years etc.
starting a business is also easier if you have family/ friends that will lend you a couple of hundred k...
having money does have a tendency to make life easier.0 -
gadgetmind wrote: »Yes, but not much else.
I guess it depends on what you mean by status. I'm sure there are jobs where it's the old boys club (though not as much as it once way) but the vast majority of roles are open to all.
I heard on Radio 4 that over 80% of the judiciary went to (fee paying) Public School. This compares with 8% of the population as a whole.
In the area where I live, house prices are much higher around the best schools, where wealthy parents move to get their kids in.
PS: How difficult can it be to inherit half of Cornwall and a pile of cash (Prince Charles) compared to starting from scratch“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” --Upton Sinclair0 -
Grants and now loans take care of much or all of that, helped in part by being used to frugal living. Money isn't what I'd call the biggest hurdle, the social and expectation and how to get things done aspects are perhaps more challenging. Though both can be issues.doughnutmachine wrote: »i would say the easiest way for a "council house kid" to become middle class is education. it must be hard for someone from a poor family to pay living expenses/ university fees for three years etc.
Definitely!doughnutmachine wrote: »having money does have a tendency to make life easier.
I find it good to know that I probably now have sufficient money in savings and investments to live at a fairly simple level without benefits for the rest of my life, if I had the need to do that. Not the safety margin I want, but way better than I've ever been in financial security in the past.0 -
doughnutmachine wrote: »i would say the easiest way for a "council house kid" to become middle class is education. it must be hard for someone from a poor family to pay living expenses/ university fees for three years etc.
No, not really as they get bursaries and generous loans. It those up another couple of rungs who struggle.
As for "become middle class" what does that actually mean? I have no idea what class I am, nor what I was, nor do I care. Perhaps this is why I don't get the concept of restricted social mobility: I don't really see there being any defined social strata in Britain like you'd see with the caste system in India or the burakumin in Japan.
http://articles.latimes.com/2004/aug/01/news/adfg-joutcast1
Some countries judge people by bloodline and birthplace, but we really don't in Britain. Hey, I even married a Welsh person!
I started with £350 my gran left me and a student overdraft!starting a business is also easier if you have family/ friends that will lend you a couple of hundred k...
And it's this that drives some people to study hard and work hard yet others to do the lottery.having money does have a tendency to make life easier.I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.
Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.0 -
some ppl have a huge amount of get-up-and-go about them. that can make up for not having money, education, or good advice. but all of those things are useful.
1 very negative factor for ppl without money behind them is jobs where they are expected to work for free for a while before they actually get paid. there's nothing wrong with being paid a low amount for a while when you have a good chances of progressing. but not being paid enough to live off will shut a lot of ppl out.
if you go back a few decades, i believe accountants had to pay a little during their training, though it then switched over to them being paid (and by now, it's a decent amount, even in training).
it now seems to happen with some media companies.0 -
It doesn't happen with us.
We pay placement students £15k for the year and start grads on at least £26k.
We are starting to see grads turn down £26k this year so need to look at tweaking it up again. If offered £0 we'd get no-one as competition is pretty fierce.I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.
Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.0
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