What savings should I have?

atush

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

Why are you singling out young people though? A phone is not something you just have for contacting friends, it's essential for a lot of jobs (emails on the go, social networking, calendar, researching), this wouldn't really be achievable with a Nokia 3410. I do have a smart phone but it's an old model that does the job I need. Some people have the latest technology, it's not connected to age. You're acting like having a phone and a tv are ridiculous things, of course they're not.

I suggest you re read.

I didnt' say having a phone and TV were a luxury, but you dont have to have the biggest and best. Sure you NEED a phone for emails and txts and calls. But Social Networking? Not so much. Nor playing online games etc. These are wants not needs.

I am singling out youth because they dont always know the difference between wants and needs. And for wants, if you want a house, pension etc you must save for them before you engage in fulfilling other such wants.

older people who want the latest technology usually save for it first. I want an Ipad but haven't bought one yet, the 2 we have belong to my sons. I can wait.

atush

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

You're insane if you think that having an essential item (phone) means you shouldn't be able to be miffed at the property situation, not that I am.

Again, completely missed the point. some phones are cheap and good enough for what you need. Upgrading instead to the latest Iphone is not. That is what he was talking about.

And the property situation is what it is. You can be angry, or you can look further out in a cheaper area. And save hard to own one. Whining wont get you anywhere.

BucksLady

Instead of attacking the older generations, I think we should listen to what they say and learn from them. Some of the regular contributors have admitted that they have made a great deal of money and enjoy an enviable lifestyle. Some of them have been open enough to explain how this was achieved. If we want the same, it's no good saying 'it was easy for you', instead I think we should be asking ' what would you advise me....this is my situation etc'. (I'm 30 )

Buzzybee90

atush wrote: »

I suggest you re read.

I didnt' say having a phone and TV were a luxury, but you dont have to have the biggest and best. Sure you NEED a phone for emails and txts and calls. But Social Networking? Not so much. Nor playing online games etc. These are wants not needs.

I am singling out youth because they dont always know the difference between wants and needs. And for wants, if you want a house, pension etc you must save for them before you engage in fulfilling other such wants.

older people who want the latest technology usually save for it first. I want an Ipad but haven't bought one yet, the 2 we have belong to my sons. I can wait.

But you're making this up, the biggest and the best is just a figment of your imagination, or based on your own sons. Social networking as in linkedin. You could say the same about any demographic, you're just basing it on prejudice.

Buzzybee90

atush wrote: »

Again, completely missed the point. some phones are cheap and good enough for what you need. Upgrading instead to the latest Iphone is not. That is what he was talking about.

And the property situation is what it is. You can be angry, or you can look further out in a cheaper area. And save hard to own one. Whining wont get you anywhere.

No I didn't, I have a smartphone - I need it for work. It's not the latest iPhone. I'm not moaning, I have a lot of money because I've saved (as you can see from this forum many 20s have) - you're just making assumptions about the youth and it's quite offensive really. On that card, why should old people get free bus passes and winter fuel allowance, the old people I know are all sinking rich (deservedly), but, using my brain I know that not all of them are. You need to apply this to your view of us.

guitarman001

BucksLady wrote: »

Instead of attacking the older generations, I think we should listen to what they say and learn from them. Some of the regular contributors have admitted that they have made a great deal of money and enjoy an enviable lifestyle. Some of them have been open enough to explain how this was achieved. If we want the same, it's no good saying 'it was easy for you', instead I think we should be asking ' what would you advise me....this is my situation etc'. (I'm 30 )

A lot got it from (if lucky, inherited wealth) property gains which you'll never see.



I wrote a comment on this article... let's see if it gets published.

http://news.sky.com/story/1309194/house-prices-force-adults-to-live-with-parents

Comment below.




I'm 30 and still living at home. I've saved a fair amount but I'm lucky to have an engineering degree where I earn a decent amount. I actually do have enough for a deposit but I'm now thinking of simply emigrating (Germany or US). I wont pay for poor-value, vastly over-priced housing which is sure to be worth much less in the years to come. I'm worried that post-crash (as that's what is coming) the currency will be devalued, so the sooner I leave and convert all my savings, the better.



It's a scandal that's been building for years but the boomer generation have the "I'm alright, Jack" mentality. Now their kids are stuck with them into their late 30s and maybe beyond.



With average wages ~£25k, student debt ~£40k+, mortgages £200k+ without help from mum and dad, pension to save for, people are just putting off families and everything else and basically just giving up. What's the point - hard work wont even buy you a dodgy one bed flat? Personally, I decided long ago I just can't afford a family - how sad is that?



Do people think a one bed flat will cost £1m in years to come? Get your foot on the ladder now and prices will rise like they did for their parents? No way.... It's not going to happen. And wages wont be rising any time soon, either. Some people had to pay 15% interest on mortgages yonks ago, but that was only for a few years on a low capital amount. I'd rather that than pay low interest for 25+ years on a HUGE capital amount. And it's pathetic to hear boomer arguments about youngsters wanting it all, not being able to afford a home because they got a new TV or phone - the cost pales into insignificance. And let's clear up one other myth - house prices are less to do with supply and demand and MUCH more to do with how much credit the banks are willing to lend. And also, please of please somebody start taxing buy-to-let to the gills as it's greed greed greed.


Another thing, we don't want schemes like Help to Buy - in my opinion, if you need a scheme, you can't afford it. I'm basically paying into a scheme through my taxes to help others buy a house that neither they nor I can afford.The scheme is not fit for purpose and is just inflating another house price bubble (though the last one never really popped). We don't want schemes for "affordability"... we want LOWER HOUSE PRICES and NO MARKET INTERVENTION.



Time to stop treating housing as a cash cow. Is it good when petrol, food prices go up? GREED GREED GREED!


A whole generation forced to live at home like little children because their parents want their house prices to go up.


You'd be mad as a rocker to buy now. In fact, you'd be as mad as a rocker to stay in the UK. What is the economy built on? Dodgy banking and house prices? I think I've convinced myself I really need to get out of here.

The whole thing is a racket. MPs with their second homes... builders raking it in (honestly, it doesn't cost £200k+ to buy land and build a home), agents & solicitors raking it in, BTL... the lot of them, self-serving and greedy! And let's not forget... British housing is awful! Bedrooms where you can barely fit a bed, garages that don't fit cars, walls that are paper thin.. the list goes on.


Just saw Keith's reply. Council buy-outs were awful and fuelled this whole thing. With the jobI'm doing and the salary I'm on I should be living in a mansion but with prices the way they are now, no chance. This is another example of the "I'm alright Jack" attitude - "we worked hard and so must you" - yeah, but you probably bought yours cheap off the council. Bet it wasn't 6,7,8,9x salary (or even joint salary!)?


Lastly, I am NOT saying it is a bad thing for women to work, but they were sold a lie when they were told two incomes were better than one. Now houses are valued at dual income and if you want to have kids, childcare costs basically take one income out of the equation right away, and then what if the mother wants to stay at home in order to raise the child? It's just pushed the cost up for everybody!


Use your heads... don't buy right now and lose yourself a lot of money (though a house should be a home and not all about money). I was almost suckered into it 6 years ago... said flat has now lost £30k. A friend of mine lost £52k having bought in 2007 and sold last year. The joke is he upgraded to a 3-bed semi-detached for a QUARTER OF A MILLION POUNDS (he wanted one extra bedroom...) and that doesn't include interest over the term!! So maybe £350-400k? Over 30 years? Are houses these days designed to last that long? And he has 2 kids, earns the average wage and has a wife on minimum wage. Used the help to buy scheme but doesn't realise he's liable to pay back the other £50k at some point...


Shame on our elders and shame on this government. Thing is, none of them care and the only thing you can do is take action of your own. Early next year I will be part of the brain drain and I will be able to afford a 5-bed detached house with white picket fence in the part of America I'm looking at (though this is harder in Germany as tech centres are near expensive cities - but wages are better and the rental market far superior, so I'll be living in a nice flat and saving approx the same as I do now).


Be smart.

lalman

I find it laughable that older people who gained from the property boom, gain from state pensions, gained from the labour governments throwing money at them, gained from a high inflationary period which reduced the real value of debt tell us... that we shouldn't have £10 phone contracts because of the opportunity cost.

We all know what opportunity costs are but its so naïve to believe that you can equate something like that which for me replaces a land line (is this an essential for the older generation!??!?! or opportunity cost!)

I am looking to move somewhere that's more affordable i.e. somewhere in the north but want to make sure its the right opportunity.

I think everyone on this forum is fairly prudent but its really unfair for older people to be so dismissive of our difficulties.

In this day and age, unlike the past job security just isn't there... we still live through a difficult macro economic environment where inequality through different generations is growing...

Colin_Hunt

guitarman001 wrote: »

The most ridiculous thing I've ever heard considering the insane cost of homes these days. Absolutely mad! Typical boomer response probably intended to annoy!

Seriously, let's look at this... my phone costs £10 a month. How much would a mortgage cost and at what insane multiple of my salary?

Truly one of the more ridiculous arguments I've ever heard! You will hear every excuse under the sun because they don't want the "value" of their properties (I hate that word - and the fact that it's multiple for many) to drop. Again, I'm alright Jack.

Houses are cheap as chips, if you want to live in an expensive area thats your choice.
I happen to care not one jot about the price of my home, its where I live, eventually its value will be split equally between my two kids, I'd love to know how I've benefited from rising prices. (I'd actually welcome a 50% fall in property prices)
I have two kids in their twenties, I know what they spend their money on and I know what their friends spend their money on, some of them have no plan to fund a property, but they have a really good time, as I said their choice, opportunity cost.

James_Boyd

I would not agree with Kidm.
People should not just move city or town because they can not afford it. the point of the conversation that this is, is about making sure that prices to not go up that we can no afford. UK land all should cost the same. I can understand that different places price might be higher, but by 500,000- over millions. really?

ManofLeisure_2

guitarman001 wrote: »

A lot got it from (if lucky, inherited wealth) property gains which you'll never see.

Any wealth I've accumulated is and will be passed on to my children and their families.
I'm 58 and due to take my state pension at 66. This will be donated to help those who are not so fortunate as myself. Donated to a charity which helps elderly people pay their heating bills etc. Other people I know, also do this.
I retired at 55 and for the past 3 years have been involved with various charities. Giving both my time and money.
What more can I do? Please don't ask for any apolgy for having made lots of dosh. For many years I had 2 jobs to make ends meet. Worked 12 hr days to provide for my wife and children. I took advantage of 'every' opportunity that presented itself. May I add, even if the web had been available back then, I wouldn't have had time to log on.

Good luck in trying to make a better life elsewhere. My son (31) graduated with a MBA, held two posts in London before securing a fantastic job in Amsterdam. He now earns a 6 figure salary. He worked hard to make this happen, to give his wife and baby a better life. There were no hand-outs and he had to battle for a better life - just like most young people.