I have £5000 savings at 35. Is my life over?

aj23_2

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Of course you wouldn't and neither do the countless thousands who have no choice but to take a loan to get the education they need to pursue their chosen career. I doubt they would be happy with someone who was self-funded (sorry, parent-funded) telling them that their morals are wrong if they take a student loan and don't pay it all back or that someone in a position of relative wealth actually wanted to make it harder for them by keeping the repayment earning-level low. Are you able to imagine what it might be like to be in their shoes?


So, despite the fact that education is generally seen as a good thing, would you say your education fees were a wise investment?

Sorry to keep badgering you @aj23 but your views are probably skewed a little by your relatively well-off upbringing.

As for OP, they crafted a very clever thread in which they openly stated they had no money worries which then led on to what we are now discussing and I very much doubt they will come back to the forum. I have PM'ed them to see if they are still listening but no response. Hopefully they haven't carried out their threat.

Education is good, as long as it can be used effectively. Most people I know do not have jobs in the degree they undertook. If I could turn back time, would I go to uni? Probably not.

Define "well off"?

Primrose

Perhaps a more importent question to be asking yourself than should you be jumping off a bridge is to ask yourself if you arrived in this situation by accident, carelessness, overspending, not understanding financial discipline or whatever, and deciding what you want financially from your future life.

Once you know this you can decide how you perhaps change your future habits,
ie
* start budgeting and learn how and where to make savings on your normal living expenses
* Join a pension scheme
* allocate some money every month to an emergency fund
* start a longer term savings account for a specific goal

Read some of the threads in the Old Style board for hints on how to reduce your dailing living expenses and make your pounds stretch further and the Debts boards for suggestions on how best to pay off your debts.

Everybody will have a different starting point in re-arranging their financial lives and probably nobody would,prefer to leave the starting blocks from their own particular situation. However that is the reality of these things

. Just make a start and keep a monthly diary of your financial activities to keep you motivated.

Start with small thing like turning out the loose change in your purse every day into a jar and once a month pay into a savings account. You need to realise it,s the little actions too which will help you achieve the bigger goals. Just start NOW and don,t give up or in ten years time you'll be in even deeper despair at finding yourself in a longer term better place.

Terry_Towelling

aj23 wrote: »

Define "well off"?

Excellent question, @aj23, although I said, 'relatively well-off'. In the context of our jousting session, 'relatively well-off' might be having an upbringing where the parents can choose to fund two university degrees compared to having parents who can't. That sort of thing.

BucksLady

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Excellent question, @aj23, although I said, 'relatively well-off'. In the context of our jousting session, 'relatively well-off' might be having an upbringing where the parents can choose to fund two university degrees compared to having parents who can't. That sort of thing.

The parents who have chosen to fund their child's university degrees may be eating baked beans on toast 7 days a week lol. On the other hand, the parents who are perceived as not being ''able'' to fund their child's education may be enjoying a trip to Barbados twice a year

Terry_Towelling

BucksLady wrote: »

The parents who have chosen to fund their child's university degrees may be eating baked beans on toast 7 days a week lol. On the other hand, the parents who are perceived as not being ''able'' to fund their child's education may be enjoying a trip to Barbados twice a year

Baked beans? And toast as well? 7 days a week? Luxury! Mind you, I hope they keep the windows open.:)

BucksLady

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Baked beans? And toast as well? 7 days a week? Luxury! Mind you, I hope they keep the windows open.:)

Who knows - guess it's all about making the right choices

Vet

Don't stress. You're still young. its worth adding to your pension and perhaps adding a bit more to your savings - maybe consider a LISA for retirement? That will give you an extra £1000/year if you save £4k. You never know where life will take you! Hell, you might win the lottery next week, or you might meet someone you love. Chill. It's all good.

aj23_2

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Excellent question, @aj23, although I said, 'relatively well-off'. In the context of our jousting session, 'relatively well-off' might be having an upbringing where the parents can choose to fund two university degrees compared to having parents who can't. That sort of thing.

But being well off in terms of relativity is too ambiguous. One persons interpretation of relatively well off may be different to someone else's. I know lots of people who were self funded, they all still live at home though. I equally know others who's parents could afford but they didn't go or got loans instead.

I went to uni when my three years cost less combined than people's first year alone now.

Terry_Towelling

aj23 wrote: »

But being well off in terms of relativity is too ambiguous. One persons interpretation of relatively well off may be different to someone else's. I know lots of people who were self funded, they all still live at home though. I equally know others who's parents could afford but they didn't go or got loans instead.

I went to uni when my three years cost less combined than people's first year alone now.

You are quite right @aj23 that people have different interpretations of terms. I suspect a person's interpretation of 'relatively well off' may possibly vary according to the environment within which they grew up. If you find yourself in a circle where many were parent-funded then you may tend to think of that as the norm when, in fact that is only your 'norm'. In the wider context of education funding, the norm is more likely to be students having no choice but to take a loan, or forgo further education and try to get a job. Many, I suspect, can only dream of having parents capable of funding their further education and being willing to do so.

And really, we should stop calling it 'self-funding' because, when you think about it, taking a loan and paying it back is self-funding. Taking a gift from parents is quite the opposite of self-funding (unless you repay them). Does that make sense?

If both of your degrees cost less than one does now then I may have done you a disservice with my badgering but I still suspect your view of the 'norm' is somewhat different to that of the majority of students.

Alexland

You two still going? :-)