Interest rates at historical lows, housing prices through the roof, wages stagnant and Brexit.

Thrugelmir

CreditCardChris wrote: »

I don't want to be negative but it's hard to find reasons to be positive.

Do you think that previous generations had it easy? Didn't have to make tough decisions in order to find somewhere affordable to live.

CreditCardChris

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Do you think that previous generations had it easy? Didn't have to make tough decisions in order to find somewhere affordable to live.

https://i.redd.it/7t146welfv041.png

You tell me.

Alistair31

If you are nearly 30 and have not yet purchased your first property then you’ve made some poor choices along the way, notwithstanding any exceptional circumstances.

CreditCardChris

Alistair31 wrote: »

I’ve you’re nearly 30 and you’ve not yet purchased your first property then you’ve made some poor choices along the way, notwithstanding any exceptional circumstances.

Sure I made some mistakes when I first started working but I've worked hard to get to where I am now. I know £38,000 isn't much to some people but when I was 25 I never dreamt I'd be earning £38,000 a year.

What frustrates me is despite this hard work, despite getting my life back on track since 25, despite paying someone else's mortgage for 5 years, I still cannot afford to buy my own home.

Maybe I'm just going to have to suck it up and move to some random village up north somewhere.

Alistair31

I guess you are single ?

CreditCardChris

Alistair31 wrote: »

I guess you are single ?

Yeah, although even if I had a girlfriend making the commitment to buying a house together is huge. If it doesn't work out and we broke up it's going to cause so much stress.

VWPolecat

You have got one great thing going for you,your age. There is a whole planet of opportunities out there.
The UK has poor weather and has totally hopeless politicians. Get out of here, I lost a chance of a $200K job in Afganistan due to being too old, sure it was dangerous but all the other guys who went on the job survived then went to safer parts of the world.

VWPolecat on the other side of the planet

thickasabrick

Patience and persistence.

There is bound to be one or two articles within the FIRE movement that hit the spot and hopefully inspire you to get past this stumbling block.

I particularly enjoy the articles by the British FIRE blogger "The Escape Artist" , I recommend having a browse of his site.
Start with "The inestimable advantages of hardening the f**k up"
Quite a lot of it is tongue in cheek but the underlying concepts are definitely worth investigation.

Plenty of different perspectives listed in this Vital Dollar article:
50+ of the Best FIRE Blogs (Financial Independence, Retire Early)

Good luck and I hope you manage to find something positive from one or two of the blogs listed.

CreditCardChris wrote: »

How to remain positive for the future as a young person?

How exactly does a young person save for the future when:

a) Interest rates are pathetic.
b) Wages are pathetic.
c) House prices are ridiculous.
d) Brexit uncertainty.

snipped

Poor_Leno

CCChris - stay positive at least you're not nearly 40 and not owning a home like me. My only chance now is shared ownership unless a pot of money falls from the sky. Not gonna happen.

Apodemus

CCChris, while I feel for you, you say you are nearly 30 and got your life “back on track” since 25. That suggests only four years of “being on track” which is a very short time in anyone’s financial life. It will get better with time and good decision-making. As suggested above, immerse yourself in some of the financial blogs like the FIRE ones mentioned above, rather than any of the cosy chats about how to invest your next million.

While your graph of house prices is doubtless factual, it is quite misleading and gives a false image of the reality for a number of reasons. Mortgage interest rates were higher in the past. Earnings multiples were strictly imposed. Access to credit was quite difficult (in the 60s and 70s you had to apply in advance for a mortgage and wait for your time to come around before you could even start to look for a property). Also averages are heavily influenced by the upper end of the market, which has grown hugely across the country - there were very few McMansions in the 70s. Back then there were very few single-person households, so demand has increased hugely. And it was expected that one might share a starter flat with a friend or lodger to help cover the mortgage and running costs.