To be worried about buying national trust lifetime membership at 34

[Marue]

I've been a member for the last 5-6 years. I use it a fair amount but I'm really hesitant to buy lifetime membership. Now I know if I bought it to begin with I'd be close to breaking even in a few years time. I just feel like its asking for bad luck buying it so young. Aib ridiculous?

[Axekick]

Yes Yabu.

You are worried you will die if you buy it young? Surely if that happened, getting your money's worth is the least of your problems

[expatinscotland]

Yes, you are being ridiculous. Go for it.

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

YABU, we should have done it years ago.

[Jinglebells99]

I've had a family yearly membership for the last 16 bloody years. I wish I had done it 16 years ago. Shame they don't take past years membership into account! I have a friend who was gifted a life membership by her mother decades ago, when it really didn't cost much at all. I do see your point though although if you were to die young then the lifetime membership would be the least of your worries really :) how much is it now btw?

[LikeASoulWithoutAMind]

YABU!

I thought you were worried that buying it at 34 made you an old fart (I have NT membership too btw)

[ilovesooty]

Well you'll probably do quite well out of it and if you died you wouldn't be worrying would you?

[LibrariesGaveUsP0wer]

I don't think buying a lifetime membership would kill you, no!

I thought you were going to say you thought it was a bit cheeky cos it was such good value.

[Jinglebells99]

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/11153615/National-Trust-and-English-Heritage-lifetime-membership-Why-it-still-pays-to-buy-at-60.html


Just found this article about life membership.

[TheoriginalLEM]

How much is it? We had English Heritage membership a few years ago and went to a property practically every weekend. We got it again this year and i think we've been once. We are all stately homed out.

[Marue]

Its 1.5k.

Not just death that worry's me, at the moment I can drive round places fairly economically but what happens in ten years if oil is 5 times the price and keeps rising? I won't be able to get to these otherwise inaccessible locations

[Axekick]

And what if you win the lottery or a relative you didn't know existed left you millions of pounds.

You can only make the decision based on the information available yo you now. If you can afford it and will use it, do it. If you are not sure about spending that much, don't.

[TheoriginalLEM]

Look, in five years time that 1.5k will be long gone and if you hadn't spent it on membership you would have spent it on something else. So it wont matter - you'll have the memebership to use if you buy it now, forever - i think thats very cool. If you go on holiday in the UK, you'll always have somewhere to visit.

Yeah, you might be hit by a bus tomorrow - i can gaurantee your dying thought wont be, oh fuck i wish i hadn't bought membership.

What is more likely is that you will continue to enjoy it, you'll enjoy it with your children and then you'll enjoy it with your grandchildren so when you look at it like that, its quite a good investment.

If you are overthinking this because you can't afford it just now, then wait until you can but if you are overthinking due to anxiety, think about getting some help with that x

[Trills]

If you die young, you'll be dead, and you won't care.

[InMySpareTime]

We got family life membership when I was 27, we use NT properties as journey breaks on long drives, or pop round a house or gardens for the afternoon. Plenty of places are accessible by public transport, and we've definitely had our money's worth already!

[PigeonPie]

We've been life members since DS2 was 2 weeks old (he's 8 in January). We decided that it was a fitting way of remembering my late DGrandfather who had left us some money. DS2 never knew him but I wanted something which the DSs would benefit from in years to come and which had come from Grandpapa. We bought a Joint Life for DH and me and then the boys their own Individual Life memberships.

When I worked for the NT (20 years ago) I think we reckoned that you'd need to be a Life Member for 25 years. But for us, it's not about the visiting etc, it's a donation to a charity which is worth supporting.

[Marue]

Thanks lem!

Another complication is if you join isle of man trust for life its half the price, and you can visit all nt places. However I'm worried this may be changed in the ,next 50 years of my life

[Anniegetyourgun]

I met a woman who confessed to having incurred £1.5k in parking fines. Now that's what you call a poor investment.

[Hamishandthefoxes]

My grandma bought me nt life membership when I was 4. I'm not dead yet and have used it loads. We've just added dd to make it a family membership toll she's 18.

[SwedishEdith]

£1.5k . No, not for me. How often do you visit these places now?

[richmama]

I had life membership in mid-30s. Some years I do a lot, other years I don't at all. I like the flexibility.

[AyeAmarok]

Yikes, what is the annual fee?

[SouthWesterlyWinds]

Is that just for you or for a joint membership?

[Schrodingersmum]

We have joint life membership of NT and English heritage that my husband bought when we married, we have used both all over this country with reciprocal trusts CADWU etc
You are not unreasonable, both our DC have grown up with a huge respect for history supported by this gift from their dad

[TendonQueen]

I really think you're overly anxious about this. Even if (touch wood) you contracted a terminal illness, do you reckon you'd then spend your time sitting around saying 'Dammit, wish I hadn't bought that lifetime membership'. And if oil prices likewise go up dramatically, I imagine we'll all have more to worry about than it costing too much to visit National Trust properties anymore. Just get it if you go to them a lot.

[wizzywig]

Im being a dumbo but is it just walking around old houses?