To be depressed about my financial situation compared to my neighbors

@greenwithenvy2 We are in our late 30s and are in a very privileged position - we earn a decent wage between us (£140k)

I think it's disgusting that you would make a thread like this given that you and your partner are on a colossal salary combined.

To be honest, I'm inclined to say that this is a troll thread.

You're bitter because she was born 20 years before you? You'll have the last laugh because the chances are she'll die 20 years before you!

But come on! There are loads of things that could account for her better financial situation

• maybe they inherited some money
• maybe they got better qualifications that opened up better opportunities
• Maybe they worked harder
• maybe they made bigger sacrifices early in their lives
• maybe they made wiser investment decisions
• maybe they spent less on themselves

The world is unfair. You're on good money for the UK, which is one of the richest countries in the world, with one of the highest standards of living. Imagine you lived on the breadline in Bangladesh, or Zimbabwe, or Venezuela, or (God forbid) Gaza.

You're one of the luckiest people in the world. See if you can, for your own happiness, squeeze a little bit of perspective into your view of the world

I am a similar age to your neighbour. While you are feeling sorry for yourself, here are some of the uglier features of the 1970s that we lived through in the UK as teenagers, not knowing that property would appreciate in value during our adult years nor that borrowing would become cheap once we hit middle age: the backdrop of the Cold War and the attendant threat of nuclear war; IRA bomb attacks on the mainland; corporal punishment in schools; widespread and overt racism and sexism; inflation at 20%; single women unable to borrow for a mortgage; a narrow range of career options open to women; terror of teenage pregnancy; most houses without central heating; shops closed on Sunday; and frequent industrial action leading to power outages.

It's telling that you describe £140,000 a year as merely 'decent'. It's nearly six times the minimum wage and puts you in the top 5% of households based on income. If money is what matters to you, you could think about riskier investments than an ISA. Oh, and children have no right to expect financial support from their parents once they're grown up. Nigella Lawson said years ago she wasn't leaving her money to her children as they need to work things out for themselves.

@oliverreed exactly

In the words of Sheryl Crow “It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got”

I really don't get this obsession with trying to create vast amounts of wealth to give to the children.

Because many people need help to get on the ladder and then it's harder for the ones who don't have help.

Prior to the crash and mortgage regulations, pre 08

Disgusted that someone has benefited by taking a risk and making smart decisions??

your attitude disgusts me. Get over yourself. You are the problem with this country. Success is seen as ‘disgusting’ should we all be poor to make you happy?

It sounds like the OP, has been looking up her neighbour's company at Companies House and poring over the figures line by line! A very unhealthy obsession and extreme undue nosiness.

There is enormous generational inequality in the UK based on when you got on the housing market.

Some of my slightly older friends have had 500k plus to move up the ladder/renovations etc. It does sometimes grate but what can you do.

Yes those were the days, and then a lot of those lenders went bust due to the business they were writing. Those halcyon days

Was it the early 90s when mortgages were easy to get?

True but we all do it - it’s a human trait. We only know where we stand in relation to others.

There are plenty of young people with property portfolios so I don’t see that this is all to do with her being 20 yrs older or what luck has to do with it ,

Yeah, nothing was different for previous generations 🤔😆

Why don’t you be grateful for what you have got

and not what you don’t have

This really sums it up. You could start to build up your own business on your really comfortable salary. But the effort and risk involved are not for you. I’m not judging you for that, everyone has to make the choice about what makes them happy. The sad thing is you seem jealous of someone else who has made different choices to you. You’ve dressed it up with the excuse of saying they only managed it because they had 20 years on you. But they could have said the same about someone else 20 years older than them. There will be people younger than you who have built up really successful businesses or portfolios from less than you have. That’s just life…

And that is why I don’t tell anyone about my property portfolio. Mine is around 3 million. I have a normal boring job and that’s what tell people I do.

In all honesty I started buying property for my children so that they would have somewhere to live as an adult.

I bought mine when banks were handing out mortgages like Smarties and was able to self cert. Those were the days…

Oh and your taxes don’t pay my rent as I don’t rent to people on UC. Got bitten too many times unfortunately.

I feel everything is just so very difficult now and we won't be able to help our children in the same way.

On 140k you can save something for your dc

Good luck to them - they seized the opportunities that were open for them. They took a chance and it paid off.

My parents gave me a wonderful childhood and a great outlook of life but I didn’t get any handouts or any secret savings; they weren’t in a position to that and I’ve never thought of myself hard done by!

My children are set up with ISA’s and savings / investments so they will have a tidy nest egg as they go into adulthood and I think how bloody lucky they are to have this - but never do I think BooHoo poor me, I didn’t have this. One of my friends had a trust fund, some of friends never had a pot to piss in and commonly, most have a nice normal life - you play the hand you’re given. And if you want more, you find a way (like your neighbors!)

OP, with respect; life is not fair. That’s not how this game works. Yes there is massive inequality to what life was like 40 years ago but no good whining about it, you cut your cloth and get on with it.

And stop perving on your neighbours finances 🤣

How?

…. and I can tell you they did as I have more than a handful of friends in this position. It was an 80’s/90’s thing. There was a short period in the 90’s when you could get 100% mortgages, in fact more than that so you had money to spend on basic furniture (thank you Northern Rock). I bought my first property in London this way without a penny of parental help and on a public sector salary as did a lot of my friends and work colleagues. Not one of us would be able to afford the properties we/they live in if we had to start from scratch today. We lived through huge interest rates of 15% at one point and a big house price crash. Those that were able to hang on to their properties were then able to use the fast growing equity to buy more places. Flipping properties became very popular. There was a popular programme with Sarah Beene called Property Ladder that followed those that did this.

Why? Would you rather more people homeless?

we need landlords, there’s not enough social housing and not enough people who can afford to buy. So it’s landlords or homelessness- which would you rather?

Sorry but I absolutely do think on a salary of 140k, and really sensible decisions, you definitely could build up a property portfolio. For example.. you downsize so you have spare capital. You save up and purchase a property for rental or holiday business etc. Then you collect capital, keep saving, and then buy another. I’m guessing your 140k salary is eaten up by one huge mortgage. You could split that between two mortgages but obviously you’d have to cut your cloth accordingly. We have income of 90/100k and have two properties- but we bought them when earning much less, doable because they’ve both been cheap, we saved hard initially for capital to use, and we’ve worked to renovate them and create value; one now brings in rental income. When we have enough capital again I’ll do it again if I can manage it. You can make different choices with your income instead of just one massive mortgage. X

Also, on your income you can invest in a stocks and shares ISA for your kids and this will have increased a lot by the time they are of an age to buy a house

Yes this. Overall being a landlord is an exploitative practice (I don’t want to call it a profession).