AIBU to wonder why a pensioner struggling financially would not use housing equity?

@StealMySunshining I think a lot of it comes from the nebulous respect they believe older generations should get.

The generation before the boomers fought WW2 so that was easily given. I respect the elderly as much as any other group, but they are not special simply for not dying yet.

The statistics are SO clear that they had an easier time of it financially but the second a young person struggles they scream IPHONES AVOCADOS as if they didn't have vices in their youth. As if it is remotely possible to navigate the world today without a smart phone. As if an avocado isn't 79p at Aldi.

I get the impression that many of that generation do not view millennials as "real" adults yet. That we are still teenagers who make feckless choices.

I think some people have this weird idea that the money they have in their house isn't really money.... they don't see it as an asset that contributes their wealth because they're so used to owning their own home and having that security it doesn't enter their mind how fortunate they are compared to those who have always rented. There's a level of entitlement too I think, that their house should be inheritance for their kids, rather than funding their life. Culturally we see older people as on their way out and envisage their property being handed down so their kids can benefit, rather than recognising that just because you're let's say 70 that doesn't mean you don't have potentially 20-30 years left where you still need to pay your way and take care of yourself. There's a dependency on the state I think that is very cultural, like at a certain age you're owed being cared for financially while keeping your wealth to yourself too. Like having your cake and eating it.

@MrsCarson the laws around ER were tightened in the 2010s after a load of issues like that.

The main issue with equity release is it means that there may not be anything for your children to inherit and it can make choosing to move into a care facility more complicated.

The "risk" of going into a care home is about 20% if you are over the age of 85 so it is not a guarantee that it will happen, however 1 in 4 people over 85 have some form of in home help even if they are generally able to live independently.

Why is it that people of our generation can have this empathy but it just seems to evaporate for so many people as soon as they retire? It’s not a personal insult to say that life is harder for a 20 year old today than it was for a 20 year old in 1990 or whatever. You couldn’t pay me to be a 20 year old in today’s world, and I’m not even 40!

Any discussion around pensions descends into this screaming match about who had it harder. I wonder if it’s because the current generation of pensioners know they have had it so good with relatively low effort compared to earlier and later generations?

@StealMySunshining I did a microbiology degree so if I wasn't working I was in the lab, running cultures or on placement. I found moving to the "real world" of work a massive change of pace - that I much prefer!

I don't think getting old is easy, but there is only so much sympathy I have for a generation who had it far easier than me or my children ever will.

Those equity release/reverse mortgages products are a complete ripoff.
If she really wants money from the house she should sell and buy or rent somewhere smaller. Our old neighbour had one, and eventually she had to move in with family (they somehow foreclosed on her) and the company took the house and sold it. House prices had dropped so much back in 2007 I think the year was, and she seemed to be living to a grand old age and was about 90 at the time.

Yup. I averaged a 50 hour working week across 4 PT contracts as a postgraduate student. If she could only see me now in my oh-so-important 40 hour a week FT job!

I often worked all weekend as a teenager, so not a single day off in a week. If I retire at 68 I will have worked for 56 years. And I am still able to show empathy for the young people of today who will have it harder than I did and probably retire with less!

Weird thing to lie about, unless you aren't in the UK in which case all your thoughts on this UK pensions issue are irrelevant.

p.s my parents are early gen x

Still not answering the question I see. What is the difference between a young person and a parent working PT? Is one more valuable than the other?

Because both are liable to pay the same rates of NI and taxes.

@StealMySunshining of course nothing that a young person does is relevant or hard.

Don't know about you but I would find 3 days a week partially retired at an office job a lot easier than a Friday close and two weekend split shifts at Lloyds Bar.

(for money to live on not feckless drinking money FYI)

Disdain? I am sorry if your over privileged, boomer parents didn't suppprt you at university. Neither of our DC had to work during term time. It wasn't even allowed at their universities.

It’s hard for anyone to move, let alone someone who is frail or vulnerable in older age, especially if they’ve lived in their property a long time. I’ll be looking to move into a more suitable property in my mid 60’s and this may free up equity then.

But that doesn’t count(!) The irony of so many posters on here yelling about us being “mean” to pensioners while they demonstrate such disdain for young people is not lost on me.

@TheyGrewUp the hardest I have ever worked was when I was working part time in hospitality and also studying for my degree

No, I can’t see it, can you outline what the massive difference is?

You must realise there's a massive difference between p/t work as a teenager/student and as a parent.

And all the women working PT! Should we discount all these people @TheyGrewUp?

Oh and if part time work doesn't count we must make sure to scratch off the approximately 44% of older (over age 50) workers transition into semi-retirement or work part-time before fully stopping work.

I just love that poster implying PT work isn’t relevant on a site like Mumsnet!

Full time work for 15 year olds was made illegal in 1972

@TheyGrewUp

Around 20-25% of 15 year olds are in work today, in the 70s (when current retirees were teens) it was around 60% that had dropped to 25% by the 80s

I am 34 and I got my first job at 13 on the fruit stall at the market.

Ignoring the rest of my post I see. Always such selective responses on these threads.

So PT work doesn’t count? That’s a wild thing to imply on a site like Mumsnet!

@Katypp i didn't say that it wouldn't exsist - I said long and well funded.

NMW isn't good either, but it isn't relevant to this discussions, as companies could pay more if they wanted to.

All tax payers are still paying for women who retired at 60 in 2010 (unless they all randomly dropped dead and it hasn't been announced)

Why should current workers be HAPPY to pay for the boomer generation to get more than we ever will. And STILL be told if we are struggling that we just need to buy less coffee.

To be clear I am happy to pay into the system and I do think we should support the elderly and vulnerable - but when the system is chipped and chipped away it feels deeply unfair. When as a child you watch your early boomer grandparent's able to retire in their 60s with good health travel and enjoy their golden years you want that. By the time I started work that timetable was already being eroded.

It feels unfair to see a generation take advantage of a system that you have to pay for that you won't get to see the same benefits from.

Not full-time you didn't. Saturday jobs perhaps.

I had part-time jobs from 15/16 but didn't start work full-time until I was 20. Now 66 and still working. My mother and grandmother worked all their lives.

Well I’m 38 and I started working at 12. Most of my friends started working at 14/15 and we all worked throughout A-Levels and university. I have already worked for longer at the age of 38 than my mum did her entire career. And I “only” have another 30 years to go.

You're not going to start talking about the world wars or workhouses are you? These threads always end up descending into that.