To think it’s crazy that National Minimum wage is £27k

Maybe pick up extra shifts. Do something at the weekend? Maybe Uber, deliver parcels? Maybe tutor?

Has anyone used the term boomer so far? I hadn’t noticed it.

They will be wealthier than you were at their age because they don’t have children and we aren’t talking about wealth now in comparison to then. We are talking about millennial income/wealth in comparison to pensioners now, and in the future.

We get by on 52000 between us. Comfortable. One car, two holidays, three children
We don't go put for fine dining meals or designer clothes . Family friendly restaurant and mid price like next. We don't save much tho! Around £250 a month .
I batch cook...but its good healthy unprocessed meals

Both of ours who are wealthier than us now and when we were a comparable age have children.

Only, It’s not around £27k! It’s around £24,500 based on working a 37.5 hr week! Most companies are only offering contracts of 30hrs per week, max! This includes companies like Primark, Greggs and most of the supermarkets!

would you be willing to share your housing costs and how much your council tax is? And do you receive UC?

I can actually see 50K being more achievable to live on as a family than 25K as a single person for various reasons so actually it’s not that surprising.

The problem is the government doesn’t recognise not everyone is a DINK or a 2 parent family. So for some people earning MW at 37 hours a week that 25/26K is all they’re getting.

Ok…but that’s a direct reply to me saying I’m not comparing that. So why are you comparing them that way in a direct reply to that comment 🫣

whether NMW is enough depends on where you live and how , if you are living at home with your parents and contributing 2-300 a month for food then you have a considerable amount of disposable income, if you are trying to rent a one bed flat al by yourself in london or SE you will be skint, there are many situations in between

most people starting out would be living at home or in a house/ flat share on a room basis with shared facilities a bit like students

it also depends where you live 1700 a month take home goes a lot further when rent for a room is 450 rather than 850 or when a 1 bed flat is 700 rather than 1200
or when a couple both on NMW live in a 1 bed

Some communities never recovered from deindustrialisation.

No they would be wealthier even if they had children. They are millennials.

🙄

I don't know why you're rolling your eyes.

My oldest - 34 earns around £56k. Youngest - 30 earns £97.5k. Youngest has a partner, also 30, she gets around £35/40k. (guess, as I would never ask).

My husband and I were around £40k when we retired. I was lower as I went down to four days 3 years before I retired.

Both are public service workers, so will have good pensions.

I don't know if living in Scotland makes a difference but their friends all earn well too as do our friends children.

The point about inheritances and these huge inheritances that are going to be passed on is not so much the question of whether there will be anything left, but simpler: not everyone will get them. We are already living in a society under severe stress due to entrenched inequality, with many turning to drugs and crime because working no longer pays.

Add large inheritances given to a favoured few and we are back in the world of Dickens. Worse than the world of dickens, because it is going backwards. You think large parts of the country have nothing to do with you, live completely different lives in different worlds, with entire sections going to lawlessness?? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Those leafy suburbs will just make themselves targets when there’s no point to work at all.

Because you are now pretending not to understand inflation, disposable income, and you keep comparing your money then with their money now…the thing I am saying is the problem is pensioners now, have more disposable income than millennials now. AND that millennials will retire with average incomes (adjusted) that are significantly lower than pensioners now.

I mean you do remember how many current pensioners used to be single income families with SAHMs right? In comparison to now that number is huge, because it’s so difficult for millennials to afford to live in single income households.

Pretending to be ignorant to the truth isn’t going to prevent it being the truth. I’ve given you the information, you can google it, but I don’t care to be honest if you decide to opt for wilful ignorance

I may have to if I can't find regular work soon. Currently dipping between zero hour contracts whenever I can get hours.

Mortgage is £575pcm.
No car, which is often people's second biggest expense.
Energy £100
Water £45
Cat insurance, vaccinations, medication etc. £50
Mobile £25
Internet £15
House/bicycle insurance £45
Council tax £140

So I could actually go down to around £15,000 gross and avoid starvation, but that would be a rather dull life, and with the risk of being unable to afford a serious emergency (roof repairs are the most likely scenario for me, I think).

No he doesn't. And it's plenty to live on if your house is paid for (further benefits are available for low income pensioners who are renting).

£1000 a month is not loads to live on.

It is if you don't have a mortgage to pay, or you get further benefits that cover your rent.

It's enough, it's not loads. You still have council tax, bills, food, house repairs, clothes, transport, taxis if you are not very mobile and some fun money from that.

You are the only one using the term loads…

I’m comparing our salaries of two years ago to theirs today. What kind of inflation do you think happened in two years?

You also said it was 3 years before you retired, you also said you went part time, but ok 👌

No I didn’t. I’ll be retired for three at the end of the year. That is their salaries from last year!

And yes I did go part time. Went back full time when they were 10 and 6. Worked full time until three years before my retirement when I went down a day.

So then that’s 6 years…because you reduced your salary 3 years before retirement, and you’ve been retired for 3 at the end of the year, that’s 6 years earlier than you reduced your wage.

🤷‍♀️ If you want to twist numbers to suit your narrative then go for it, but don’t expect people not to notice.

And honestly, it really doesn’t matter what your children have, you were wealthy enough to go part time and retire early, they won the birth lottery by being born into a family that could afford to do this. They possibly benefitted in other ways…private school perhaps. Either way we don’t need to talk about your children, they’re not representative of an entire population, we can’t focus on just a small handful of people when we talk about general trends in the economy. You understand that right? That the smaller the sample the more likely you are to have results that don’t meet the trend.

I really don’t understand why you are so adamant that pensioners are not wealthier now than pensioners will be in 10 years, and even wealthier still than those retiring in 30 years. I mean the funniest thing about it is the fact that you evidence the wealth in your own situation with your early retirement and dropping to part time…this generation will not be able to do that in general.

Take these pensioner homeownership statistics for example:

Key Housing and Pension Trends
Rising Renters: According to research by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), the proportion of pensioner households owning their homes is projected to drop from 79% to 64% by 2044, while private and social renting among pensioners will rise sharply. 1]
Longer Mortgages: Average mortgage terms for first-time buyers have climbed from 25 years in 2005 to 31 years in 2025, meaning many people will continue paying off mortgages well into their 60s. 1]
The Renting Deficit: Private renting a two-bedroom home can cost between £200,000 and £400,000 over a retirement—an amount that easily swallows the average defined contribution pension pot (roughly £154,000 for men and £105,000 for women). 1]
Retirement Delay: A survey by PensionBee revealed that 51% of UK adults would delay retirement to ensure they own their home outright. 1]