Can’t believe how much money my parents have amassed

[Tallular819]

My parents started out with nothing, not a penny from their families. My mum was a dinner lady, Dad was a secondary school teacher.

They paid off their mortgage in their 40s. As children we had a holiday abroad every year and multiple uk holidays throughout the year.

They had a lease car which would be replaced every 3 years with a new one.

They paid for mine and my sisters weddings and house deposits.

They’ve travelled all over the world in their retirement and I’ve just found out they have £200k in savings.

WTF?! DH and I have comparable careers, we run 1 old banger of a car, we have 1 uk holiday per year, we’ve stopped at 1 child, we’re on target to pay off our mortgage when we reach retirement, we have a grand total of £4k in savings. We don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t buy expensive clothes.

Its just hit me how vastly different our financial situations are. I didn’t appreciate just how different the cost of living is today compared to 40 years ago.

Through sensible investing and compound interest you would be surprised how much it adds up over many years (especially factoring in the additional money which can be invested once a mortgage has been paid off).

Good for them. Regular bills are definitely more expensive now though I agree.

I do remember 15% mortgage interest rates but then mortgages were tiny. 5% can tip people over the edge these days.

A friend of mine has similar parents, dinner lady and factory supervisor. Their house is now worth 800k and they have no mortgage. I think it's not possible to be wealthy like this again in today's world even with caution and sensible investment for many reasons.

It's absolutely tragic how the cost of living has changed. DH and I are so much better educated than our parents with much more prestigious careers, and we have very little to show for it compared to our parents. Our mortgage will also only be paid off around retirement age.

Interesting!

Mum 80, dad died last year aged 82.
My dad worked in a factory unskilled, mum occasionally worked part time eg in a green grocer..
Paid off mortgage on their 40s, dad retired in his early 50s good pensions.
Have about 200k in premium bonds/savings etc.

I think it's predominantly the cost of housing that has changed, in my part of the country anyway. The idea that you could buy a decent family house for one average salary has become a bit of a fiction ime.

My parents are like this. My mum saved for a house on an admin wage, and sold that for a profit whilst young. She married my dad and has never worked since. My dad was in the army, then became a prison officer. He retired at 55 and hasn't had a mortgage as long as I've been alive (I'm 31, dad is 80). They bought a house for 80k, which is now worth 400k. He had money to invest in stocks. They go abroad three-four times a year, eat out every week, are gifting me a 20k housing deposit, etc. My dad has around 500k in savings/bonds, etc.

It's mad. They both left school with 0 qualifications. Me and my partner are far more educated, yet we'll never be that wealthy due to the cost of living and housing prices. I had 10k savings prior to maternity leave and felt I was doing very well with that. It's hard to save, let alone have money to chuck at things like stock markets.

Back in the day, a public sector job and your partner's wage from any other job would end up getting you a nice detached house with plenty to raise children on. Nowadays unless you are very wealthy indeed it's very difficult to amass wealth.

Well if they gave you house deposits, I dont think you should be complaining that much, no? Or using the word " amassed".

Your childhood sounds lovely: stable and secure with loving parents. Your parents worked, saved and, it seems, paid their mortgage off quite early. Good for them. You’ve already had a house deposit and a wedding paid for- what more do you expect from them?
Presumably you”ll inherit something from them in due course? That alone will change your own financial position, possibly significantly. Count yourself lucky that your parents are okay financially, demonstrably generous and not depending on you to pay their bills. You sound incredibly ungrateful.

Yeah, my father paid off his mortgage when he was 50. He’d bought his first house at 25. ‘A mortgage is for 25 years,’ he said, matter of fact. It’s a different experience that generation had of the world.

That’s exactly how I see it. I’ve no idea how much money my parents have because it’s none of my business. I’m not looking for handouts or an inheritance because I’d rather they spent it making their senior years as comfortable as they can. I’m doing ok financially. I’m certainly not rich but I’ve got what I need so I don’t feel jealous of anyone else’s wealth, no matter from which generation they come.

It's absolutely fucking mental. A dinner lady and a secondary school teacher would be on their arses today, struggling to survive!

Literally all the older people I know are really well off, most bought their council house when they could and then continued merrily up the ladder

I dont think OP is asking for money, just expressing disbelief at how much buying power her parents have had from very basic careers, the equivalent today would be struggling to buy a house together.

The inter-generational fall-out from
this will be enormous. It will increasingly be irrelevant how hard you work, what you do with your life. Your chances in life are determined by what you inherit. We may as well be back in the Middle Ages, social mobility is dead.

I understand what you’re saying, OP. Most people can only dream of the kind of lifestyle now. It makes me so bloody mad when I hear people from that generation accuse you get people of not working hard enough, being entitled, or the ridiculous trope about avocado toast and coffees.
DH and I are lucky, we have a house and savings. But I worry a lot about my DCs. We’ll be able to help them out a bit but even with that I can’t see them being able to afford to buy a home. There is zero chance they’ll be able to afford to buy, or possibly even rent, anywhere close to where they have grown up.

The increased gap between house prices and wages is the primary problem as to why probably boomer/early Gen X had it the best. Many times a SAHM and unskilled labourer/factory worker could live manageable and have a mortgage on a modest little flat/terrace paid off by retirement!

I agree. My parents had no parental help. They were a teacher and manager but have hundreds of thousands in savings. They were frugal (no holidays abroad really) and not a lot of eating out either.
They were just born at the right time.
Sadly just one generation had that opportunity.

Is the OP complaining, or commenting? It’s fine to comment on the fact that things have changed so significantly in a generation.

How old are you?
When did you start earning?
What kind of holidays did you have every year?

Your parents both had term time only jobs so had the time for more holiday, albeit during more expensive weeks. But we need more details on the types of holidays and from what age.

Are you in your 40's op? I am, I'm a teacher and I have 2 kids and we've just paid off our mortgage, admittedly I'm not married to a dinner lady but someone on a slightly higher salary to me. We bought our first house in our 20s and have had a mix of home or away holidays, lots of cheap camping when the kids were lite. Very little on credit but saved and overpaid when we could. Do you live somewhere very expensive? Were you much older when you bought your first home?

I agree.
The huge difference is cost housing but other stuff too… you bought a fridge/iron/oven and it lasted 25 yrs! You didn’t have to pay internet and smartphones or laptops. People lived much simpler lives. Clothing was made locally and you had fewer but much better quality, one parent could stay at home, no huge childcare costs. .. our busy, connected lives are very very expensive.

All my elderly family and in laws are like this. They all came from poor backgrounds - working class, 12 child family from Dewsbury Moor, for example.
Men all worked manual jobs, factory floor, for example. Women mostly didn't have jobs or dinner lady, shop assistant once kids were older.
Now in their 70s and 80s they all have multiple overseas holidays per year, cruises, fancy houses.
One aunt died recently and her son was able to retire early on the money and house he was left.
The generation above them (war generation) had much less.
I can't complain because we have done ok too, but only because DH has quite a well paid job.

I don’t think OP is complaining or being entitled? It’s an observation in the vast difference of what life, salaries and mortgages are like now.

My parents bought a house on one salary in their 20s. DH and I barely managed it on 2 salaries in our 40s. We’re mortgaged until we retire as are most people we know.

My Grandparents did alright for themselves in similarly surprising circumstances; not wealthy, but in a very privileged position.

DGM never really worked outside the home - she did have a lot of mental illness, so would have struggled to work; but their generation certainly wouldn't have received anything like PIP that she would doubtless have qualified for today.

DGF was a miner at one point, but then later had other manual jobs until retirement - never any kind of management role.

They hated the idea of ever being in any kind of debt, which was what they considered a mortgage to be; so they saved up from DGF's wages, as well as paying rent, until they could afford a new-build 3-bed bungalow outright by the time they were 44 and 47.