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.

Both council and privately owned.
Privately owned is up to the owenr like any house.
I think there is a bedroom tax to discourage single people staying in family houses, but many don't.
They shouldn't be forced to move from their homes, but there are families needing houses too.

I wish all the blessings to your dad!

There are people being to much hateful and jealous in the posts filled with ignorant made up assumptions saying the elderly are too rich to deserve blessings.

Rude!

Said I was surprised.

You should be surprised. Because you've imagined it.

On the contrary, I've been in these parts since the penis beaker slosher was a lad.

Do you not think that the Boomer generation are equally sick of being lazily vilified, and with far more justification? And I've not gone anywhere near avocado toast et al.

I've been thinking about my parents financial situation vs mine and been wondering where I went wrong/what decisions have I made that has made me relatively poorer despite having had a better start than them. DH & I both have degrees, my dad left school with 1 CSE, my mum none. When they bought their first house in the late 70's they were in their early 20's & they couldn't even afford to buy two cups of coffee when house hunting, they had to share the one when going to discuss what they thought (they were relocating so not in the area yet), plus they borrowed the house deposit. Paid off their mortgage by 50. We never had holidays, never ate out, clothes were all hand me downs or charity shop or birthday/christmas presents, rented the phone & tv so they were very frugal in that respect but on the other hand my dad smoked 40 a day and went to the pub every week. Now they have so much money they complain about how much tax they have to pay on the interest. How? My mum worked but she sent a lot of her wages to support her mum & sisters, so her wage didn't go towards the mortgage and she won't have inherited anything. My dad might have inherited something but he was one of 5, so he can't have received a lot once it was divided up. Our house is smaller than theirs & my mortgage term will be longer than theirs was. I did however start much later- married mid 30's vs 21 and whilst we have an annual holiday in the UK we don't smoke or drink so I don't think it's the holiday. I doubt we'll be able to afford to retire much less in the style they have. Maybe my getting married & buying a house much later in life is the difference for me, I don't know.

I don’t blame the boomers for anything because who amongst us wouldn’t have done their best for their families? I don’t blame GenZ, Millenials or whoever comes after them either. We are all born in a certain era. We have no control over our birth date. I’m sure most of us have done, and will also continue to do, the absolute best for our families surely?

Painting Boomers, indiscriminately, as some sort of venal criminals just doesn’t make sense unless someone can explain it please? My parents weren’t doing anything wrong and I suspect yours weren’t either? Unless, that is, your parents were actual criminals/greedy politicians etc?

To me that doesn't seem just from a lower cost of living. Could they have come into money they never mentioned (inheritance, lottery, premium bond etc). Whilst the CoL has really increased the situation you describe seems.more than can be accounted.foe by purely CoL.

I'm struggling to see where the OP says they have done anything wrong. Who is blaming boomers? Their generational circumstances are not their fault. Highlighting that those circumstances are advantageous does not also insinuate that they are lazy or greedy.

There are a lot of posters in their 20s, 30s and 40s on here, saying they can't imagine their lives will turn out to be comfortable and settled when they retire. In our day, we couldn't either. As I said, my DH and I assumed there'd be no state pension by the time we got there for starters.

An earlier poster nailed it. Imagine your life without childcare fees, children to raise or put through University, and either no mortgage or a severely reduced one in real terms thanks to inflation. Most people's finances will be totally transformed at that point, and that is when you save like mad and make provision for your old age. Life is a series of stages, and the way things are now is not the way they will always be.

The discussion has evolved though, hasn’t it, just as discussions usually do. That’s how discussing topics works. One person says something, then another adds their viewpoint, another chimes in and so on and so forth 🤗

Can you not see any boomer bashing posts? I can. I can also see one or two Millennial bashing posts. I disagree with both.

My parents are the same, at least as much as the OPs have put by. I think ts a generational thing though. They are very strict savers and even now cant abide spending money.
Even though all that cash is just sat in the bank, they want to keep it as inheritance for my sibling and I.
I tell them over and over to have some fun with it and buy themselves nice things but its deeply ingrained they have to save it.🙄

I have no savings (but a paid mortgage) and no kids to worry about......I get money, I spend it!!LOL😆

Yep. My parents have similar. But then, their first house cost £10k.

You ARE making that comparison!

I didn't expect / believe it when in my 30s either. Just carried on putting a few % in my pension, and a S&S ISA, then DC left home and mortgage paid off so we threw a bit more in, then the growth and compounding, then a redundancy, then an inheritance. Even COVID cancelled holidays helped too. I couldn't have imagined it, but things do change!

I think it is their generation that is out of sync. Previous generations had families living in tiny terraced houses. Then suddenly there was this generation that were able to buy huge houses for very little. It is now reverting again with house prices increasing.

When my FIL died a couple of years ago, MIL decided to downsize from a 5-bed detached house. Listening to discussions with her sisters when she was house hunting was very interesting- she was looking at one cottage and her older sister commented: "that is exactly the same sas mother and father's house, you couldn't possibly cope with that amount of space". Her parents had lived there as a family of 5, but it was too small for one lady in her 80s! The house she went for is the same size as ours (family of 4).

I don't think anyone is out to "get" boomers like mentioned here and by the pp, more that they seem totally disconnected from the realities of today.

Er, so all Boomers are idiots basically? They must be if they’re all disconnected from the realities of today!

Two questions though - if your own parents are Boomers, are they disconnected halfwits? And, in which economic reality do you think today’s Boomers are living? Can they time travel? Is milk still half a farthing per pint when they go shopping? 🤣

Maybe my getting married & buying a house much later in life is the difference for me, I don't know.

I think major difference is how price ratio to wages has massively increased but starting later with kids and mortgages mean there is less time at peak earnings prior to retirment to save up.

The fewer child and mortgage free years there are before retirment less time to put that now spare income away. Plus increasing numbers are paying rent or mortages after retirment income.

Maybe for some working longer till nearer 70 helps there but so many get laid off or have to reduce hours for ill health in 50 and 60 or take less stressful lower paid jobs/reduce hours for other reasons not sure it does stack up to being child and mortage free in 40s and 50s.

It is what is it - it's economic winds and demographic dividend - large work force and low retriment numbers in comparision that's flipped - our worker to retired ratio is on the up and up.

I blame the cost of housing. Every Government since 1997 has continued to allow prices to push up. The mass expansion of buy to let has pushed prices up too as there are more people wanting to buy property. If housing wasn't so expensive we'd be in a much different situation but Brits seem obsessed with increasing house prices, even though it doesn't benefit most people. If you are in a 1 bed and the price goes up then it's going to cost you even more to move up the ladder to a 2 bed but people don't see that.

@CatHairEveryWhereNow makes some valid points.

So all governments have been pretty crap then? I can’t argue with that!

I think you may be underestimating the general intelligence of one bedded property owners though …

See above example - genuinely believing you can buy a 2 bed in London for £130k today...

That is the power of compound interest. No one actually ever saves 200k, its interest on interest over time.

The recurring comments about forgoing lash extensions and takeaways to afford a house across the forum does reinforce my impression that yes, lots of older people are very disconnected about how the world works/costs now. My own PILs have made it clear they disapprove of our "small" house, and constantly make comments about just upgrading (excuse me while I just go and crap more money out) whilst they put up a garden office for the bargain cash price of 15k (retired teacher and builder, retired at 55)

My parents were immigrants so they inhabited a slightly different reality and barely spoke English when they first emigrated. They have made modest savings but nothing like some of the comments here (but also more than some others).

Pay off your mortgage and then save 800 a month and in 20 years you'd have 200k.

It sounds a massive amount but isn't that crazy with regular savings once you get past the most expensive phases of life.