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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be scared of the future? what will become of people like us?? pensions / housing related

310 replies

applejacket · 09/12/2013 11:41

dh is 42, i am 34, we don't own our house, and never likely to (bad credit in past plus not high enough income for mortgage and barely any savings for deposit etc). we rent a council house atm

dh has worked FT consistently since 15 but he has only just started paying into his company pension as they have to now. but will probably be worth fuck all when he retires

i am a SAHM with 2 dcs, 4 and 7, and one on the way , i worked from 16 - 26 full time and last couple of years have done a bit of self employed cleaning work but hardly anything really and not doing it anymore now i am pg.

dh earns ok money but not enough to either get a mortgage, or save anything. we don't struggle day to day at all really, but dont really have anything to save. and recently i have been really worried about the future

i am intending to go back to work when the dcs are older but god knows who would employ me, i have no qualifications other than some average gcse's and a levels from nearly 20 years ago. Hmm and i can't afford to re train in anything either

what will happen to us when we are older?? when we are still renting and retired? will we be homeless? tbh its the fact we are renting that scares me the most, i would feel so much more secure if we owned our house.

i honestly sometimes feel that our only hope is a lottery win or something Hmm

OP posts:
FourAndDone · 09/12/2013 11:47

We are in almost the same position. Though I'm 23 DH 28. We private rent, have 4 dc. DH works full time has done since leaving school. No private pension. I studied and worked full time for a couple of years. I'm now sahm until youngest is in school as can't afford childcare. I'd like to think one day we could afford our own home, but looks unlikely. No savings, no deposit, bad credit and wage too low. We don't struggle day to day.
What will happen to us when we hit retirement age?Confused

Lazysuzanne · 09/12/2013 11:49

Lots of people will be in the same boat so govts will need to solve the problems of unaffordable housing, and jobs that don't pay a living wage.

we live in a modern liberal democracy we won't have whole swathes of the population without homes

SilverApples · 09/12/2013 11:51

You just won't retire, you'll have to keep going. OH is not going to be able to retire either, he has no pension other than the state one and he's 59.

comemulledwinewithmoi · 09/12/2013 11:51

Could you return to work after dc3 is born? I think being a sahm is a bit if a luxury now and my dh is a high rate race payer. I have just returned to work, weekends.

Lazysuzanne · 09/12/2013 11:53

Probably there will be significant social economic medical and technological changes by the time those in their 20's get to retirement age.

Extrapolation from the way things are now doesn't necessarily tell us much about what'll happy in the future.

Gobbolinothewitchscat · 09/12/2013 11:53

You just won't retire, you'll have to keep going

That will be the Government's solution - it's naive to think anything different

vickibee · 09/12/2013 11:53

Work til you drop?
Life exoectancy is higher now but working full time at nearly 70 is scary. I am knackered now and only 46!

FourAndDone · 09/12/2013 11:56

Will there not just be lots of 60 year olds on incapacity!Grin

Original poster
applejacket · 09/12/2013 11:57

well i am happy to return to work but there are no jobs. plus while dcs are small any extra we earn if i did work would just go on childcare (this is why i have stopped doing my cleaning)

and also who will want to employ me, i wont have worked for nearly 10 years :(

work till you drop, seriously. thats fucked up

what about people who can't physically work? ie people in hard manual jobs ie say builders, labourers, cleaners, painter/decorators etc

OP posts:
SilverApples · 09/12/2013 11:58

Well, by the time I hit 65, hopefully my outgoings will have been reduced.
One of the best parts of owning a home, apart from the security, is that the mortgage comes to an end.
I won't be paying for my children any longer.
So I could get away with a less demanding job, or working part-time. Possibly.

Bowlersarm · 09/12/2013 11:58

I think that the future could be fairly bleak for a lot of people. I'm a bit pessimistic about the economy, and think there will definitely be another financial crash as some stage.

At least you are thinking about it, and not just burying your head in the sand.

Is there anything practical you could do. Could you start saving for a house deposit, and look to move to a cheaper area? Could you look for a job now, rather than some time in the future?

Whilst I don't think there will be swathes of the population allowed to be without homes, I also don't think it would be wise to rely on future Governments for much financial support.

SilverApples · 09/12/2013 11:58

'work till you drop, seriously. thats fucked up'

Yes it is.

CynicalandSmug · 09/12/2013 11:58

I'm older than you, educated to postgraduate level, work very hard full time, still rent and cannot afford to pay into a pension. I am increasingly worried about the future. I get sick of ignorant yet well meaning people giving me their tips and opinions, most of them only have their own homes as a result of inheritance or generous family, and have no concept of independence. I do hope for a better future, but it looks bleak right now.

Chippednailvarnish · 09/12/2013 12:01

I think you will have to accept that even if you take home nothing after paying for childcare, returning to work and then retraining might be your only way to find a long term solution.

comemulledwinewithmoi · 09/12/2013 12:03

Sorry op but that's crAp. I work weekends so I don't pay childcare, 4 kids here. I applied for 3 jobs, offered interview for 2, went for 1, got the job. Been a sahm mum for years. Help yourself.

RandallFloyd · 09/12/2013 12:03

In all honesty I just don't think about it.
It's too overwhelming so I just live day to day.

I'm an LP in private rented so I'm basically fucked.
My old age is going to be a miserable existence, I'm resigned to that, so I just concentrate on now and making DS's childhood the best I can.

comemulledwinewithmoi · 09/12/2013 12:04

You could childmind

crazykat · 09/12/2013 12:05

We're in the same boat. We're very lucky to have a HA house but there's no way we will be able to even think about buying for 15-20 years due to rubbish credit rating due to debts from my mum dying and DH being an idiot with money before we met.

I'm a SAHM as childcare would cost more than I could earn as I only have a levels and no experience.

I'm getting my degree with the open university so hopefully when my youngest is in full time school I can get a job that pays more then minimum wage.

The rules have changed for fees with the open uni but I'm sure there's still some form of financial support depending on income.

Lazysuzanne · 09/12/2013 12:06

Inevitably things will change in ways that we can't envisage or predict.
My strategy is:
Stay as healthy as possible

Stay in tune with the modern world, keep abreast of the ways that things are changing

Remain optimistic about the human capacity to innovate,to come up with new and better ways of organising ourselves.

Rpeg · 09/12/2013 12:07

Did it ever occur to you not to have a third kid if you are so worried about the future?

ICameOnTheJitney · 09/12/2013 12:09

I might move to Australia. I wonder if the plan there is any better?

LaurieFairyCake · 09/12/2013 12:10

Working until you die is the norm in the majority of the world

There's only been such a thing as 'retirement' for the last 60 years I think.

There's only one, maybe 2 generations who have benefitted hugely from this - the baby boomers. And they really have benefitted - non means tested pensions, billions of free cash in the form of property price gains.

It's unreasonable and unsustainable to retire at 60 and live til your 90 right? And I know lots of people who have done just that.

30 years of the state supporting them? Cannot be sustained for the future.

FourAndDone · 09/12/2013 12:13

Yes Rpeg op having a third child is the reason she won't have a pension in the future Angry
There's always one idiotHmm

comemulledwinewithmoi · 09/12/2013 12:13

Retirement is bad for lots of folk

YouAreMyFavouriteWasteOfTime · 09/12/2013 12:14

apple - if you haven't work from 26-34+, it is going to be hard for you. but you can and will have to get though it.

you have made your choices, as have we all.

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