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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:
Chippingnortonset123 · 10/12/2013 13:49

Surely we all know that we need to fund our own retirement? No one else is going to fund it. The baby boomers are a historical blip. I am currently ionsupporting someone who has made no provision at all. I am opening her post for her because she can't face it and it is pretty bleak. And she gets a more generous provision than the country can afford for my generation. Shre has an interest only mortgage which means that the bank will take her home in two years and her best bet will be to get a hostel place and have her dogs rehomed.

ARealPickle · 10/12/2013 13:53

I know a lot of people that can't AFFORD to fund retirement. It's horrible. We're in our 30s but due to redundancies/other things we aren't going to be in a great place and we're both degree educated m/c etc etc...

Those in our deprived area who are (also) living hand to mouth cant possibly contribute hundreds a month to a pension fund.

And then there's the worry that if you do put away 10-15 quid a month it will just get eaten or disappear anyway if the fund doesn't do well/ it doesnt make money.

YoungGirlGrowingOld · 10/12/2013 13:54

Without them there will be no one to generated future wealth, look after the older generation.
Having children involves massive personal sacrifice for no personal material benefit. The benefits go to society at large.

This approach to "generating future wealth" will not work, for the same reason that no Ponzi/pyramid selling has worked ever.

It also ignores the fact that most people have children for entirely selfish reasons and not because they feel a moral responsibility to breed future taxpayers. It's convenient to pretend childrearing is a selfless act when doing it at other people's expense.

ziggiestardust · 10/12/2013 13:55

chipping bloody hell, that's so sad Sad

I think families will have to come together more, take responsibility for elderly relatives. Also, it gets round the problem of selling homes to pay for care should it be needed; the money has already been sucked up into another house.

I'm not saying you should foist yourself upon your kids Grin I'm saying that I think it will become a lot more widespread to perhaps buy a larger house with one of your children (if you're in good health), and live on the property in an annexe or self contained flat. I don't think that's a bad thing. My mum is a bit of a pain sometimes, but when she gets to retirement age, I'll probably put the suggestion to her and see if she fancies it.

ARealPickle · 10/12/2013 13:56

I think that would be A way ziggie...

But what if our offspring can't afford to buy a house/can only buy a small flat. Home ownership in itself is becoming a hobby of the wealthy.

ziggiestardust · 10/12/2013 14:00

arealpickle I think it's only a problem if you desperately want to retire from work totally, and while away your days playing golf or something. Honestly? That sounds SO boring. So, God willing, if my health stays good, I hope to be working in some form or other until I die.

It keeps you young, and in touch with people on regular basis. What's the alternative? Wind up in a retirement complex at 80, sitting around playing bingo and gradually losing myself day by day? That scares me more than the prospect of working until I die. Much more.

Chippingnortonset123 · 10/12/2013 14:00

Ziggy. I have a close friend (cough) who is on a hoc committee. People without pensions are ducked.

Chippingnortonset123 · 10/12/2013 14:02

House of Commons
Fucked, not ducked.

ziggiestardust · 10/12/2013 14:02

And I'm not suggesting that's the way forward for everyone by the way, but it certainly opens more options up to people. 2 couples selling a property worth the national average of £242,500 would allow that. Even 2 properties at £150,000 each would enable people to do this.

Like I say; it isn't for everyone, but it's an option for a lot of people.

YoungGirlGrowingOld · 10/12/2013 14:02

Pickle - its fast becoming that, but part of the problem is the tax rate. It seems to me to be one of the main reasons why everyone is so brassic. Tax rates on lower incomes (at least) seem punitive to me. I took the decision to move abroad in order to take advantage of lower tax rates and pay the mortgage off early. (It's not done yet, but I am getting there!) I could not afford to do this while paying HR tax, council tax, commuting costs, etc and was interest-only, heading in a similar direction to Chipping's lady. :-(

propertyNIGHTmareBEFOREXMAS · 10/12/2013 14:03

I reckon that unless we are self sufficient in old age (own paid for house and pension) then we are going to be fucked right up the ring piece with an extra wide, monster dildo.

ARealPickle · 10/12/2013 14:03

I'd love to be able to work - I just meant the actual reality of being able to afford property will be difficult for the next generation (as it is for much of mine). Our house is so small the girls really won't want to be sharing a bedroom as teenagers, never mind living in it...

I quite like the idea of multi generational houses, but there has to be some money somewhere to fund it.

ziggiestardust · 10/12/2013 14:04

chipping absolutely, but how did your friend get into this state? Why is she on an interest only mortgage? Surely she must've known this would happen; IO means you're pretty much renting off the bank.

Kitttty · 10/12/2013 14:45

chipping - surely she has some equity if she sells after 20 years in the housing market - so she can down size and move somewhere cheaper if possible? She might have less equity than some else who chose a repayment - or the same as some one in shared ownership? It was her decision to take the easy/cheap route - not sure I have too much sympathy.

I know lots of people in this situation - but they will just have to downsize with their equity.

Ubik1 · 10/12/2013 14:50

Caring for elderly parents is not always a great solution...it can be incredibly difficult.

Kitttty · 10/12/2013 15:22

OP - I think you should just carry on putting your feet up as it looks to me like you have much more quality of life and have much more security than most of us.

Many would be envious that you can afford to stay at home to look after your children for decades.

Delighted that the tax I pay when I shlepp off to work at 6.40 am five days a week away from my 4 young children - pays your rent and allows you to stay at home toasty and warm with your children....not struggling day to day financially - whilst I wonder how much I will need to increase my over draft this month to feed and shelter my children.

Delighted that you have the option of investing in a discounted council house - whilst the rest of us are on the edge holding our breath terrified of the inevitable interest rate rise.

Or perhaps - as you say - why not sit where you are renting - all cosy and easy - just in case your DH loses his job - then we can all just pay more tax to fund your increased housing benefit which you can claim right through to and during retirement.

ziggiestardust · 10/12/2013 16:06

ubik1 no, I agree. But if they're relatively well and able, and you get on ok, then it could well be a viable solution for an awful lot of people. I'm talking mainly about older people who are still very independent, but could just do with the company and a bit of care.

amicissimma · 10/12/2013 16:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Chippingnortonset123 · 10/12/2013 16:27

I have a thread in mental health about my friend. I am doing my best. She had an interest only mortgage because it was cheap and she didn't plan for the future. She has about £20 000 equity; not enough to buy anywhere else. She always lived for the now and didn't worry about the future.

Chippingnortonset123 · 10/12/2013 16:34

She is relying on the State and on charity for food. She is being entirely unrealistic about the future. She refuses to face the fact that she will be homeless in two years. She has two dogs and no B and B will accept her dogs. Her son will have nothing to do with her and her daughter, who has sn, is at the end of her tether.
In twenty years there will be loads of people like this and the system won't be able to cope. There simply aren't enough tax payers. There will be elderly beggars on the street and it won't matter how many degrees or books you have.

grumpyoldbat · 10/12/2013 16:42

It's not the pension age being 68 that worries me amic. It's the fact that this is the beginning of the end. If I'm lucky the pension age will be 80 something by the time I'm 70. Although I think it's a lot more likely that it won't exist at all. That coupled with the fact my private pension is completely worthless then it means I have to remain fit for work until the day I die. That I worry about achieving.

One grandfather died while still working. The other died just weeks after retiring at 70. My dad also retired at 70. The next 2 years he was definitely incapable of working. He suffered rapid weight loss, severe and increasing pain, increased confusion and over the last couple of months altered state of conciousness. He had a pension though so didn't have to deal with homelessness, starvation and the cold on top of all that and didn't have to worry about where my mum would live. I on the other hand will have to deal with all that if I'm not lucky to drop dead at work.

That is what's sad. People considering themselves lucky if they drop dead at work.

IfNotNowThenWhen · 10/12/2013 16:45

Well, I think you are ok actually. You have a secure home. Council rent is very low. You have a husband with a job. I privately rent, have no pension and no husband, so, although your situation is not amazing, many people have way more reason to be scared for the future than you OP.
And as for getting a mortgage, if you went back to work in 2 years, within another 4 you could have re built your credit and saved something towards a deposit to buy your council house at a price way below market value, which sucks for the housing stock of this country, but is a fact.
the reason so many if us are fucked is the unaffordable housing situation. For those smuggos crowing about how they have always saved £££ every month, I wonder how you would manage to save anything if your rent and bills combined took up 76% of you income like mine do..? And I work almost full time, and no I can't go out to do a bar job in the evenings. maybe I will become an MP. They just got an 11% payrise.

Chippingnortonset123 · 10/12/2013 16:47

I can't quite believe that I am the only person who knows someone in this position. I think that there is an entire generation who are hoping for the state to provide. No one should expect the state to provide for them in old age.

ParcelFancy · 10/12/2013 16:47

Chipping, from what I remember of your thread in Mental Health, the friend you are (very generously) looking after has bipolar disorder and is on the verge of being sectioned for the nth time.

She's certainly representative of the vulnerable in society - but hardly a harbinger of "loads of people like this". Unless you're expecting the numbers of people with serious mental illnesses to rocket for some reason?

HappyMummyOfOne · 10/12/2013 16:49

If you are that worried OP you could always work. Moaning re no own house or pension yet not having worked for years is a little rich. Do you think they should be handed to you? Pity the poor husband who has to work so you dont have to yet its still not good enough.