A generation waiting to inherit

[Okaydoklay]

With house prices being so high, are we creating a generation of people who home ownership is out of their grasp, and those who have wealthier parents , they are all waiting for their parents to pass to ever be able to afford their own home.

We will only be able to buy in the event of a parent death. That's our reality.

I don't think bragging about being NC is a thing. We are NC with MiL and did so on the understanding that we would not be inheriting anything. A happy life was worth more to us.

I do think many people are going to be v disappointed waiting for bank of mum and dad.

I can remember my first home 100 miles round daily commute to work, furnished largely with 1930s furniture from my recently deceased grandma, all utensils crockery etc from willow/dunhelm.

Now when I see the youngester buying it’s all has to be within 5 miles of the office, furnished by John Lewis etc. If they bought where I had my first house they would be paying a third of the prices they are looking at.

Lifeover

Us too, although it was a four bed shell that nobody wanted, we bought dead cheap and did it up ourselves.
It was before rightmove and internet. The EA got an old file out and blew the dust off it, as soon as we saw it we fell in love.

We had old orange boxes with cheap cloths from charity shop and then furniture as old family passed away.
At one time we had a large cupboard full of the old big tv's because we kept on being given them when the old relatives died.
There was nothing new, and no money to buy furniture.
We did have wedding presents for kitchen, but before this bought old pots and pans, cutlery, and tableware from church jumble sales, car boots, and charity shops.
Our dc have far more than we started with and will have money for weddings to afford honeymoons, etc. We did without as couldn't afford one.

I have a friend who thinks like this. He gets angry if his 50 something year old parents do anything to their house or go in a fancy holiday as he sees it as eating into his inheritance! I think it’s the most disgusting way to think!

Agree though that most can’t afford property without help though. We’re about to buy with a sizeable deposit but we’ve been saving hard for over a decade. Not doable for everyone

When my parents first bought in the 1950s (one of those terrible baby-boomer couples who "took all the houses and wealth" ), they had no carpets, just lino and bare floorboards, and used an old packing box for a dining table for years. Everything they did have in the house was a cast-off/hand-me-down, and they lived off baked beans with no holidays/meals out ever. It used to really piss my mum off when she heard people accusing her generation of "having it all."

For the record we are not fussy. We wouldn't want to live anywhere trendy or done up or filled with lovely items. We are in South Wales and yet we still can't buy at this point. I'm a teacher and husband works for local authority.

It's a good natured running joke in the Avocado family that if I want to buy a house I'm going to have to start greasing the staircase.

I am, however, not naive enough to think that inheriting is guaranteed as I'm well aware it could all disappear due to care costs. I'm planning my finances like I'll never inherit a penny - no point counting chickens before they're hatched.

When my parents died me and my siblings had a third share each in their house. We were at the point of looking at care homes for our increasingly frail Dad, but he died before that happened. I passed my inheritance onto my only daughter and her husband so they could have the deposit for a house. We're downshifting soon, and will liquidate some funds - because we live a fairly low key lifestyle we have plenty of savings and reasonable pensions - so will probably pass these funds on in a few years so my daughter can have a house more suited to her growing family. We'll still have funds for care and if the house also has to fund it too, then so be it, you can't plan for these things. Regardless, I feel we have had the pleasure of seeing her benefit in our lifetime, rather than possibly after we're dead.

If they bought where I had my first house they would be paying a third of the prices they are looking at.

People pay more now for mortgages than either the Babyboomers or the silent generation did guardian link. The Millenials really aren't wasting their money on smart phones and avocados (and I'm GenX so no axe to grind although I'd like to point out to the PP that our pensions are shite as well, no early retirement for us).

In all the discussions of baby boomers what is rarely mentioned is that the millenials actually benefited in childhood. I wont describe my childhood but my child lived in a better home, had better and more frequent holidays, better food, more toys, more opportunities. They will have less of a struggle to buy a property because they have been given a deposit, we saved for ours by doing without.

And millenials, or at least all the ones I know, really are wasting their money on smart phones, fancy holidays and living in accommodation that is more expensive than they need. (They dont all like avocado though). We didnt waste anything but this generation are wasteful.

@alreadytaken - they rent more expensive properties because rent is so high, not because they want to throw loads of money away in rent.

So they'll be lucky to ever scrape together the money for a shoe box to call their own and will have to literally work until they drop but that's ok because they went on a couple of holiday as a child? Brilliant.

I think for a lot of people the inheritance will be their pension, as most pension schemes are rubbish, even if you put a lot into it.

I think I will be well into my sixties or even seventy when my parents pass away as they had me quite young. My parents were discussing their wills and I suggested that rather than leave half of it to me (I have a sibling) that they pass a significant portion of my part directly to my children. My parents were happy with that suggestion and have revised their will.

@Charley50 No - they rent expensive places because they want to be in certain locations, not spend time commuting or have extra space. And you only have to look at the credit crunch thread here, where people still spend on coffees and meals out, to see that it's a generation with no idea of what either frugal or waste means.

As for working until you drop - many people I know are still working to fund their children's lifestyle/ their house deposit and often with little gratitude for it.

The thing with passing on to children - then you get the problem of "partners". I would gladly give everything to the dcs (ha! empty promise - don't have much) but I would be concerned that my generous and helpful sacrifice to help them onto the property ladder would be halved if they fell out with their not-for-life partner. I can see many more cases of pre-nups in the future.

@alreadytaken - nope! Rent has gone up massively in the last 10-15 years. Do some research. Stop blaming young people for the mess that is property renting and owning in this country.

I am a millennial (the older end of the spectrum) I have also just inherited (or will be when the legal side goes through) half my mother’s house, my mother was unwell for years before she died, I knew there was a possibility this would happen, but I didn’t want it, so, while staying at home to support my mother I began saving for my own home, I am halfway to a deposit of my own and I would give anything to still have to be saving and not have any chance of inheriting yet,

I was also fully prepared to care for my mother into her old age, she was in hospital but we were planning for her to come home before she died, however, in the back of my mind I also knew there was a real possibility my mother’s house would need to be sold to pay for her care, I was ok with that, I haven’t ever been waiting to inherit but maybe my situation was different as I was faced with my mother’s mortality? I don’t think any of my friends are waiting to inherit either.

Good point Irma - on the other hand if you're saving 40% iht (ie by bypassing the dparents to dgc, you only pay iht once), then you're only 10% worse off if the not-for-life partner does end up with half! (I realise not everyone will be falling into the 40% bracket anyway, particularly with the new incredibly complicated family house allowance!)

Ultimately you have to balance the odds - helping the adult dc to get on the property ladder versus keeping the money 'safe' from non life partners - (no aspersions on the nlp, not suggesting they are golddiggers but just that's how divorce law works. A pre nup wouldn't give me that much reassurance and anyway in my old fashioned way I think the process of negotiating it would not necessarily be great for the young ones' relationship! expect lots of mn threads - my partner's family say he has to enter a prenup, aibu to think they are controlling?) As always, not as easy a decision as it looks at first sight!

Any money i might have inherited from DF has gone on care. He is now 86, has advanced dementia but physically in good shape and likely to live a while yet.

We're lucky that my DP got his first home in his early 20's without help from Parents. I worked and saved for many years but never enough to afford a house on my own. We met and eventually upgraded his home for a home together. We now have DS and have discussed several times what to do to help him (he's only 18 months but needs discussing).
We've set up a child's savings isa for him which we put money in each month as there is no guarantee he will get any inheritance as if we need care when older we'd have to sell the house.
It's horrible to know that a large % of people need inheritance to get on the ladder.

Parents want to off load some money as whilst they have decent savings, it won't be enough to house them in a good care home for years. If they had more, then it might be worth hanging in to it to secure a lovely care home, but they are fortunate/unfortunate enough to be in the middle.

kate I see what you/they are saying but I'd urge them to think very carefully. Lovely to help your children but even enough money for a few months in a halfway decent care home, or to top up fees thereafter makes a huge difference (and esp to your children who may be struggling to care for you adequately and horrified at the type of place social services will pay for).

Time anyone who can avoid being thrown on the mercy of the state in old age is well advised to do so. They will really leave you to die of neglect at home.

I agree, try to help your children where you can, but it is not sensible to fail to make provision for old age and future care needs. My mother and aunt are both now in full time care and any potential inheritance will be used up, for sure, but I would much rather they used the money to fund proper care. It is up to individuals to make their own way in life and I would never be envious of someone who inherited, as it means that they have lost someone close to them.