To think living within your means has become the exception?

[SmokeyApo]

Hi all, I just wanted to share some observations and hear other people's inputs.

It seems to me that is becoming more and more rare for people to live within their means and try to save a little money for a rainy day. In my circles I know many people on good and even great salaries, that lead seemingly extremely expensive lifestyles and don't save a penny, or even go into debt to afford extravagant holidays or cars.

A good friend of mine is a senior executive in tech, makes an absolute fortune and had to ask around his friends (me included) to borrow money when he bought a house last year, because he couldn't cover the down payment. Another friend of mine got divorced last year, both spouses on really excellent wages, and it turned out that they had almost no assets to share after being married for 15 years because they had spent everything they got.

I am starting to wonder if I live in a bubble of financial irresponsibility or if this phenomenon is widespread. AIBU to think that saving and being mindful with money has become the exception rather than the rule?

You don’t have to tell me that. I grew up on a notorious council estate and my parents asked me to leave home at 16 with nowhere to go. I’ve had some very tough times indeed where there was a choice between heating and food. Times where I’ve slept in bus shelters as a teen. Again people shouldn’t make assumptions.

You have done very well to have got to a position at 25 of having multiple streams of income generating £250K then, care to share what they are?

You have done very well to have got to a position at 25 of having multiple streams of income generating £250K then, care to share what they are?

Yes that is a true success story!

I’m not 25 my partner is...

Not that I have to explain myself but our extra sources of income are: sole trading (consultancy work), income from property and dividends (from our company and from a friends company we invested in).

I worked 4 jobs while doing a full time degree in order to make an income that was flexible enough to work around my degree placements. I know you’re just dying to know what these were! They were nothing special all low paid jobs like bar work, cleaning, tutoring etc.

Basically I worked my butt off every hour that god sent for a long time. Then with a bit of luck the hard work paid off. I am very lucky to have met my partner who did come from a wealthy background. We’ve always split everything 50:50.

@terribleg

Very few 20 yr olds today will be able to retire at 60.

Very few 50 year olds today will be able to retire at 60. I certainly couldn’t have done. I kept going until I got my state pension. Which was nice as my occupational pensions could have started at 60 and were backdated when I eventually claimed them.

No one is denying that @Alsohuman however my post was in response to the below

I agree that it is easy,in your 20s, to assume that you'll still be working at 67 years old and feel not much different.

And we all know the state pension age will keep increasing

@TristantheTyrannosaurus they probably all have flat screen TVs too.

And very sore arses from having their judgiepants hoiked up so far

@terribleg

And we all know the state pension age will keep increasing

Do we?

[quote MsScoot]@TristantheTyrannosaurus they probably all have flat screen TVs too.[/quote]
Oh, yes! Even saw that on 'Rich House, Poor House'. The wife from the 'rich house' said to the mother of the 'poor' wife, 'I can't help noticing there are 3 flat screen TVs in this house.' WTAF? And the mother went on to explain how 2 of them had been gifts from them, their old TVs.

@Alsohuman you don't think it will? Ok

I'm not relying on a state pension when I should receive it in 17 years

www.ftadviser.com/pensions/2018/05/16/bid-farewell-to-the-state-pension/?page=3

Exactly, I don't expect to see mine despite having been "paying for mine" since I was 17 cause it doesn't work like that.

I also don't expect to get free travel either

I certainly wouldn't rely on the state pension but I do wish people would stop saying that they're not expecting to receive anything, that just gives the Government an excuse to get rid of it! I can definitely see them removing the triple lock and continuing to raise the age at which it can be accessed so that it becomes less valuable over time. But given that you can log onto the government gateway and see details of how much you have built up, how much longer you have to go etc it would be very difficult for them to remove all the benefits that have been built up to date.

they want people to pay in though so need to give hope. I also don't expect the NHS to be free at the point of care in 20-30 yrs time.

[quote terribleg]@Alsohuman you don't think it will? Ok[/quote]
I don’t know because I haven’t got a crystal ball. Given that the number of pensioners will gradually decrease over the next 30-40 years after reaching a peak in around 2030, I can see no economic reason to increase pension age any further.

Given that the number of pensioners will gradually decrease over the next 30-40 years after reaching a peak in around 2030,

Are they?

In 50 years there are projected to be an additional 8.6 million people aged 65 years and over – a population roughly equivalent to the size of London (ONS, 2018k).

• The 85+ age group is the fastest growing and is set to double to 3.2 million by mid-2041 and treble by 2066 (5.1 million; 7% of the UK population) (ONS, 2018k

Absolutely. We are downsizing slightly to ensure we can be mortgage free on a few years. People think we are nuts. I’d rather a smaller home and zero debt than a giant home and working until I am 68 to pay it off.

@terribleg

Given that the number of pensioners will gradually decrease over the next 30-40 years after reaching a peak in around 2030,

Are they?

In 50 years there are projected to be an additional 8.6 million people aged 65 years and over – a population roughly equivalent to the size of London (ONS, 2018k).

• The 85+ age group is the fastest growing and is set to double to 3.2 million by mid-2041 and treble by 2066 (5.1 million; 7% of the UK population) (ONS, 2018k

The last peak in births was in the mid 1960s, lower birth rates since then will result in fewer people of pensionable age as boomers die. That projection looks illogical to me. Also ONS.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/trendsinbirthsanddeathsoverthelastcentury/2015-07-15

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/reports-and-publications/laterlifeeukfactsheet.pdf

All fascinating. My personal contribution to this is that I refuse to go out to eat, or buy takeaway food, unless it's something I can't cook better at home. I like cooking so it isn't penance. And I cook at a decent hotel level, hence I will not eat out unless what's on the plate is better than I can manage. At 64, after a life spent learning to cook to a high-ish standard, it means I won't pay for food beyond a sandwich unless I am actively hungry.

And I am a boomer too. But I have a child of 21, and I have no wish to trash his life because I am old and greedy.

@XingMing

All fascinating. My personal contribution to this is that I refuse to go out to eat, or buy takeaway food, unless it's something I can't cook better at home. I like cooking so it isn't penance. And I cook at a decent hotel level, hence I will not eat out unless what's on the plate is better than I can manage. At 64, after a life spent learning to cook to a high-ish standard, it means I won't pay for food beyond a sandwich unless I am actively hungry.

Same here. If I'm paying restaurant prices for food, I want something that takes time and effort to make, lots of ingredients, preparation, sauces or whatever.

I won't get something like a steak or sandwich when eating out, because that's quick low effort cook at home food.

"terribleg

And we all know the state pension age will keep increasing

Do we?"

Well, yes, that's what most people would expect. That was mainly because of increased life expectancy though and it's recently gone down because of Covid so maybe the ageing population 'problem' is alleviated. I'm hoping the pandemic will be over soon though and if that's the case life expectancy might go up again, unless made worse by a recession.