To be shocked when adults have absolutely no savings at all?

[ThisJollyReader]

I’m going to be honest, I find it quite hard to understand when adults have no savings at all. Not even £100 put away. I’m not talking about people going through a temporary rough patch but just having nothing set aside whatsoever. Personally, I try to keep around £10k as a buffer (I know everyone’s situation is different), but even putting that aside, I would still feel uncomfortable having nothing at all.

AIBU to feel like having at least something put away is important or am I being too harsh?

The fact that you believe that having savings or not is down to 'attitude' is what's shocking.
The number of working people at the moment who are in a negative budget after paying essential bills has sky rocketed in recent years. I don't know if you've noticed but there's this thing called the cost of living crisis.

Always easy to resort to cliches. Do you think people who work their fingers to the bone cleaning toilets, to pick just one example, get luckier the harder they work?

Should poverty be shamed when it is sat aside wilful ignorance? Poor cause you pissed around at school for example?

I dont gave any savings. Not even a tenner.

I can barely afford everyday expenses, let alone savings.

Well, I certainly don't think people should be shamed for what they did or didn't do at school, during their formative years. That's not always an accurate indicator of how they might perform later in life.

Please stop harassing you?
This is called a discussion, it's how forums work.
You can reply to me if you please and I won't cry harassment 😆😆😆😆

Let’s see if this helps.
The poster has an income of £1,500 , plus £500 in benefits.
All her bills/expenses are £1800 , which leaves her with £200 spare, presumably no unexpected or expected extra big expenses come in. She saves as much as she can, aka £6000, benefits stop. She’s still on £1,500, her bills are still 1,800. So she’s in a £300 deficit every month , just for basics. She can use her savings, go back under apply for benefits again , wait for them to kick back in, rinse and repeat. Or completely use ALL her saving and then apply, while still being in a £300 deficit.There’s no saving more, when you’re using savings to tide you along.

What’s so hard to understand?

You’re being harsh OP, or ignorant. You can see on here that some people live month to month. I’m sure they’d love to have enough to save, but they don’t.

In real life, I have no clue how much our friends have in savings. It’s not something we talk about.

Yes I do. Cleaners who work hard catch the focus of their boss. They can then become cleaning supervisors or co-ordinators. Some realise that they are better of reducing their employed hours and taking on private cleaning work. Some people run very successful cleaning business, cleaning other peoples homes. If I had to start from scratch now - I would consider it. Easy to get clients using social media - clients generally provide the equipment and products so hardly any running costs. Get the first few to pay in advance to pay for the insurance then boom - good business.

Cleaning can be well paid and is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

It is so easy to start a business in the UK - it used to be taught in schools through Young Enterprise, I'm not sure if that is still a thing.

I don't think there are many jobs at all that don't give you some skills that can be built on to another role.

Not a lot of people plan for it, but that’s how things are. Because we need people to be in NMW jobs all their life or as long as possible.

You know who also claims UC? Teachers, TA’s , nurses, police personnel etc., and most other services that keep the country running. Are they not allowed holidays?

I suppose you pay all your employees above NMW right?

I know a woman who is nearly 50 borrowing money from her parents. It’s not because she doesn’t have money, but spends it foolishly. That’s the type of behavior that baffles me, not people that have had a run of bad luck and have no savings for those reasons.

I think age is a huge factor. When you have small children, nursery fees, maybe one person has gone part time, huge mortgage, 2 cars etc, money can be very tight, and you find yourself maxing out credit cards.

Later in life, the kids leave home, the mortgage gets paid off, you may get an inheritance or two, you may get a tax free lump sum from your private Pension, and before you know it, you have a lot of money left over each month, as your outgoings have shrunk hugely (no nursery, no childcare, no mortgage). Then the savings can build up rapidly, as you're earning interest on interest, and adding to it every month. That's been our experience. Mid 50's has been a game changer for us.

Just to clarify, what’s your point about people without children? That we shouldn’t be entitled to any benefits?

We have been fortunate, as well as hard-working, and now we are 70, we have some savings. We also assist our apprentice DC in an expensive town in the South east, and are happy that we can ensure there's a roof over their head, because a single person earning NMW struggles with the COL, as did we in our 20s in the 1970s. Then I lived in my overdraft too!

This is the exceptionalism of the American Dream writ large. If I work hard enough I’ll be recognised for my labours. It’s bollocks. It’s a trap. Business owners perpetuate it because it benefits them if the average worker assumes they’ll succeed based on grit and determination. The capitalist system is rigged against them.

Universal credit does not stop at 6k ! The limit is 16k. Savings between 6k and 16k incur a small deduction on the monthly amount they receive. Above 16k they would stop altogether.

Mostly but I haven't really started any businesses retail, hospitality or care where the vast majority of minimum wage workers work. I'd love to set up a care business with properly paid care workers but I don't think the clients would be prepared to pay enough to make it work, too many families want care to be cheap.

How do you save if on a minimal salary, high housing costs and bills only just covered by income?

We have no savings. I have no pension either. It’s not a nice position to be in.

I am currently one of those people who no longer have savings. I always had $40,000 in savings and no credit card debts and no loans and my husband and I had financial freedom. One wrong turn, one bad year, and one life decision changed all of that and now my husband and I are having to rebuild. Life happens, financial freedom and savings can vanish in front of your eyes. For some people its been their entire life and they cant get out of it and for others like myself its just a bad phase of life. Shaming people for what they dont have is ridiculous. You should just thank your lucky stars you havnt had to start over.

I think it's a precarious situation to be in but many people have no choice. What's shocking is that wages and cost of living don't allow people to also save, especially given the future situation of the state pension with declining numbers of young people.

I didn’t save for years as I didn’t earn a huge amount. But then I had a couple of inheritances and now save. Mostly 6 month notice savings account and investments but low to medium risk. I have dipped into my savings now as I’m not working after a mental health episode where I was hospitalised. I’m also lucky that I have income from family owned properties.