Did the over-45s ruin life for the rest of us?

[goldenticket]

Interesting article - it's certainly been my and DH's experience in the workplace (withdrawal of perks, pensions, travel arrangements etc etc). Wondered what anyone else thought?

.

ach, times change. No point blaming a whole generation. That's taking bitterness too far.

Thanks for this - I'll be 45 in September. Nice to know I'm responsible for something else

Yeah they are the old buggers

Of course they are not to blame. As pointy says, times change.

A particularly stupid article. Pardon me, but I hadn't noticed that I was a member of the most powerful gneration ever. Not with my small house, prospect of reduced pension, redundancy and all

Blaming a generation and wallowing in self-ity gets you nowhere. Learn the lesson and move on.

funnily enough, I blame the politicians

Mmm OK, I do think there's something in it though:

property rich - tick
final salary pensions - tick
early retirement on full pensions - tick
retiring at 60 or 65 - tick
non-contributary pensions - tick

Of course it's not the whole of the generation but can you name anyone under 45 who has any of the above?

You can't blame them, but they certainly did well with the property market. Lucky sods.

I can't name anyone under 55 who has all of the above.

...because I can think of plenty of over 55's who have all of them (and most in pretty low-powered jobs)

I disagree with the inclusion of 45-50 year olds in the boomer generation, I think that particular age group have watched the ladder being pulled up over and over again more than any other.

are you in teh 45-50 group?

Not that many over-55's in my social circle

And as for those who have - what's the problem? They worked hard, had some luck, in the right place at the right time - so what?

I agree that bitterness is futile but I do think that the spotlight should be shined on the boomers as well as the currently working high earners for some revenue raising.

Aren't those high earners already paying 50p out of every pound earned?

And they are paying a packet in stamp duty/council tax on their fancy homes.....

Ditto Earlybird. All the over 45s I know have hideous mortgages, endowment policies that aren't going to be sufficient, pension pots that have lost significant value and young kids who are draining them dry.

Actually, if we want to make sweeping generalisations, could we talk about the under 25s who believe that the world owes them a living, and who are lazy, rude, selfish, inconsiderate,and stupid with their watered-down qualifications?

[Gives the pot a big stir]

Both my parents - 65 and 63 respectively have worked all their lives. Neither have final salary pensions; own a house; have any savings; etc.

This is a spectacularly ill thought out article which really only applies to the middle class. Wise up!

Wise up - haven't heard that in ages!! Love it

OK, so our children are likely to:

leave uni with thousands of pounds worth of debt

not buy a property unless they're very fortunate (where I live in the SE I cannot see how my kids are going to be able to afford the smallest shoebox without a lottery win)

have to pay in a significant % of their salary into a pension from the moment they start earning to have any hope of a comfortable retirement

work until they're over 70

and we just shrug our shoulders? Really? It just seems incredibly unequal to me.

It's something us old biddies say to young whippersnappers

Yeah, me too Goldenticket - I've had to work really hard to get what I've got. Must be hell to think that everyone else will have to do the same!

It's no different now from when the majority of us old ones were young. The only people who immediately got all these advantages were those from wealthier backgrounds.

I think it is fine to raise the retirement age. After all, we're generally healthier and living much longer. Also, medical care is - in theory - much better, so things that would have been life threatening 30 years ago can often be easily treated today.

Well BelleDame, I would like your parents to have a comfortable retirement with a decent state pension because that is what they deserve after a long working life. That is what everyone deserves but somebody has to pay for it.

Btw, I have a dustman, brickie, cleaner and auxiliary nurse amongst my immediate family so you can redirect your middle class/high earning jibes elsewhere thank you!

BelleDame, thanks for that

So those who have played the property roulette and won - congratulations! Tax-free gains for you.

For anyone who has gained their their money through any other means - hand it over.

I wasn't directing the wealthier comments at you, I was making the point that the only people who got the benefits listed in the argument were those with money behind them.

The generalization in the article is really, really offensive and ill thought out.

I didn't mean to offend you but that article is extremely offensive and to think that you really could believe that an entire generation (or three) all have these fabulous retirement options laid out was a bit much.

My parents (and all of us probably) have paid for their pensions. They paid for it every year in National Insurance. It's not their fault (or anyone but politicians) that the money was spent the minute it started coming in and there is none left now.

Do you agree though that if your parents had bought a modest property, their position would be very different?

My FIL (brickie) and MIL (SAHM) both worked until they were 65 and have his state pension to live on...BUT they own their own (small) house which is now worth nearly half a million pounds. How can it be right that the gains made on that property are not taxed in the same way as gains made on any other investment would be?