[RDB85]

What did you serve your apprenticeship in? £25k sounds low for a time served tradesman considering there is a shortfall of skilled people.

Have you considered looking into a better paid role with another company, or relocating to an area where the skills command a higher salary?

It was an Apprenticeship in Fire and Security. I’ve had a look at moving company. I’ve applied for a few roles and had some feedback on salary. With 4 years experience I’m looking at around £28k to £29k.

 

[.197546]

I must be doing something wrong then. I finished uni at 24 on my first job at £15k I’m now 38. I’ve changed career at 33. Started on an Apprenticeship at £4. Now on £25k I’ve had lads holidays in my 20s and travelled. Owned cars etc. I’ve been saving for the last 18 months but I’ve always given my parents £600 for keep. I pay my own bills and I’m saving at the moment about £500 a month and with a private pension of £200 pcm which I’ve had the last 18 months. But I do feel as though I’ve somewhat failed at not owning a home.

You're just late to the party mate. Try to look for the positives, you've had your fun, holidays car etc. And most importantly you've missed the recent S storm, losing jobs during covid, having your mortgage double in the space of a few months, telling your kids their birthdays are cancelled.

When will you be in a position to buy? I reckon over the next couple of years at least, will be a very good time to buy.

 

[ridders66]

Youngsters in work think it was all rosy when I bought my first house - average 20 year interest rate was 8%, we got caught in the downturn paying 16% for about 12 months shortly after buying our first house. Even when we bought, It was a case of needing 2 salaries, one to pay the mortgage and utilities and the second for general costs. It’s all relative, but the problem now is access to a loan, we were fortunate enough to access 100% mortgage in a rising market, but no carpets for almost 2 years, 17 year old 3 piece suite and bought a cheap high mileage volvo. It has always been a struggle.
I would be more than happy for the government to underwrite 5% of mortgages for a period of say 5 years to allow access to youngsters. One of my daughters pays over £1300.00 rent a month in London- enough to pay a mortgage, but she has to pay that amount and save say 40K deposit….

You’re right. People say my generation had it easy and are sitting on houses worth a fortune. They don’t realise how difficult it was for us. Like you say, one wage paid the mortgage and a few bills and the other wage paid for food etc. I remember clearly one time we were so skint we raided the jar of change, counting all the silver up so we could treat ourselves to a couple of chicken fillets for tea, I remember sitting on the floor until we could afford a suite. Many young people starting out now would not live like that. It is all about priorities. I had a conversation recently with some friends whose daughter still lives with them. She said she cannot afford to get her own place, yet spends £500 per month on her PCP car, £80 per month on phone contract, £140 per month on hair and nails(I kid you not!), has just started having Botox in her lips, no idea how much that costs, and is always buying new designer clothes. She goes on holiday twice a year, once with her boyfriend and once with her mates. They are exasperated with her lack of planning for the future. The internet has created a way of life for all the influencers and the young girls all think they can live that way.

 

[Willy599]

I must be doing something wrong then. I finished uni at 24 on my first job at £15k I’m now 38. I’ve changed career at 33. Started on an Apprenticeship at £4. Now on £25k I’ve had lads holidays in my 20s and travelled. Owned cars etc. I’ve been saving for the last 18 months but I’ve always given my parents £600 for keep. I pay my own bills and I’m saving at the moment about £500 a month and with a private pension of £200 pcm which I’ve had the last 18 months. But I do feel as though I’ve somewhat failed at not owning a home.

Nonsense, everyone has their own path in life, their own stories, mistakes, regrets and happiness.

It's easy to look back in hindsight and say what you'd do differently (I'd never have bought a fiesta), but the harder task is looking forward to the future and meeting it with readiness.

Owning a home is not a requirement to be successful, happiness is. Life is a marathon not a sprint.

 

[garage_dweller]

It was an Apprenticeship in Fire and Security. I’ve had a look at moving company. I’ve applied for a few roles and had some feedback on salary. With 4 years experience I’m looking at around £28k to £29k.

the company I work for have struggled to recruit F&S roles, we do FM for a major supermarket chain. I dont think any of our guys earn under £35k and there’s lots of OT available

 

[Willy599]

You’re right. People say my generation had it easy and are sitting on houses worth a fortune. They don’t realise how difficult it was for us. Like you say, one wage paid the mortgage and a few bills and the other wage paid for food etc. I remember clearly one time we were so skint we raided the jar of change, counting all the silver up so we could treat ourselves to a couple of chicken fillets for tea, I remember sitting on the floor until we could afford a suite. Many young people starting out now would not live like that. It is all about priorities. I had a conversation recently with some friends whose daughter still lives with them. She said she cannot afford to get her own place, yet spends £500 per month on her PCP car, £80 per month on phone contract, £140 per month on hair and nails(I kid you not!), has just started having Botox in her lips, no idea how much that costs, and is always buying new designer clothes. She goes on holiday twice a year, once with her boyfriend and once with her mates. They are exasperated with her lack of planning for the future. The internet has created a way of life for all the influencers and the young girls all think they can live that way.

This comes back to the scapegoat mentality, my generation wants to place blame on older generations for 'having it easy', older generations place blame on my generation for reckless spending.

Like with anything, the situation you're in, is the situation you're in. You can either sit and whinge about it or do something about it.

Also nearly £600 on a car and a phone which are depreciating assets is mental. £7,200 a year which if she put £333.33 (£4k a year) into a LISA a month she'd get £1k government bonus a year, plus a little interest on the £1k bonus. Then £79 interest on the the remaining £3,200. You can't be bad to getting £1,079ish for doing nothing.

£8,279 x 3 years is a 10% deposit on a £248k house, for something that will not affect their daily lifestyle one bit. My stuff is always up for sale if I can make a turn at it.

 

[suds]

The thing is, my grandparents generation were criticising youngsters (my parents age group) who wouldn‘t save up to buy something for cash, instead taking out hire purchase agreements (expensive way to borrow). So the ‘want it now’ attitude is nothing new, however people tend to make decisions which suit their purposes at that time - which is fine but very few people are lucky enough to have everyting they want. Struggling a little makes you appreciate what you do achieve, and is also a good leveller (by all means have a dream but realism should prevail).
In my primary school days we were taught lots of useful rhymes and sayings which I‘m not sure happens today- “Cut your cloak to suit your cloth”

 

[RDB85]

Nonsense, everyone has their own path in life, their own stories, mistakes, regrets and happiness.

It's easy to look back in hindsight and say what you'd do differently (I'd never have bought a fiesta), but the harder task is looking forward to the future and meeting it with readiness.

Owning a home is not a requirement to be successful, happiness is. Life is a marathon not a sprint.

That does make me feel better. I particularly like the last sentence.

 

[Itstony]

Turned out to be a good interesting thread. Comments submitted.

This topic is a new phenomenon created by a generation change of circumstances that younger people must be unaware of. What they have no knowledge or regard for are the reasons.
The reason why the previous generation or generations by now were changes by the Maggie T era of making ownership of property easier.
The topic is a wide one and how it came about and what effect it had and it wasn't just for the good, so many aspects that there would be not enough time to add.

The possibility to buy peoples council houses in bigger cities, as one example either sold them and moved out, or sat on them where they increased in value so much.
Does the rest need explaining, they all ended up on a winner, perhaps for the fist time in recent history.

Today the wealth and the amount of youngsters are in the position of e new phenomena of "inheritance" that had always been only in the very rich.
This changed everything and a young married couple now can be looking at two sets of parents with double inheritance.

This was unprecedented, most locked into a home, not ready to die and gradually Bank of M&D assisting and later in comes the inheritance.
During all this time is also craeted a generation knowing they will get free money eventually. Until that materialised, the old fashioned view of saving, investing, taking out personal pensions etc. dropped. Money in the Bank or pocket was spent much more than before.
Hope that was brief enough.
Not sure or a fan of the Maggie T days, but to this day I feel it created what are are seeing today. OMHO as it hasn't all been for the best and aspirations dismissed and a mentality changed for many of the new generations..
As with anything in life, History tells us everything good bad and ugly, it's written in stone.

 

[Willy599]

Here's a question I will pose, how well is financial literacy being passed down & taught to different generations? or even getting value for money spent?

I was about to put on an old man hat and stray off topic a bit, regarding value for money but best to keep it on topic.

 

[woodycivic]

@Peirre without wanting to go too far off topic at least some of your information is incorrect and others may only be correct for other parts of the UK as its certainly different in Scotland.

I speak from personal experience as my father is in a care home and currently paying for his own care. We'll we are as we have PoA due to his dementia.

The 7 year time period is a myth and commonly misquoted but this relates to inheritance tax. Local authorities have no restrictions on timeframes to go back so if they believe you have given money away or transferred assets to avoid paying care fees then they can claim it back no matter when it was done.

Also certainly in Scotland the lower limit for paying fees is around 20k and the higher 32k or thereabouts but that's still low as it includes all your assets not just cash savings.

Can't comment on all of your information about splitting assets as my mum had passed by the time my dad needed care so that wasn't relevant for him. I also didn't think your house was included in the LA assessment if you had a surviving spouse but can't be certain.

I do agree though about protecting assets as its massively frustrating that my father who worked all his life has to pay in excess of 4k each month to pay for his care yet the person next to him who has never worked a day in their life gets everything paid for by the LA.

As I say thats probably another topic though rather than divert this thread 🤣

That's absolutely correct, if there is a surviving spouse then the house isn't included in the assessment. Went through this with my Dad about 10 years ago when he had to go into a care home with dementia. I feel for you, been there and gone through it all with my Dad. Seeing him deteriorate over time was awful, him forgetting who his family was has to be the worst feeling ever. An awful disease and difficult to understand the impact it has on others unless you have seen someone go through it.

 

[.197546]

Here's a question I will pose, how well is financial literacy being passed down & taught to different generations? or even getting value for money spent?

I was about to put on an old man hat and stray off topic a bit, regarding value for money but best to keep it on topic.

I touched on this at the start of this thread, my oldest girl says its non existent in schools. Granted 13 years old but no sign of that to come before she leaves school. She even shops around for discount codes before she spends her money.

I for one had a bit of a tight git dad and a careful spending mother, maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[Willy599]

@EricSab this might be a little controversial, but I don't believe being taught it in secondary school is necessarily the right way to go about it. As I don't think kids will pay attention the same, given they're quite far away being in the position of buying and not being 18 can't alleviate of many of the good options. Further education eg technical college or university, yes definitely.

I must say Moneysupermarket and Dave Ramsay (although in the USA) are very good at guiding you and in Dave Ramsay's case scaring you into being sensible.

 

[minimadmotorman]

I bought my first house at the age of 23 back in 2005 (I was going to buy one when I was 20 but my then GF didn't want me to).

It was £92k and I was earning about £20k at the time. Interest rates were high-ish and my mortgage was about £600 per month. Lived there 2 years with my then GF (propping her up financially) and after we split I lived there maybe another 12 months until I moved in with my now wife in her first house. We kept my house on and rented it out (only sold it in 2021).

In between my wife and I have bought together and moved twice up the ladder (I'd like to think we're staying put now).

Looking at the market today I wouldn't like to think I was starting out again and feel sorry for those who are struggling. I'd like to think we'll be able to help give our kids a leg up if they need it in the future, but who knows!

 

[.197546]

@EricSab this might be a little controversial, but I don't believe being taught it in secondary school is necessarily the right way to go about it. As I don't think kids will pay attention the same, given they're quite far away being in the position of buying and not being 18 can't alleviate of many of the good options. Further education eg technical college or university, yes definitely.

I must say Moneysupermarket and Dave Ramsay (although in the USA) are very good at guiding you and in Dave Ramsay's case scaring you into being sensible.

Rock and a hard place really. If you give it as an option then I'm not sure learning how to save and be careful with your money will be at the top of everyone's lists. But certainly something needs to be done to teach kids / teenagers /adults about money

 

[bluechimp]

Here's a question I will pose, how well is financial literacy being passed down & taught to different generations? or even getting value for money spent?

I was about to put on an old man hat and stray off topic a bit, regarding value for money but best to keep it on topic.

I’m a Yorkshireman, so came out the womb knowing about it

 

[IvorB1H]

…. But certainly something needs to be done to teach kids / teenagers /adults about money

ok it’s a paid for service (£4pcm) but with my kids I use GoHenry and within the app there’s a plethora of videos and tutorials about money, what credit is how to save etc etc and my eldest is really quite sensible and has learnt quite a bit from it they also earn money for watching the videos / answering questions in the app too as an incentive.

I pay weekly and I’ve set it up so that 15% goes into the savings section she cannot withdraw money from that without permission from me so when she says can I have x from savings I’ll ask her what for and 99% of the time say no 😂

 

[Soul boy 68]

The only way I was able to help my son get on the housing ladder was help with the deposit then we took out a buy to let let mortgage interest only. Will stay that way until my son is in a position to take over the mortgage which by then some of the capital would have been paid off.

 

[Soul boy 68]

One trick I'll give everyone if they are speaking to people about this, as it works.

Two Bank Accounts!

When we all used cash you spent what was in your pocket and that was it. Now we're tapping everything we don't monitor our spending as much.

What I do is set my general spending budget for the month / year and make sure it's tight as possible and put it into my everyday bank account as a form of 'this is your pocket money make it last'.

It forces you to live off a tight budget and save separately for things you want eg a pair of shoes as it makes you more accountable.

There are additional schemes such a Co-Ownership Helping you become a homeowner | Co-Ownership where the government buy the house with you and you pay them rent until you sell the house or pay it off. Not sure if this is UK wide though.

That's a great approach and one that I use as well, I set aside some pocket money every month come pay day and I stick to it.

 

[TA1623]

It’s a hard one and I do not envy the first time buyer of today.

I got my foot on the ladder in 2015 on a ground floor flat. Not in an area I particular wanted to go as it meant making a long commute even longer and also away from where I grew up - but needs must.

I think it is very hard to buy a property now without the bank of mum and dad, whether it is direct or indirect and had assistance on both.

I was very fortunate. I was still living at home when I told my parents I wanted to get on the ladder. They told me that if that was the case, I could live rent free at home whilst saving but they wanted to see results and get regular updates and a progress report within 12 months.

In 12 months I saved £15k which was 10% of my budget for buying a flat where I am now. It was a very frugal 12 months, I barely went out, no holidays, no extravagant buys etc. I did not have a driving licence then and rode a 125cc bike which I owned outright as my sole form of transport. Cheap to run and maintain. I’ve never had a top spec mobile phone and always hovered around the mid range/2-3 year old models costing around £20pcm.

Having seen the progress updates, my parents were pleased and gave me an additional lump sum they’d been squirrelling away since I was born. The money I had saved would’ve been sufficient for my deposit but the sum they gave me (£10k) meant I could have a more comfortable start. I put it all into the deposit/mortgage less about £ so I could get a fridge/freezer and some other appliances to get me started.

All my furniture was hand me downs from my family (both parents and siblings). I did not have a washing machine for the first 4 months and would nip around to my parents and use their machine - in hindsight I should’ve used some of my parents contribution for that.

Up until 2019, I had no outstanding finance (mortgage aside) or credit cards. Having been a foolish boy at 18 and maxing out a credit card (luckily only a £500 limit) - I refused to have another one or to buy anything on finance. I would save until I could buy it outright.


Bottom line is without my parents help, I don’t think I’d be where I am now. Yes, my self saved deposit would’ve been sufficient - but if I’d have had to pay rent at the time then no doubt it would take me much longer to get there, And that’s if living at home. Others don’t have that option. To pay rent at full market rate AND save a deposit would be hard work and I’m not sure it’s something I could/would do today.

I think one of the major differences I see now is PCP cars and the subscription model. In my early/mid 20’s - my peer group would typically be driving cars which were 10-12 years old which would be paid for within 3 years.

Now it appears that more and more are on the Premium PCP’s (VW, Audi, BMW).