Baby Boomers - Where's My Audi Then?

[hopless500]

Didn't that green slime girl in The Exorcist get repossessed?

 

[asterix]

You must have a lot of enemies to deal with...

What, you think a mere patio is gonna be enough? That's just for starters.. When the revolution comes, pal, when the revolution comes...

 

[donnydave]

Median house price in Cambridge in 2009 (the most recent I can find on t'internet without expending any actual effort researching): £213000
Median household income for "12UB Cambridge" in the same year: £30000
Necessary combined household income for a 2.2x multiplier: about £97000

I'm not saying these numbers are pertinent to your situation: clearly I've made a number of assumptions and they're not even for the same year. I just thought that they provided a neat illustration of what options may be open to today's average household in (my assumption) your area, because it doesn't seem to include buying today's average house

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/business/research/economylab/labour/houseincome.htm
http://www.houseprices.uk.net/regional/cambridge.html

And that's why we never even dreamed of buying an "average" house in Cambridge, we bought a 2 bed bungalow out in the sticks so we could actually have a life and some margin in case of major change - temporary loss of one wage for example. We had some small savings for a deposit but you need a fairly sizeable lump to make headway towards affording what's considered an average house. A few of my wife's colleagues are trapped in the "can't save for deposit because I'm paying massive rent" circle. But then they have new or nearly new cars and eat out three times a week.... but that's another rant.......

 

[Dan B]

What, you think a mere patio is gonna be enough? That's just for starters.. When the revolution comes, pal, when the revolution comes...

When the revolution comes you're going to need a wall, not a patio.

 

[asterix]

When the revolution comes you're going to need a wall, not a patio.

.. lamp-posts, they're more environmentally friendly.

 

[MarkF]

I do hope that you refuse to fund him any more then. Perfect example of the 'I deserve it all on a plate' generation, who cannot be bothered to put in the effort, but want to reap the rewards, preferably for doing sod all in the expectation that they will be superstars.

Haven't given him a penny for a year or more, stopped the taxi service too. Now his excuse for staying in bed is that he doesn't have any money. It drives me mental, we've hardly spoken for 6 months (and I'm not giving in ), at his age I had a job, motorbike (necessary to get around to all my girlfriends) and a big world. He has an iphone and a bed.

 

[Smurfy]

Job security was better years ago. Quite a lot of people worked their entire lives at one place, and retired on a good final salary pension. Also, many people started at the bottom, and managed to inch their way up by hard work. Nowadays you need lots of qualifications just to get on the bottom rung.

 

[hopless500]

Job security was better years ago. Quite a lot of people worked their entire lives at one place, and retired on a good final salary pension. Also, many people started at the bottom, and managed to inch their way up by hard work. Nowadays you need lots of qualifications just to get on the bottom rung.

For me that's not true. I got made redundant 3 times. Twice was from the same company (Boots/BASF Pharma). And I've still got a way to go before retiring, and it isn't going to be on a good pension.

 

[Smurfy]

For me that's not true. I got made redundant 3 times. Twice was from the same company (Boots/BASF Pharma). And I've still got a way to go before retiring, and it isn't going to be on a good pension.

It was a bit of a sweeping generalisation on my part. One of the places where I used to work there were lots of baby-boomers who'd been there a long, long time, and were just waiting to pick up their final salary scheme.

 

[MarkF]

Job security was better years ago. Quite a lot of people worked their entire lives at one place, and retired on a good final salary pension. Also, many people started at the bottom, and managed to inch their way up by hard work. Nowadays you need lots of qualifications just to get on the bottom rung.

Yes, I was a comprehensive educated oik, started at the bottom, a YOP, cleaning toilets bottom! At that time, late 1970's even the largest corporations were managed at local and regional level, by a manager, with power to make decisions. Salary budgets would be set at local level and there was no minimum wage, thank god for that, if there had been then my life would have turned out very different. So I worked as hard as I could, harder than the other 2 oiks set on at the same time as I was, soon I was earning more money than them, I knew why, I was more productive, the penny had dropped and I was on my way.

Today, I'd be under a line manager, there'd be no point in working any harder than the laziest oik, nobody would notice, and even if they did they would have no power to increase my wage. I've have been stuck on that treadmill for life.

 

[Smurfy]

Yes, I was a comprehensive educated oik, started at the bottom, a YOP, cleaning toilets bottom! At that time, late 1970's even the largest corporations were managed at local and regional level, by a manager, with power to make decisions. Budgets would set at local level and there was no minimum wage, thank god for that, if there had been then my life would have turned out very different. So I worked as hard as I could, harder than the other 2 oiks set on at the same time as I was, soon I was earning more money than them, I knew why, I was more productive, the penny had dropped and I was on my way.

Today, I'd be under a line manager, there'd be no point in working any harder than the laziest oik, nobody would notice, and even if they did they would have no power to increase my wage. I've have been stuck on that treadmill for life.

An interesting story. I've worked in one place where the management structure was massively flattened practically overnight. The result was that a lot of people at the bottom found it inpossible to obtain the experience required for professional registration and membership. Instant career stagnation!

 

[PK99]

That's true, but it's not the whole story. They had greater social mobility, better job opportunities, free university education, much cheaper house prices and much better company pensions.

plus we had the professionalisation of work - an inversion of the traditional 80/20 blue/white collar split.

Of my parents generation, the whole family was blue collar from mills, to mines to docks. the whole extended family of my generation (mid 50's) became white collar/professional. Scientists/teachers/nurses/managers/probation officer/etc but with very few degrees (i was the exception) Of the next generation - they all have degrees!

There was a whole new world of work opening up to us and we stepped effortlessly into it - now that that professionalisation is all but complete, it is far more difficult for our kids to follow us - never mind those from a less prosperous/fortunate background

 

[lukesdad]

My kids both work their bollix off, as do their partners, while I swan about in a carbon copy of @threebikesmcginty 's smoking jacket shouting abuse at the gardener and feeling up the maids.

Sounds tough being a toff down sarf Rich

 

[marinyork]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25411181

bit more of debate here - IFS piece on people born in the 60s and 70s.

 

[Linford]

No they just seemed to get all the luck.

They sold their house at the height of the housing prices and rented for a year, during that time the buble burst and house prices tumbled, they then bought cash (a huge house) because the owner needed the money. Both have massive final salery pensions.

From the public sector ?