Environment and 'Ok Boomer'

I rarely hear these comments from youngsters, but if I do, I tell them I'll happily swap my wealth and my house with them......for their age! There's nothing more precious than youth and health and I think they get the message when I say that.

I have noticed on some sites there is a type of inter-generational rage that baby boomers are more likely to own their own home and often have empty rooms and have not downsized. I don't want to down size and have empty rooms but they come in useful when someone wants to come to stay. They also complain that baby boomers houses have risen in price so much so they have what they call unearned wealth. I take it with a pinch of salt. It is tough for young people to get on to property ladder today but they have also had an extended childhood with many still in education at 21 whereas in our generation most left school at 15 or 16 so by 21 had been working for many years.

The younger generations carry a sizable portion of debt and where there's sizable debt there's excess and eventually delinquency-

Excessive consumerism impacts the environment- Unlike anything I've ever witnessed in my lifetime, the stock for this upcoming Christmas season is so abundant that it's hazardous - The isles are so packed that a person couldn't safely shop-

www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/interactives/householdcredit/data/pdf/HHDC_2019Q3.pdf

When I was in my mid 20s, my parents owned a large house while DH and I had a small house and a huge mortgage. My parents also started like that.

One of the reasons we paid less for our homes was because interest rates were so high. Suggest to a Millenial that the best way to get house prices down is to raise mortgage interest rates up to 10%-12% and watch the look of shock on their faces.

We actually paid far more for our houses than the list price because we had to pay such high interest rates. Add all the extra interest we paid to the cost of our houses and the capital gain we made shrinks alarmingly. To that add inflation.

We paid about £6,000 for our first house, in current values that is the equivalent of paying £105,000, add the extra interest we paid on it, approx £27,000 and the house cost us over £130,000. Certainly less than its current value of £300,000, but we haven't made the huge gain that the original price suggests.

But in 1968 average wages were just over £1,000, about £16,500 in current terms. The average wage in 2019 £35,000, almost exactly twice what we earned, Why shouldn't they pay twice as much for their houses, especially when interest rates are so low.

Sorry about all the maths. But no one, especially the young, ever sit down and do the figures and face the facts. They are no worse off than we were.

And in the end they are the ones who will benefit from the capital we have accumulated when they inherit it.

Spot on MOnica

I'm not saying this applies everywhere, but anywhere around here (I'm in outer SW London). where house prices are ridiculous, the problem would often not be the monthly mortgage payment, but saving enough for a 10% deposit in the first place, if they have no help.

Often the rent people have to pay for a very ordinary flat in an ordinary area, would be the same, or even more, than the mortgage.

In around 2009/2010 I looked at a lot of flats in Tooting - hardly a fashionable area - with a dd who thought she might buy there. At the time the sort of flats she was looking at were going for around £250-275k, depending on condition.

In the end she went to live and work away from London, but I kept a nosy eye on those flats. Prices started zooming up very quickly and by 2016 were regularly going for £550k+. Glad to say they've come down a wee bit now, but still crazy. Monthly rents for the same are usually at least £1400-1500,

And that's just ordinary flats in a non smart area. For anyone on fairly ordinary salaries, saving a £45-50k deposit after all other expenses, is hardly going to be easy.

The dismissive 'OK Boomer', the backing for assisted death and things like normalisation of pushing to make everything mixed sex spaces are concerning.

I don't know the figures for each biological sex and age, there is a large number of immaturity in the brain of those watching internet pornography. It will keep population growth down for positive environmental impact, though the need for the serotonin hit - leading to more extreme porn hit will have a public services cost. You can Google the research yourself.

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7736569/Watching-porn-rewires-brain-juvenile-state-neuroscientist-warns.html

London is the exception, prices there have been driven up by an influx of foreign investors, who have bought not only properties costing millions but also flats that would otherwise have been bought by local people to live in, and prices for property in and immediately around London has gone up in line with the domino effect of wealthy local unable to compete with foreign investors and moving to the next suburb out.

Further out prices are more reasonable. The average house price in the UK, including all houses and London is £235,000, which means in many areas there are a lot of properties far cheaper than that. In York where DS lives there are plenty of starter flats under £100,000, 3 bedroomed houses are priced from £150,000.

Similar properties in North Herts, where DD lives within an easy commute to Cambridge are £150,000 and £225,000. In South Oxfordshire, where I live, surrounded by science parks and an easy commute to Oxford, Newbury and Reading the figures are £150,000 and £250,000

All these areas are high employment, high salary areas, and many first time buyers seem quite able to play in excess of £300,000 for a first home.

As for saving for a depositt. It has never been easy. In 1968 we needed to save £1,000 to cover deposit and costs. Roughly equivalent to one year of my then gross salary, considerably longer if you only looked at my take-home pay.

My parents delayed their marriage several years until my DF was earning £4.50 a week and they could afford a mortgage to buy a home.

House buying has never been easy. It is just a shock to young people, many of whom have had very easy lives, to suddenly find that something they take for granted requires sacrifice and hard work to obtain.

well said MOnica.

Start work at 16 instead of freeloading until 21 then crying because they have student debt from a useless bloody degree.

Its wasnt millennials who changed compulsary education age to 19....

Why are degrees useless?
My DC are making good use of theirs

If you have a loan which you have to repay then how exactly are you freeloading?

It's a contradiction in terms.

Excessive consumerism impacts the environment- Unlike anything I've ever witnessed in my lifetime, the stock for this upcoming Christmas season is so abundant that it's hazardous - The isles are so packed that a person couldn't safely shop-

I know someone very senior in retail. They are one of the people who "set the trends" for christmas must haves. And spend their summer planning what their retailer will stock and promote.

They are NOT millenials. They are not even young for gen X, AND they are "young" compared to a lot of their colleagues and contemporaries at that level. Who plan what's going to be on your shelves at Christmas.

Once again, posters are picking out things they disagree with then falsely attributing it to millennials.

notanan, in the US the average age of a purchasing agent/buyer is 45/46- Gen Xers-

Millennial Spending:
Somewhere between 40/45% of their monthly income goes towards discretionary spending - 20/25% of their purchases are made with credit cards- And the younger the borrower, the higher the likelihood of delinquency-

Via their spending practices they climb into bed with corporations that destroy the planet-

Factor in mortgages and auto loans for not so environmentally friendly vehicles-

I didn't indicate that they are responsible for purchasing for stores but from stores .. that contribute to the destruction of the planet ..

Gonegirl may well be the leading UK expert in this field but fortunately, I live in New Zealand where the elderly are, in the main, treated with respect and valued for their experience.

I have certainly heard about these issues WeekendVisit but don't take them seriously as that is not what I see around me.
I also think this is a media-generated mischief which the gullible fall for and follow. Much as they do with ad campaigns.

I cannot imagine any sensible person believing elders will be 'killed off before their time', when we all know how hard, nay virtually impossible, it is even for terminally ill persons in great pain to be allowed to die with dignity.

I wonder what is envisaged in such a scenario? Gangs of under-40's leaping out of the bushes at rest homes in order to smite the grey-haired?

Maybe I should spearhead a campaign: a Boomers Uprising to Minimise Socially Unfair Practises (BUMSUP)?

We need to remind Millenials that they get older every day and one day they will be old, just like us. They will own houses and have savings and their grandchildren will be eyeing their wealth avariciously.

As for that silly comments about degrees......... There have always been a small group of graduates who can make little of their degree - but that is usually more about them than the degree. Look around: doctors, nurses, engineers, scientists and almost every professional has a degree and is making a living because they have one -- and usually a better one than they would have without it.

ok boomer

Not sure I can be an expert in this field. I haven't a clue what it's all about. Just know I don't want everyone bumped off on reaching the age of 70.

Gonegirl may well be the leading UK expert in this field but fortunately, I live in New Zealand where the elderly are, in the main, treated with respect and valued for their experience

Are you saying that I don't want old people treated with respect? Would be grateful for an explanation of your remark BradfordLass72

I get a bit fed up with sly digs at me.

Can we do a quick survey? Who here has actually heard the phrase "ok boomer" in real life?

Not me.

not me

I've heard it-

In what context rosecaramel?