Daily Telegraph says 1 in 4 Pensioners are millionaires

Asset rich and cash poor.
Exactly.

annsixty

What this does mean is that in future there will be lots more millionaires, the children of those pensioners who will inherit those properties, depending of course on how many offspring there are.
That is why I believe in inheritance tax.

There is already a good whack of inheritance tax taken off £1m.

Of course any such inheritance is always very nice, but even if there is only one child who is the heir, who lives - and plans to live - in a considerably cheaper area, the legacy is not going to make him or her a millionaire, or anything like it. Unless of course they already have their own stash tucked away.

Anywhere around here, even a nice enough 2 bed flat can easily set you back £500k plus. And this is an outer area of Greater London.

This sort of pernicious divisive survey is to stoke envy and to create a platform for the confiscation of the assets of the elderly. Resist the nonsense. If your house has risen in value but your income has been eaten away by inflation you are not 'rich'.

Yes some parts of the media seem to be on a sustained campaign to provoke antagonism against baby boomers whose houses have risen in value, or who bought into good pension schemes and are now reaping the benefits.

Basically, such people are responsible for all the financial difficulties being faced by the young because they're selfish enough to want to remain in the homes they bought 40 years ago (often struggling to pay the mortgage at the time) and to enjoy their retirement by playing golf, going on holidays etc after many years working and raising children.

They should all move into one bed flats and spend their days watching repeats of Heartbeat and All Creatures Great and Small.

I don’t think for one minute that there’s any kind of plan in the media to stoke envy between generations.
Those who watch tv programmes such as Location, will, I’m sure, have seen many examples of young families in their thirties who have a very healthy budget for their new, larger home.
Yes I do accept that our generation has been particularly fortunate as we bought our first homes in the 70s and 80s when property was more affordable in relation to earnings but there are many other factors at play.

We are lucky to live in a country where there are so many opportunities for those who are prepared to work hard.

Such fun, VintageJazz - especially all the ads for funeral plans, mobility scooters/baths and showers, equity release, and of course those ready meals you don’t even need a fridge for!

(Can you tell I do sometimes succumb to the lure of OATV? ?(Oldies’ Afternoon TV).

More or less anyone who has a house is a millionaire in assets here these days. If you sell up and live in a dump or a caravan you could use the money, otherwise it is tied up so I think that shouldn’t count.

The ratio of 1:4 does not make sense when the average house price is £450k in South East London and £600+k in London according to Rightmove, well short of £1m.

Apparently whoever has done the statistics has included pension pots as lump sums in the equation to measure the wealth of baby boomers.

As they say : There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.

Vintagejazz ?
Not to mention Escape to the Country when we can sit and mutter about the folly of sixty somethings moving to large houses, with an acre of land for the pony, miles from the nearest facility.

It's lack of decent suitable housing which prevents many older people downsizing from larger family houses to something which is reasonably sized with room for family to stay if necessary and in a convenient location.

JenniferEccles

I don’t think for one minute that there’s any kind of plan in the media to stoke envy between generations.
Those who watch tv programmes such as Location, will, I’m sure, have seen many examples of young families in their thirties who have a very healthy budget for their new, larger home.
Yes I do accept that our generation has been particularly fortunate as we bought our first homes in the 70s and 80s when property was more affordable in relation to earnings but there are many other factors at play.

We are lucky to live in a country where there are so many opportunities for those who are prepared to work hard.

Well in that case you’d be wrong JenniferEccles, there’s no doubt that the media try to appeal to the younger generation by laying the blame for society’s ills at the door of the previous generation - including the cost of houses, pensions etc. How else would they detract from the truth, which makes much more uncomfortable reading - and doesn’t sell papers.

www.if.org.uk/

This charity tends to stir up intergenerational strife.

Is that a charity Callistemon? It’s certainly a new one on me, but if young people look at it they’re likely to be persuaded that everything in their life that is difficult, is the fault of older people who had everything presented to them on a platter when they were young themselves. For vast numbers of people, the majority in fact, that simply isn’t true.

Yes young people are facing difficulties getting on the housing ladder. But if older people sold their family homes to allow young families step up a rung, they will then presumably be buying up the flats and small new builds that are currently many first time buyers' only hope of getting on the ladder.
It's just moving deck chairs on the Titanic.

Founded by Angus Hanton years ago, maddyone
Apparently his parents lived in a £1.5 million house with land - I wonder if he felt they should sell it and give him his inheritance early?

There are many obstacles and pitfalls to passing down wealth and assets to younger generations even if parents had any and wished to do so.

It's just moving deck chairs on the Titanic

It is.

But the type of accommodation that younger people might want to buy when starting out might not be suitable for older people.

Thanks for the info Callistemon. It does indeed look as though Angus Hanton had his nose put out of joint by his parents.
What does the charity raise money for?

I think it's more of a think tank and I'm not sure how it's funded.

www.if.org.uk/about-us/
Its aims seem laudable but the money raised is presumably used for campaigning and, of course, their salaries.

Ooh, I wonder how much he pays himself?

What these figures also do not take into account is how much money people have spent over the years reapiring and maintaining their homes, keeping them up to date, building extensions etc etc.

Kirsty on Location came up with some comment that you should spend on average 1% of the value of your home each year on renovations or maintenance. So if your home is worth £1 million, you should spend, £10,000 per annum. Where are pensioners supposed to find that money if they are not receiving a good income?
I guess the moral is to carry out repairs regularly as prevention is better than cure and the value of the house will continue to rise.

I think she is talking nonsense. Extension apart, I am sure we have never spent anything like that much on maintaining the house - and we live in a 550 year old, Listed Grade 2 house, which should be, theoretically costing us an arm and a leg to maintain.

It really depends on how much of the maintence you can do yourself. We have everything serviced regularly, CH, intruder alarm, chimney swept, DH does small jobs as they arise. We pay for the exterior of the house to be decorated - and that is all.

I wonder whether she is including replacing carpets, curtains, furniture etc

Casdon has rightly drawn attention to the effect of inflation in general, let alone house prices. The word millionaire no longer should no longer carry the same weight as it did in the past, simply because it buys so much less than it used to. Being in London, mine is in asset terms a millionaire household: all I can say is, it certainly doesn't feel like one!

Don’t you have flashy flunkies everywhere, and a gigantic yacht, grumppa? How disappointing

Yes years ago if someone won a million pounds in the lottery they were rich beyond dreams.

Now you could buy a nice house and a new car and wouldn't have much change.