What is the best age to be in 2012 financially?

[Otispunkmeyer]

I think young people are in a good position overall. We're in a dip, hopefully the only way is up and we'll be the ones to ride the wave. Of course it could all go completely tits up and we'll all get flushed down the tubes.

[turbobloke]

Eric Mc said:

I think the greatest benefit is being mortgage free - so whatever age you manage that is the age that is best - especially if you are still earning.

Then again if you get rid of one another can come along unexpectedly.

[MG CHRIS]

Thanks steffan and alfaman for the advice ive already started to think about my life after my apprentership which finishes in the summer. Ive got a secure job after i finish the apprentership but am looking at getting a premises but the cost of setting up is steep got to work out what is my best option. #
I have been buying and selling cars outside of work to boost my earning so that something i got to think about.

As for getting a house around my area house prices are low so there is no benefits of renting where you can get a decent sized 2 bed house for under £80,000.

The major problem for my generation is the people who go onto further education where your not working or not working full time for 4-5 years and are 23-24 before entering full time work. So getting enough money for a deposit will take intill your late 20s early 30s before getting on the property ladder. I don't think uni is the best thing to do straight out of college.

[Ozzie Osmond]

pilchardthecat said:

Retired.

The notion of having a 30 year holiday at the end of a 40 year working life is relatively new, and for anyone under the age of 50 now it will be gone by the time they are 60+

Yes, that's absolutely the truth!

5% of salary paid in for 40 years
50% of salary drawn out for 30 years

BINGO!!

[Eric Mc]

turbobloke said:

Eric Mc said:

I think the greatest benefit is being mortgage free - so whatever age you manage that is the age that is best - especially if you are still earning.

Then again if you get rid of one another can come along unexpectedly.

A bit like buses?

[martin84]

Can we conclude the best situation to be in now has little to do with age. The best situation to be in is rich!!

[dandarez]

Financially?
That could be irrelevant. 'Health' is far more important than 'Wealth'.

With it, you can still earn a crust no matter your age, your responsibilities etc.
Without it, you're almost f....d!

Which would you rather be?:

Filthy rich pensioner with Alzheimer's.

Filthy rich young banker with cancer.

Fit and healthy, not mortgage free, still able to earn, reasonable life style.

A no-brainer in my book.

[martin84]

dandarez said:

Financially?
That could be irrelevant. 'Health' is far more important than 'Wealth'.

With it, you can still earn a crust no matter your age, your responsibilities etc.
Without it, you're almost f....d!

Which would you rather be?:

Filthy rich pensioner with Alzheimer's.

Filthy rich young banker with cancer.

Fit and healthy, not mortgage free, still able to earn, reasonable life style.

A no-brainer in my book.

I'd prefer the fourth option - filthy rich young banker in perfect health.

[turbobloke]

martin84 said:

Can we conclude the best situation to be in now has little to do with age. The best situation to be in is rich!!

martin84 said:

I'd prefer the fourth option - filthy rich young banker in perfect health.

Good calls

[markcoznottz]

dandarez said:

Financially?
That could be irrelevant. 'Health' is far more important than 'Wealth'.

With it, you can still earn a crust no matter your age, your responsibilities etc.
Without it, you're almost f....d!

Which would you rather be?:

Filthy rich pensioner with Alzheimer's.

Filthy rich young banker with cancer.

Fit and healthy, not mortgage free, still able to earn, reasonable life style.

A no-brainer in my book.

Pub talk. You wouldn't notice your health unless you are Ill, so it would have no effect on your acquisition of wealth (or not in many peoples case).
Lack of money can make a big difference to how easy your life is, the only people who would disagree are those who are comfortable, it's so easy to forget being skint or even worse in serious debt.

[Steffan]

MG CHRIS said:

Thanks steffan and alfaman for the advice ive already started to think about my life after my apprentership which finishes in the summer. Ive got a secure job after i finish the apprentership but am looking at getting a premises but the cost of setting up is steep got to work out what is my best option. #
I have been buying and selling cars outside of work to boost my earning so that something i got to think about.

As for getting a house around my area house prices are low so there is no benefits of renting where you can get a decent sized 2 bed house for under £80,000.

The major problem for my generation is the people who go onto further education where your not working or not working full time for 4-5 years and are 23-24 before entering full time work. So getting enough money for a deposit will take intill your late 20s early 30s before getting on the property ladder. I don't think uni is the best thing to do straight out of college.

The most successful businessmen I every met personally were Tiny Rowlands and Alan Sugar long long long ago. Undoubtedly the greatest money makers are the self made entrepreneurs who generally require little training. Market traders seem to me to be born into that mould.

Trading in cars is an obvious opportunity for you, Chris. Doubtless to date your earnings will be hobby trading. I would advise ensuring no that problems occur as you expand. It is essential nowadays to ensure liability insurance and so on and I do recommend a decent Accountant who keeps some control on reporting. It avoids difficulties. Good luck in whatever you do.

[Ozzie Osmond]

AJS- said:

No one is denying baby boomers worked hard. But you did have free university, free healthcare, no need to really save for a pension, grammar schools and probably most usefully of all house prices that have grown out of all proportion to anything else. Most of which I (at 33) can't count on.

Baby boomers are also the most highly taxed generation ever to have lived, having the delight of paying for their parents' pensions and welfare as well as their own. One thing to increase your generally optimistic outlook even further is to consider how much you'll be paying to keep all the oldsters around the place at the same time as trying to bring up your own children and, of course, saving prudently for your own retirement.

It's never been easy. Each generation has its own challenges.

[alfaman]

markcoznottz said:

Pub talk. You wouldn't notice your health unless you are Ill, so it would have no effect on your acquisition of wealth (or not in many peoples case).
Lack of money can make a big difference to how easy your life is, the only people who would disagree are those who are comfortable, it's so easy to forget being skint or even worse in serious debt.

However there is no point being the richest man in the graveyard

Once you have enough to live a comfortable lifestyle - I'd suggest being healthy enough to enjoy it is vital - as is having good friends around you.

Once you reach a certain point - you have to ask .."is it worth working an extra X years until I am 60+ years old and will have gained an additional $xxx - or retire at 50 something while I am still fit and healthy enough to enjoy my favorite pastimes - with a bit less money" ( for me that is mtn biking, mountaineering, skiing , trekking etc....so if I wait till 65 to retire (vs 55 ) - I will have lost several years of fun I can NEVER get back )

[Derek Smith]

Ozzie Osmond said:

It's never been easy. Each generation has its own challenges.

Chatting to a woman a little younger than my 65 years a week or so ago about this subject brought the response: it is, in most ways, so much easier for women today.

She went through a short list of things which had improved over the 35 or so years since she'd been working. There's little point in listing them here, but one she brought up was the first in/first out scenario. She worked for a number of firms which suffered during recessions. One firm whe worked for collapsed so she moved to another at a lower rate. Their output dropped during a bust and, as last in, she was out. She said that all those made redundant were youngsters. As she said, the axe had to fall somewhere but she reckoned she worked harder than most and was paid less not only because she'd just started but because she was a woman.

She then went self-employed but had problems financing her company as she was just a woman and just 25. Banks/building societies didn't want to know so her father took out a loan in his name. She ended up buying her own equipment from the firm that made her redundant when it went under. It made her feel better.

She was fairly successful and wanted to invest in property but there was no one who would lend to a single woman. She bought abroad - different rules there evidently - to finance her retirement.

She was adament that things for women nowadays are so much better.

I think that is part of the 'problem', at least for men. There are twice the number of people going after jobs than before. That said, there used to be jobs that were specific to women but now men apply. She gave up her job - what I would call technical drawing - when it all went digital as she didn't enjoy it so much. Women used to make up about 10% of the staff in such offices. Then the numbers increased but with CAD software the numbers of females dropped again. She was one of the few self-employed women in the trade. The regular on-costs of upgrades became a bit of a drain. She bought a nubmer of second hand drawing boards that would have lasted her for the rest of her career but computers had to be changed/upgraded, together with software, every two years. And a poor choice could be disasterous.

I'd suggest that the 'best' age for women has yet to come. People like my friend, a neighbour, were the start of the revolution, earning almost as much as men doing the same role. Women who started with the equality revolution are now reaching their 40s I suppose, the time of overwhelming financial demands if you have kids.

So for women, their 20s/early 30s, or perhaps before they have kids, is the best time for them financially.

The current recession has hit women harder than men I'm told.

[elvismiggell]

Fascinating read!

I'm not sure it comes down to age, it seems to be more about attitude and luck in terms of what job you end up in.

I'm 27, my parents are 56 and 57. My Dad left uni (yes Cambridge and free) and got a job for Rowntrees. He's never left and is pretty senior within Nestle now. My parents have no mortgage, reasonable savings and the ability to replenish them and are set for retirement at 60. They've worked hard - Mum works part time these days but was a full time Mum of 5. Dad has worked bloody hard. The cost of that? A not fantastic marriage, one heart attack and major stress issues. (Oh and yes, plastic garden furniture in their first house and no heating etc.)

Now me, at 27 - I've been working hard since I left Uni after a year. I've had a few different jobs but generally have been lucky and landed on my feet. I bought a flat before 25 and enjoy a fair standard of life albeit thanks to the current recessions I'm hovering on the boundary of negative equity. I hope I'm on the cusp of starting to move up the salary ladder, but I've worked exceptionally hard to get there.

Do I think there's much difference between our two generations? Not really. Yes if you compare specific hardships then of course my parents had it worse, but when you look at it in relative terms accounting for inflation etc, I don't think there's much in it. Plus I have plenty of time to become as successful of them.

I guess my point is that life really is what you make of it, with a little luck thrown in. I don't think there's any great age to be right now. My grandparents, my parents and I are all facing different challenges but I'm sure we'll all be ok because we have a work ethic and have been lucky when it's counted.

Biggest difference between now and 'then' in my view? The fact I can't rely on house prices to go up and up. I still remember when I was an Estate Agent before the recession selling a house for £450,000 which the owners had bought for the princely sum of £500. By the same maths my flat would be worth £144,000,000 in 50 years time which seems unlikely...

[RDMcG]

Its definitely tougher now with a global marketplace. I am 63 and have worked since the age of 11 when not going to school. Never had a break in career though worked for three major employers in different parts of the world. I still consult around the world for about a third of the year, and have an interest in a couple of startups. When I was younger my parents used to tell me about their youths which were much tougher than mine...at least I could get work., so I do think my generation had it a bit easier than either my father's generation or my son's. I stopped working full time at 60, though was retained on full compensation till 62. I have enough to get through I think , and more importantly for my wife to get through.Not sure way the best age is, but its the same old story...pay off your mortgage and save enough to ever retirement, ands especially the uncertainties of illness/old age homes, or whatever things happen to you or your spouse. I have seen it happen often.

[alfaman]

elvismiggell said:

Do I think there's much difference between our two generations? Not really. Yes if you compare specific hardships then of course my parents had it worse, but when you look at it in relative terms accounting for inflation etc, I don't think there's much in it. Plus I have plenty of time to become as successful of them.

I guess my point is that life really is what you make of it, with a little luck thrown in. I don't think there's any great age to be right now. My grandparents, my parents and I are all facing different challenges but I'm sure we'll all be ok because we have a work ethic and have been lucky when it's counted.

...

^^^This.

Positive attitude, hard work and determination count for a lot. Anyone with the right attitude and who is reasonably smart *should* be able to succeed in the UK, after all most education is free or available for a very cheap loan.

..contrast that with many countries in Asia / Africa ... where it can be incredibly hard to break out from a disadvantaged upbringing / "wrong background" etc.

[BoRED S2upid]

Otispunkmeyer said:

I think young people are in a good position overall. We're in a dip, hopefully the only way is up and we'll be the ones to ride the wave. Of course it could all go completely tits up and we'll all get flushed down the tubes.

House prices will never decrease to reasonable levels again so the young are screwed, there won't be such a wave to ride this time.

[turbobloke]

BoRED S2upid said:

Otispunkmeyer said:

I think young people are in a good position overall. We're in a dip, hopefully the only way is up and we'll be the ones to ride the wave. Of course it could all go completely tits up and we'll all get flushed down the tubes.

House prices will never decrease to reasonable levels again so the young are screwed, there won't be such a wave to ride this time.

Agreed on both fronts. Longer term, house prices will rise again and some would say the next climb has begun, but not at the rate of the past few decades. Shorter term there may also be better news for negative equity folk but the risk of an external shock from eurozone problems is still around and doesn't look like going away given that nobody in the EU's halls of power has much of a clue what to do, apart from muddle on and hope. But that's mostly fodder for the EU Calamity and House Price threads.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Derek Smith said:

She was adament that things for women nowadays are so much better.

Hmmm. Still a glass ceiling. Still doing most of the housework while holding a job down at the same time. The impossibility of a career in music, stage or screen without dancing in a bikini or generally getting their kit off. The spice Girls (girl power!) have a lot to answer for.