Discussion
Every so often there are reports of some OAP being conned/robbed/embezzled out of their 'life savings' of £50K or so.
Are there really many people who start accumulating a savings pot as soon as they start working and continue to build it up, or at least refrain from dipping into it, for life? I feel guilt if so, I never had that much restraint even if I'd had the opportunity.
Or are 'life savings' just savings not earmarked for anything specific?
Are there really many people who start accumulating a savings pot as soon as they start working and continue to build it up, or at least refrain from dipping into it, for life? I feel guilt if so, I never had that much restraint even if I'd had the opportunity.
Or are 'life savings' just savings not earmarked for anything specific?
yeah, my working class parents who live in council provided homes and other family members did just that...they tried not to rely completely on state pension and some accumulated £30-60K in ISAs over a lifetime to help supplement their retirement
my grandfather used to say "have fun in the present but think about the future, you are going to have to live in it one day"
you want to spend your last 20 years of your life living on £70 a week then its up to you....
my grandfather used to say "have fun in the present but think about the future, you are going to have to live in it one day"
you want to spend your last 20 years of your life living on £70 a week then its up to you....
I'm not saying I can't understand people planning for retirement. But most people go through a phase in their 20 or even early 30s when it's a challenge keeping their current account in credit let alone amassing enough cash for a house deposit. Keeping a savings account untouched through this period must be a bit unusual and possibly not even sensible. Like the people on PH who buy cars on finance in order to leave their savings intact.
Dr Jekyll said:
I'm not saying I can't understand people planning for retirement. But most people go through a phase in their 20 or even early 30s when it's a challenge keeping their current account in credit let alone amassing enough cash for a house deposit. Keeping a savings account untouched through this period must be a bit unusual and possibly not even sensible. Like the people on PH who buy cars on finance in order to leave their savings intact.
I suppose it depends on the person.I'm 19 and at the moment I am chucking every spare penny I have in to a savings account. Granted it's for a house deposit and not life savings but as soon as I have a house, i'll start on the life savings.
I'm not the type of guy to buy a new car (on finance or not) but on a used car i'd chuck it on an interest free credit card rather than dip it into the savings. I'm lucky that the cars I like are not very expensive!
As an OAP now, I'd have to slot myself in with most of the above descriptions.
20s - barely keeping our heads above water financially
30s - on the housing ladder but now with offspring to support and only one income
40s - slight improvement
50s - two incomes again and mortgage, previously considered gigantic, now easily manageable. Beginning to spend money but old frugal habits die hard. Savings started.
60s - mortgage paid off, no offspring around, pensions not huge but more than sufficient, savings growing nicely. Could spend loads on even more nice things but now worry about the impossibly high cost of quality care home if it ever becomes necessary. So keep saving.
Thinking of many of our neighbours and people we meet on holiday, I suspect we're far from atypical.
20s - barely keeping our heads above water financially
30s - on the housing ladder but now with offspring to support and only one income
40s - slight improvement
50s - two incomes again and mortgage, previously considered gigantic, now easily manageable. Beginning to spend money but old frugal habits die hard. Savings started.
60s - mortgage paid off, no offspring around, pensions not huge but more than sufficient, savings growing nicely. Could spend loads on even more nice things but now worry about the impossibly high cost of quality care home if it ever becomes necessary. So keep saving.
Thinking of many of our neighbours and people we meet on holiday, I suspect we're far from atypical.
condor said:
I think it's likely that OAPs who own their home outright and have decent private pensions have more money coming in than going out...hence building up into life savings.
My grand parents got a house with his job, so he invested the equivalent of a mortgage payment every month, for 40 years, until he retired on a senior level from local government, with an index linked pension, and spent about half on a decent bungalow in the Cotswolds. They lived very frugally, which you would if you had lived through 2 world wars, and saved for a rainy day I remember he read the FT every day, and would phone his stock broker every now and then to make changes. Eventually at 94 he died and his legacy to his children was a decent property, and almost the same amount in cash, and shares holdings. My mother always kept a tight grip on finances and I expected she'd have perhaps teens of £K but I was utterly astonished when she went into care to find she had over £100K in various ISAs/deposit accounts.
It's being hosed away at over £1K/mth now and it's breaking her heart. Stupid woman.
It's being hosed away at over £1K/mth now and it's breaking her heart. Stupid woman.
NPI said:
It's being hosed away at over £1K/mth now and it's breaking her heart. Stupid woman.
Why 'stupid'?Without those savings she'd be at the mercy of a state-financed home - unless you can spare £1k a month. I know there's no guarantee of quality in any care home but, knowing some people who've worked in Council care homes and hearing them recount the conditions, I'd plump for the best I could afford.
My reading of it is that you build up that wealth late on.
In your 20s you're earning very little and blowing it quickly.
30s and 40s you're earning a bit more but you have kids, a mortgage.
~50 your kids go to university which costs a fortune, but then they go and start working.
Maybe you get a smaller/cheaper house, you're making a good salary, no mortgage.
Certainly true of my own parents. Endless money worries in their 40s and 50s then over a few years they got on top of things and were on about holiday homes and new cars.
Not that they have 50k lying around to blow on everlasting lightbulbs (I hope!)
In your 20s you're earning very little and blowing it quickly.
30s and 40s you're earning a bit more but you have kids, a mortgage.
~50 your kids go to university which costs a fortune, but then they go and start working.
Maybe you get a smaller/cheaper house, you're making a good salary, no mortgage.
Certainly true of my own parents. Endless money worries in their 40s and 50s then over a few years they got on top of things and were on about holiday homes and new cars.
Not that they have 50k lying around to blow on everlasting lightbulbs (I hope!)
NerveAgent said:
'Life savings' is just a convenient term that helps sell papers. It just means an amount of money that an old person has.
This could be something they started saving since they were 20, something the saved in the last 5 years before retiring, something they won on a horse...etc
Like "80 y/o woman attacked by knifeman - scarred for life" Even if she lives to 100 she'll only be scarred for 20% of her life. This could be something they started saving since they were 20, something the saved in the last 5 years before retiring, something they won on a horse...etc
driverrob said:
Why 'stupid'?
Without those savings she'd be at the mercy of a state-financed home - unless you can spare £1k a month. I know there's no guarantee of quality in any care home but, knowing some people who've worked in Council care homes and hearing them recount the conditions, I'd plump for the best I could afford.
No she wouldn't - she'd be in the same private care home she's in now, but with the LA picking up the bill (and paying less than she does). Same as most of the other residents.Without those savings she'd be at the mercy of a state-financed home - unless you can spare £1k a month. I know there's no guarantee of quality in any care home but, knowing some people who've worked in Council care homes and hearing them recount the conditions, I'd plump for the best I could afford.
There are very few council run care homes now.
The main point of "stupid" though is she could have had a much more comfortable and enjoyable life before needing to go into the home.
NPI said:
driverrob said:
Why 'stupid'?
Without those savings she'd be at the mercy of a state-financed home - unless you can spare £1k a month. I know there's no guarantee of quality in any care home but, knowing some people who've worked in Council care homes and hearing them recount the conditions, I'd plump for the best I could afford.
No she wouldn't - she'd be in the same private care home she's in now, but with the LA picking up the bill (and paying less than she does). Same as most of the other residents.Without those savings she'd be at the mercy of a state-financed home - unless you can spare £1k a month. I know there's no guarantee of quality in any care home but, knowing some people who've worked in Council care homes and hearing them recount the conditions, I'd plump for the best I could afford.
There are very few council run care homes now.
The main point of "stupid" though is she could have had a much more comfortable and enjoyable life before needing to go into the home.
Just as with any savings in life. You will pay for necessities whilst others with no savings will get them given to them by the government.
There is no point building savings into old age, it will get taken off you.
Why can't people see this and either gift it away over time, or blow it on having fun.
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