Under 50? Compared to 2019 how are you coping financially

[Spare tyre]

Been talking to numerous young folk at work, some are worried, others not. How about PH?

Cheers

[ChocolateFrog]

Not worried but I'm on the same money then as I am now.

So conservatively I must be atleast 5 grand poorer relatively, maybe more like 10 when you chuck holidays in there.

[Adwillsy]

Could be worse off. I Purchased my house in 2021 so it will be worse but my remortgage is due in feb next year and looks as if I'm going to be £500 a month worse off so will have to do some accounting. some people do have it far worse though. Person at work had their mortgage go up £1k so count your blessings really, things could be worse.

[Mr Obertshaw]

The wife an I were discussing this the other day. Our joint household income has increased by around 30k since 2019, but we feel like we have no extra money. So I would say the same for us. Had we not both had promotions I think we'd feel a lot worse off though.

[JulianHJ]

I'm a public sector worker so wage increases are dictated by central government. I've had a 20% cut in pay in real terms over the last 13 years, lessened very slightly with a modest pay rise this month. As a result I've cut my discretionary spending fairly significantly. The lure of the private sector is strong, but I turned down the opportunity to jump ship a few months ago as I'm caught in the pension trap. I'm waiting to see how things pan out over the next couple of years before making any big decisions.

[the-norseman]

Tightened our belts for sure, luckily my mortgage is locked till 28 or else we would have to consider selling.

We do however have a wedding to save for next year, unfortunately my partners uncle died unexpectedly earlier in the year, fortunately hes left her some money which will be used for the wedding + other stuff.

[Beethree]

Earning circa 10k more but have less disposable income despite mortgage staying exactly the same.
Getting a bit fed up of feeling like I’m just about over the hump financially (after house purchase, wedding, kids etc) and then getting screwed over by stuff completely out of control (inflation, being forced back into the office etc)

[bazza white]

Bought my house in 2019. First few months getting back on feet with savings etc back then but no issues.

Had first pay rises in years since then to and doing overtime now so should be sitting nicely however savings have plateaued.

Before I could spend what I needed and spend on some wants without worrying and savings would accrue automatically but I think about spending more these days especially with the remortgage due in Jan. I'm not brassic no better off tbh.

[and31]

I have more savings now than I had in 2019(partly due to my father passing away and leaving me a very modest inheritance),earning slightly more,
I had a small pay rise, and could be earning considerably more if I left my current employment but id also be doing considerably more work lol.
I’m spending considerably more though just on the normal stuff-most noticeably the bloody shopping

[Puggit]

Late 40s... Our outgoings were about the same as our incoming wages before covid, I was approached in 2020 by a US firm and offered a US contract, paid in USD and US wages for my role are about 50% better than in the UK. I saw it as an insurance policy against Brexit but the low Pound and 5% pay rises each year have really helped put some money away. Mrs Puggit has also changed role in her company and that resulted in her almost doubling her take-home.

So things are going well!

[Hub]

Better off compared to 2019 - paid more now (probably about 40% more), saved a lot over the covid years and remortgaged 2021 to a fixed lower rate and paid some off.

Compared to 2022 though, probably worse off due to cost of living etc, not a significant pay rise this year. I wouldn't claim to be struggling, but inherent tightness (or prudence!) means I am probably cutting back anyway!

[AlpineWhite]

JulianHJ said:

The lure of the private sector is strong, but I turned down the opportunity to jump ship a few months ago as I'm caught in the pension trap.

What do you mean by "caught in the pension trap"?

[kiethton]

Early 30's:

Mortgage about to double (or triple if I can't move to IO), now have a 6m old baby (with wife on stat maternity) and am just coming to the end of a whole-house refurbishment so debt levels are high.

Only saving grace is my new job should see a 3x gross salary over the last 4 years so feel as if I'm standing still.

Edited by kiethton on Sunday 17th September 18:10

[Skeptisk]

Savings haven’t kept pace with inflation so definitely worse off overall.

[Luke.]

Why under 50?

[Jamescrs]

I'd probably say I'm worse off now than I was in 2019.

I dont claim to be stressing about my mortgage or day to day bills so I consider myself a lot better off than some others.

I had a daily car plus a toy in 2019 but the toy went in April this year so im down to one car now albeit a nice one.

I'm more conscious about where my money goes now, dont buy as much stuff on impulse I dont really need.

Grocery habits have changed, I usually buy supermarket own label products now to keep the costs down.

2 years left on the current mortgage deal so hoping things may ease a little in that time

[TomTheTyke]

AlpineWhite said:

JulianHJ said:

The lure of the private sector is strong, but I turned down the opportunity to jump ship a few months ago as I'm caught in the pension trap.

What do you mean by "caught in the pension trap"?

Presumably that the pension is significantly more generous than anything available in the private sector, so although he'd be better off now, and presumably until retirement, in the private sector, it would bring a lot more uncertainty on retirement.

I am also in the public sector (teacher) and although the pension is relatively expensive in terms of contributions, and is now career average rather than final salary, for as long as they keep it defined benefit it's a significant perk of the job, though not one that helps much for those struggling to pay their mortgage right now.

[Crudeoink]

Late 20's for me, and haven't had to tighten the belt too much but been making a few adjustments. Swapped the weekly shop from Waitrose to Tesco, trying to spend less money in cafe's and things like that. That said, we were very good with our budget whilst saving for our first home and since buying our habits haven't really changed much. We're putting less money away but still saving around £1500/m so still doing OK. That said we were very lucky to lock into a 5 year fix back in 2022 at 1.84%, if we had to remortgage now to 5-6% we'd probably cut our monthly savings figure in half.

[fuzzymonkey]

Thank you OP for classing everyone under 50 as young!

[JulianHJ]

TomTheTyke said:

Presumably that the pension is significantly more generous than anything available in the private sector, so although he'd be better off now, and presumably until retirement, in the private sector, it would bring a lot more uncertainty on retirement.

I am also in the public sector (teacher) and although the pension is relatively expensive in terms of contributions, and is now career average rather than final salary, for as long as they keep it defined benefit it's a significant perk of the job, though not one that helps much for those struggling to pay their mortgage right now.

Exactly this. If I leave before completing a certain number of years service, I have to wait until state pension age to claim the near two decades-worth of pension I've built up so far. If I stay and work a minimum 25 years, I can start claiming it immediately, and it peaks at 30 years service to obtain maximum benefits, with considerable weighting on the last few years service. It was perfectly fine until the recent detrimental changes to the system. Swings and roundabouts in terms of the attraction of public vs private sector, however having the terms drastically and unilaterally changed half way through makes things more difficult.