When is being skint ?

[Maurice Swan]

If you don't have a phone, don't have netflix, didn't have technology growing up in the 1950s, maybe you should run some courses and give everyone the chance to turn out as great as you have!

Good idea....I graduated with a degree in Computer Programming....coming from a poor background...two up two down...no shower/bath except the tin bath on a Friday night that used to hang behind outside toilet that froze in winter...potty under the bed..... I don't need any lectures about 'not having...'

[Eric Cartman]

Good idea....I graduated with a degree in Computer Programming....coming from a poor background...two up two down...no shower/bath except the tin bath on a Friday night that used to hang behind outside toilet that froze in winter...potty under the bed..... I don't need any lectures about 'not having...'

Paid off all your student loan yet?

[Maurice Swan]

Paid off all your student loan yet?

I left school the first day I could when I turned 16 (1964).....5 'O' levels over two attempts.....hated it.....got a decent job a few weeks later.......some years later decided to study for Computer Programming as that seemed the future.....no student or other loans those days.....

[lardy]

I left school the first day I could when I turned 16 (1964).....5 'O' levels over two attempts.....hated it.....got a decent job a few weeks later.......some years later decided to study for Computer Programming as that seemed the future.....no student or other loans those days.....

I think that's Cartman's point. Things were different in those days than they are now. It's very unlikely that a 16 year old with 5 GCSEs would get a decent job nowadays a few weeks after leaving school. Unless your family is pretty wealthy, you're not getting a degree in computer programming without creating a debt.

When I was growing up, it was pretty normal for a family to be able to buy a home and a car, maybe two, on a single income - working for a job where you didn't need qualifications - and still bring up one, two or three kids. Not living extravagantly, but not struggling week to week. These are the big things that matter, being able to own rather than rent, that makes a big difference to your financial situation and the one passed on to your kids. There are more than double the number of rented households in the UK now than in 2000.

A luxury that everyone I knew back then had was a daily newspaper. If you buy the Sun Mon-Fri now, it's a pound a day (it was 35p in 2011, almost trebled in just over a decade). £20 a month on a newspaper? For comparison, Netflix, which you used an example of an extravagance, is £8 a month.

So while it's wonderful that you've had a wildly successful life, I don't think it's fair to compare your journey with people today, and blaming their finances on their lifestyle. The older I get, the more I appreciate that it's opportunity that helps you on the way, and opportunities are not given out equally.

[Gofer Blue]

I left school the first day I could when I turned 16 (1964).....5 'O' levels over two attempts.....hated it.....got a decent job a few weeks later.......some years later decided to study for Computer Programming as that seemed the future.....no student or other loans those days.....

I'm afraid I have to agree with the comments made by Lardy. Us baby-boomers are undoubtedly the lucky generation. We came along after WW2 during a time of reconstruction and great optimism for the future. We have never been "called up" into the armed forces nor had to fight in wars (unless we chose to go into the forces of course). I went to university and had a grant to do so. OK, back in the 60's it was only the princely sum of £300 p.a. but it was sufficient to provide board and lodgings and travel which was all it needed to do, as I had no fees to pay. After my degree I immediately walked into a job and although I have changed jobs several times I have never been out of work. I have always paid into a private pension scheme and so was able to retire early. We are not wealthy by any means but on the other hand we do not live extravagantly either so we can manage.

[Eric Cartman]

I left school the first day I could when I turned 16 (1964).....5 'O' levels over two attempts.....hated it.....got a decent job a few weeks later.......some years later decided to study for Computer Programming as that seemed the future.....no student or other loans those days.....

Good choice of degree. The point is there are lots of little anchors holding people down these days as I'm sure there were then too, but because of the cost of housing now, it has far more of an effect.

Take student loan though. I earn roughly the UK median wage and I am barely touching the sides after interest. It is essentially an extra 9% income tax band that exists only for those who were conned into going to uni, I don't mind much because mine is a maintenance loan which I used to live it up (I was the year before loans for fees) but think of kids coming out over the past 10 or so years, the majority will never pay it off in this economy, but they will pay more than they borrowed...

Rarely have promises which were made to the 'boomer' generation been broken, promises to youngsters are thrown out the window constantly.

Take the principle that student loans are fine because it increases your earning potential and you won't start paying it off until you are earning a good whack and have financially benefitted from that degree. Well the threshold at which my additional 9% tax rate kicks in is roughly 22k, so a smidge above min wage...

Anyway, the point really was, try not to be that guy that says he walked to school barefoot in snow for 15 miles and everyone now is a softy. Every generation has structural advantages and disadvantages, some more than others.