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Just to add to fire to this, it's not just teacher/nurses (who are criminally underpaid) that are struggling. My partners a teacher, but I'm a chip designer mak
by Aromasin 3y ago
Just to add to fire to this, it's not just teacher/nurses (who are criminally underpaid) that are struggling. My partners a teacher, but I'm a chip designer making decent money at a big corporation. We've not gone on Holiday in over a year, turned down almost every social engagement we've been invited to recently, dropped every subscription, grocery shop at Lidl (our cheapest supermarket) and basically pinched every penny we can since we moved in to a rental place a couple of years ago. If my stock plan improves, and we take advantage of all the right savings account, and neither of us need to get a new car, we're on track to buy a house in maybe 6-7 years if we don't have kids by then; which we inevitably will because by then my partner will be too old to conceive. That's just to cover the deposit too. I dread to think what mortgage repayments are going to be like.
In the UK, the average savings (net financial wealth) at 25 - 29 years old is £3,800, but the typical person in that age range has -£100. The average UK savings for 30 - 34 year old's is around £14,500 of net financial wealth (savings like current and savings accounts, stocks, bonds, etc. less financial liabilities), but the median figure is just £1,000.
That really paints the picture. As a younger person, it really feels like if you don't have wealthy parents to pay your way, you can't ever expect to have financial security in the UK. The island has been bought out by the oligarchs, and a society of indentured slaves in all but name is the eventual outcome. That post WW2 boom, where almost everyone who worked hard could afford a house, car, and a family, feels like a fever dream.
- ojhughes 3y agoDo you live in London? I live just over an hour outside and most people I know own a house or flat. You buy a 2 bedroom flat here for 150k. Not denying there is a problem, just surprised you’re finding it so hard as a well paid professional
- _Wintermute 3y agoWhere are these 2 bed flats in the south east for 150k?
- ojhughes 3y agoJust a very quick search https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129195644 https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129195644
- dukeyukey 3y ago"just over an hour" might be overstating it, it's more than an hour and a half from Andover station to Paddington, not counting travel/waiting time either side. To go from that house to my companies' office in Holborn in 2 hours, nearly 3 on the return journey. Which _might_ be doable with remote work if you only go in every month or so, but doesn't let you maintain active friendships in and around London the way moving to Watford or Hatfield might.
- ojhughes 3y agoI don’t live in Andover it was just an example. There are still lots of jobs within reasonable commuting distance of Andover. I’m fully remote so it’s a non issue
- Aromasin 3y agoNo I don't live in London, but also no, I can't live anywhere that I could get a flat for 150k like you've shared below. I work in the semiconductor industry as a hardware engineer; fully remote is unheard of, so I need to live within a commutable vicinity to work. The cities with any SC companies that aren't Defence are Bristol, Oxford, London, or Cambridge. All way over 90 minutes each way in rush hour traffic to Andover. There's a reason the flat you shared is cheap - unless you're commuting to Reading, you're spending hours each day on the motorway. In my current area of Oxford, I'd be looking at minimum 250k for a crap 2 bed flat with furnishings from the 1960s. That's not to even start considering parking, a decent leasehold, and public transport links. Closing on 350k if I dare even consider choosing a freehold house, or a place with a garden. I'd love to get a job Cambridge or London way, as career opportunities are much more abundant, but then I'm looking at nearly 450k for a half decent 2 bed.
- ojhughes 3y agoThanks, I don't have much knowledge of semiconductor industry. I know there are a few SWE employers not too far from Andover (Vodafone, IBM) that can pay well. Are salaries quite low in semiconductor industry?
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