Lucky baby boomers

[Syd]

...Apparently Generation X weren't very lucky at all!

I’m Generation X and would consider myself lucky leaving school and going straight into a job that led, via a minor detour, to the path I am on now where I am very comfortable. My two sisters also did relatively well whilst my parents never moved on from their relatively low paid jobs and home in a council estate.

Since leaving school I have never been unemployed; the one and only time I was made redundant I started a new job the days after. For a time 100% mortgages were available, for those without deposits, as was cheap property. I bought my first property aged 20 and had the first of two children aged 21.

[merseymouth]

Hi Tatanab , You must only barely remember "National Dried Milk", which when combined with Orange Juice & Cod Liver Oil were the staples of the diet of us "Real Oldies"!
Visits to the Nit Nurse also filled our days .
But Tangled Metal points out clearly the difference in the aspirations of our era, unlike the current "We Have A Right To"!
I remember not having holidays apart from "Bank Holidays" for my first two years in work and even after that it was only two weeks paid leave a year.
Free University yes, but it was far harder to get offers of placement, unlike now. Quite why so many jobs are only available to graduates baffles me, who needs a BA to flip burgers? IGICB MM

[100%JR]

What's generation X?

Born early 60s to early 80s

[Oldjohnw]

And each generation thinks that they are the ones who invented sex.

[Tangled Metal]

You are all the proof you need to know your parents had sex at least once. I don't think any generation ever completely thinks they invented sex when faced with that evidence!

They might just prefer to not think about it though.

[reohn2]

And each generation thinks that they are the ones who invented sex.

Incredible that is,makes you wonder we all got here

[reohn2]

What's generation X?

Born early 60s to early 80s

Thanks,never heard the term before

[PH]

As a baby boomer I had it easy - so I am told.

Spot on. They are wrong. Looking back from now, it seems that we did ...... but we didn't in reality.

Yes, housing was cheaper to buy, but we had nothing spare after the crippling repayments. Secondhand furniture ....... we still have some in daily use nearly 50years later ..... home-made curtains, and even home-made cupboards and stuff.

Yes you had to scrimp and save a bit, but the question should be addressed over a lifetime rather than a particular period of it. How did that pan out? Was it worth doing? Did you have a choice? I'm not saying those who have done well can attribute it all to luck, it's mainly good planning and being prepared to take the long term view. Neither would it be right to suggest there was no element of luck, those choices were there for you to make and that hasn't always been the case for generations that have come before or after.

[Audax67]

Yup, we are lucky. We'll be dead before climate change makes the world uninhabitable.

[mattheus]

Yup, we are lucky. We'll be dead before climate change makes the world uninhabitable.

... and you had the joy of open roads in the great classic cars before us youngsters clogged them up (and invented green guilt). And the thrill of air-travel becoming affordable.

But we have the iPhone 11 and Youtube celebrities.

[skicat]

According to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation#List_of_generations

Lost generation 1883-1900
Greatest Generation 1901-1927
Silent Generation 1925-1942
Baby boomers 1946-1964 or (1943-1960 depending which Wikipedia page you read!). Also called Generation W
Generation W 1961-1981
Millennials early 1980s - early 2000s
Generation Z mid 1990s - early 2000s

Obviously some gaps and some overlaps.

[Tangled Metal]

Buying a house was crippling but you probably saw the biggest rise in house prices and can afford to downsize to a cheaper place and live better in retirement.

We're generation x and whilst I was able to buy a house, I'm still just getting by on that front, no big savings and pensions will come my way. I've had years of money in, money out with the constant worry of hitting the red. I've had support from baby boomer parents and my grandparents who lived through hard times but also benefited greatly from baby boomer years.

I'm only recently been able to afford to spend on the house, flooring, kitchen, central heating, windows, etc. Sorely needed. Not to mention roofing repairs. As good as my bodges were they needed professional roofers.

So when I read of baby boomer hardship I counter with the ultimate truth that each generation has its own struggles. Nothing new about yours but you certainly came out the other side better off than earlier generations and I bet later generations.

Btw no early retirement for us. We're probably going to go back to dying just after a later retirement. Current age 67 but everyone my age is thinking at least 70 retirement age with many expecting to work on later still.

Add in climate change, population issues and expected water issues in the future. World is looking bleak for future generations.

[Mick F]

Hi all , Can someone please define for me "Baby Boomer", as I feel that Tatanab is too young to actually be one

67. Born in 1952 so probably the tail end of boomers. Neither of my parents were old enough to be directly involved in WW2.

Nov 1952 for me. My sister is Dec 1949.
Dad was in the RAF during the war, came back from Palestine in early 1946 and eventually met our mum!

[bigjim]

New houses in 1971 [when I bought mine] were a lot different to new houses today. You had no central heating or double glazing included. No kitchen units or white goods. It was pretty much a bare shell. No carpets. No garage. The front garden had some turf laid but the back garden was just the remnants of the dirt and muck created when they dug the footings for the house. Also I had to provide a 15% deposit and that had to come from a bank or building society where you had a savings history. I can't remember the interest rate on purchase but do remember it being 15% soon after.
If a youngster got on the housing ladder today I would imagine the sale price of their property on retirement would probably increase in value over the years at a much greater rate then the 1970's one due to ever increasing demand.

[PH]

Btw no early retirement for us. We're probably going to go back to dying just after a later retirement. Current age 67 but everyone my age is thinking at least 70 retirement age with many expecting to work on later still.

I think this is a huge difference, I know it's all interlinked, but many of the generation retired now are probably going to enjoy a longer and more financially secure retirement than past or future ones. In any evaluation of quality of life over a lifetime, that counts for a lot.