My personal highlight of how out of touch the older generation are:
“We're comfortable – we can pay the bills and we can help out my son if necessary -but we're not extremely well off and we both live on our pension."
Those pensions are not huge, she says, particularly as her husband David was "almost forced into early retirement" aged 51 years old from his civil engineering role…
The couple have lived frugally, worked "very, very hard" and saved up to afford their current home, she says, "unlike some younger people nowadays who are wanting too much, too soon".”
by Howzitgoanin
28 comments
Article text:
“Money from boomers is propping up the next generation, rather than being hoarded, according to pensioner Gilda Smith.
She and her husband David own their Ayrshire home outright and have lived there for the last four decades – a dream that is out of reach for nearly half of young people today.
The latest government statistics show median household wealth is five times higher for the baby boomer generation, now aged in their 60s and 70s, than younger millennials.
The economic imbalance has caused some tension between the generations that MPs sought to address earlier this week with a report warning against ageism, including the stereotype of “wealth-hoarding boomers”.
However, Gilda says her children and grandchildren “want for nothing” and enjoy gadgets and holidays abroad, in contrast with her own austere upbringing, while spending time and money on a stereotypical cruise would be her “worst nightmare”.
The gran-of-four explained that one of the first essays she wrote was debating the statement ‘Poverty, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder’ and says “that’s exactly right”.
“It’s all about perspective,” she said. “Some people may perceive my husband and I as being pretty well off because we have got a car each.
“We’re comfortable – we can pay the bills and we can help out my son if necessary -but we’re not extremely well off and we both live on our pension.”
Those pensions are not huge, she says, particularly as her husband David was “almost forced into early retirement” aged 51 years old from his civil engineering role.
Gilda says David was the victim of ageism and was targeted along with a group of colleagues also aged over 50 because the company wanted younger and cheaper workers “at the expense of experience”.
The couple have lived frugally, worked “very, very hard” and saved up to afford their current home, she says, “unlike some younger people nowadays who are wanting too much, too soon”.
Gilda and David moved into a small flat when they married in 1974 and their daughter Linda was born a few years later, followed by their son Graeme.
The pair went on their first holiday seven years later, followed by a second holiday in 1996, when they bought a second-hand caravan to travel around Scotland.
This is in stark contrast to Gilda’s own childhood, where any school holidays were spent working on the family dairy farm, and “we brought ourselves up, really”.
Now she can’t imagine fulfilling the boomer stereotype of going on multiple holiday cruises per year, with more than half of cruises populated by over-60s.
“Going on a cruise would be my worst nightmare, no thank you,” she said.
“I went to the Isle of Man on a catamaran and I was seasick twice.”
She also started getting “funny pains on my arm” on the catamaran, that turned out to be the first signs of a heart attack, so she is “not a fan of boats”.
Gilda is also not a fan of how hard her children are having to work to stay financially afloat, and with her son Graeme being a self-employed garage owner, “from time to time we have to help him out”.
She said: “My son is such a kind-hearted soul and people take advantage.
“I hate to think how much money I’ve given him – it will be in the thousands – to keep the bills paid.”
Her daughter Linda works as a maths teacher “so financially she’s very astute” but Gilda says she still worries about her safety and her health.
“I worry about her safety – the other day she was trying to split up two girls going at each other with a chair – and she’s working much harder than the teachers that I had, because there are so few teachers now,” she said.
“If someone calls in sick, there is no cover and the other teachers just have to take more children into their classes.”
Gilda is a firm believer that relationships are about more than money, and having lost her mother as a teenager and with a difficult relationship with her father, she lavishes time and attention on her grandchildren.
“My own grandchildren want for nothing, with their own phones and gadgets and loads of Lego,” she said. “They don’t know what it is not to have.”
Out of touch how?
What Gilda doesn’t realise is that her grandkids want for nothing cause mummy n daddy are ticked upto their fucking eyeballs and if either of them lost their job the house of cards would come tumbling down
“Too much, too soon”
I’m f**king *40*, Gilda!
Wtf is this article? Its not news, it’s just one person’s life story and opinion.
Being able to afford two cars and all the bills and thinking you’re not well off is delusional. Sadly, standards have slipped such since Gilda’s day that just not worrying about the bills is a luxury.
I think my parents are of the same mindset when it comes to luxury – that my family wants for nothing.
In reality, we have no car, we don’t go on holiday, we buy all our clothes and shoes and toys secondhand.
I worry every-time the nursery fees go up, I don’t know how I’m going to pay the new council tax bill and I’m currently weighing up how much longer I can afford to keep my dog alive.
All my money goes into my mortgage and my energy bills.
But because I have Netflix AND Disney I am pissing money away…
Being a stay at home parent was an affordable option 40 years ago. I note the person didn’t detail her job, so she is detailing the outcome of a lifestyle that is unattainable and unaffordable for this generation. Living off of one income as a family was an affordable option back then.
A few months ago I was reliably informed that these people were all freezing to death and eating cold beans straight from the tin.
“Working on the family dairy farm” ffs
Ok boomer
Dear gilda;
Luxury goods are cheap, essentials are not.
A phone is now less than a months rent.
A TV is less than a months rent
ThatcherReagan Monetarism – beginning of end. Of course people will disagree but every problem we face today can be linked (easily) back to then.
A hyphen, please, between “wealth” and “hoarding” – looks like a millennial headline-writer here. Tut…
Was this written by the plum who posted the article yesterday about the EHRC?!
51 is nearer first time buyer territory than retirement age these days. To be fair, many of that generation were frugal and sensible, but different times, different challenges so it’s better that they don’t judge today by yesterday’s standards.
Are you suggesting the life Gilda has had is impossible nowadays? That 2 people today, on a full-time wage can’t do the exact same things she and her family has? I’m not reading anything out of the ordinary, yet you think Gilda is your enemy?
“I’m not a hoarder because I share my hoard with my family” is not the statement she thinks it is
Ah yes, wanting to be warm and fed simultaneously is “too much”. I see that now. Thank you for your wisdom you stupid vacuous woman….
Hahahaha wow.
My wife’s grandfather retired from an engineering role at Rolls Royce in his early fifties and then spent 47 years in retirement.
I also work in engineering and have a decent salary. There is no way I could retire on the same timescale.
There is a significant disconnect between generations. Different generations experience different struggles. Without experiencing the same struggles, it’s difficult to voice an informed opinion.
I’ll probably get shot down here, but….
….yes, her attitude is condescending, but ‘old person makes stupid comment’ isn’t really worthy of a headline. And her comment does fall into the trope of “if you all stopped eating avocado toast etc” – but I wouldn’t accuse them of being wealth-hoarding idiots.
For sure they have a comfortable lifestyle. They, like millions in the 60s, 70s, 80s bought houses where the mortgages were *limited* to 3.5 times your salary. The pension schemes were final salary Defined Benefit, often with minimal contributions. Aside from economic shocks (1974, 1981, 1987, 1992), there was money to spare *for those in employment above the median wage*. Plenty of people were not in this bracket.
They didn’t create that system, nor the one that followed it though they have benefitted from it – as did my own patents. Some hard work no doubt, but also luck.
Their wealth I suspect is tied in 2 assets, neither of which is particularly liquid: their house, and his pension. I wouldn’t classify this as hoarding, that is the preserve of the multimillionaires and billionaires, and those with more than one property.
An insensitive clown for sure, her attitude sucks – but I don’t think they are actually the problem.
The impatience and greed of some young people these days. Most young people are doing well, but the worst of them are the loudest.
I’m mid 40s and need to keep a straight face when listening to their “struggles”
Fuck off Gilda
It’s not agism to point out the wealth gap Gilda. It’s a demonstrable fact.
>The couple have lived frugally, worked “very, very hard” and saved up to afford their current home, she says, “unlike some younger people nowadays who are wanting too much, too soon”.
Lol I wonder why people are hitting her with the ok boomers when she talks like this. Perhaps it’s time Gilda looked up how many times the annual salary a house today costs versus when she became a homeowner.
The buried lede is that having lived in their house for 40 years, it’s probably worth a fortune compared to what they paid, with a mortgage that was certainly achievable on one median income at the time. Just living there has provided probably 300x+ returns minimum.
The irony now is that boomers who accuse young people of living beyond their means don’t realise that things like phones, Netflix, etc haven’t really increased in price significantly over the years, but properties and rent has gone up far faster than anyone can save up for.
I know this is designed to be rage bait for the clicks.
But fucking hell – it winds me up!
Way to go on national media to say you hate your grand kids.
> “Going on a cruise would be my worst nightmare, no thank you,” she said.
“I went to the Isle of Man on a catamaran and I was seasick twice.”
Reminds me of the French minister who, after being caught serving lobsters and champagne out of the public coffers to his guests, declared “I don’t like [lobster]; I don’t eat any; I don’t digest seafood well and neither does my wife. And people make believe that I am the one requesting lobsters! I don’t like oysters; I don’t drink champagne, see? I detest caviar! Champagne gives me headaches!”
The lady doth protest too much.
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