[Closed] How financially secure are you?

I've got enough for chips tonight.....no battered sausage though 😥

If you owe the bank £1000, it's your problem. If you owe the bank £1,000,000 it's theirs.

Like you I have a £100k mortgage which I'm fine about. Some saleable assets, no savings and no pension, but also no other debt. I don't worry about it but I'm in a reasonably secure job. If I lost my job for any reason I'd just have to find another PDQ to support my family.

I feel old saying this but my Grandad used to tell me "It's not what you've got coming in lad, it's what you've got going out!". He was right too, some of the folk I know who earn quite a lot, can hardly scrape up any cash because it's all going back out again.
I'm lucky as I've got no mortgage, so even though I earn a below average wage, the only bills I have are utility bills and council tax. I'm sure what ever happens I would always be able to do something to get the money to pay them. If not, I'd sell my house at whatever price was needed to sell and move to some obscure country where the living is cheap!

We're not cash rich, but have enough insurance cover that the family would be fine if I died, get by month-to-month (though always with overdraft used).

We have enough equity in the house that we could, in the worth case, flog it and have enough cash to buy another house outright, albeit not in an area we'd particularly choose otherwise. (Through luck of buying our first house in 2000.)

We have a car but don't [i]need[/i] it, so it could sit on the drive or be sold if needed. No credit card debt and just one small bank loan and a £90k mortgage on a £160k house.

You are in the wealthiest 2.7% of people in the world. There are 6,421,627,857 (more than 6.4 billion) people less wealthy than you. You are 59 times wealthier than a billion people.

http://www.leastof.org/worldwealthcalculator
I earn about the average wage for here

Dont have a lot of spare cash, but we're about as financially secure as it's possible to be.

I've got a very secure job, a final salary pension and the only debt I have is my recently taken out mortgage, which is affordable.

The car is paid for, and when I want to buy something major then it comes out of existing savings or I save up for it.

All in all, I consider myself secure and very fortunate.

I'm good, got a secure job, work my butt off to save money, yet don't deny myself the things I want/fancy, I don't have any debt although I have a mortgage which is small, why get a bigger house when we only need 2 bed!? so I'm great and have no worries with money, but that's because I was a d*** at uni, got myself into debt then spent 2 years afterwards working to get rid of it, I'm now debt free and certainly appreciate my money and look after things as I will not be in that situation again. So as a result of that don't have much sympathy for CERTAIN people in debt. ie students who pi**ed it away, like I did!!!! 😉

Junkyard that website is very sobering, thanks. I guess most of us don't appreciate how fortunate we are!

I am in not too dissimilar a situation to those of the OP and Rich Penny.

Mortgage of £80K or so, which I guess these days is considered small, but it is still a burden and my flat has very high outgoings to the extent of being approximately 50% of the mortgage payments in service charges

No other debt. I have a good income but high outgoings with very few options to reduce them so my disposable income is perhaps not as high as those on lower salaries.

So as long as I have a good job then no problems. But if I lost my current job, and it is a real possibility at the moment, then I would still need to earn what many people would regard as a very good salary to cover my basic outgoings.

Oh the Joys of London living 😆

That world "wealth" calculator is pretty useless. For a start it only considers your salary, which has nothing what so ever to do with wealth, and secondly it does not consider the cost of living where you are, so can't consider buying power - in Lichtenstein with my salary I would be considered a pauper, in Haiti I'd be wealthy.

Hmmm 220k mortgage, insecure job, no pension, no life insurance. Yeah I'm doing great!

(luckily I have a well paid, insured wife 😉 )

pretty useless.

i am just in the top 3.2 % now
This basis it on income and purchasing power and as Ron notes it is still sobering

it will be hard to find a more skewed graph than this
[img] [/img]

that website does put it all in perspective.
but, 130k mortgage on a 180k house, about 10k worth of other debt, which we are working hard to pay off. me and my wife have very good insurance should anything happen, and both have good pensions. Not perfect, but not bad. we want to get the debt gone and start saving within 3 years. we live very much hand to mouth at the moment month by month and I really don't like doing it. stuff like foreign holidays and major home improvements seems a long way off, but hey, stuff like that isn't really important is it?

Small outstanding mortgage due to a successful career in my twenties and a canny relocation, savings of roughly half that amount if we checked the back of every sofa, no other debts, so relatively OK from that point.

I'm in a shaky civil service position in an area that needs to downsize soon, though my redundancy will cover the mortgage. MrsMCTD can walk into an equivalently paid job if required as she is an experienced professional in her field, currently working half hours as a trainer, so relatively OK for that as well.

I have a couple of private pensions from old employers which will shrink if the stock market crashes. We both now also have relatively secure public sector pensions, but not the gold plated ones, so OK from that point of view.

If necessary I will do whatever job I have to to bring in money if required, done it in the past.

Still not sure why I never have enough money for bikes.....

Always surprises me how people these days don't worry about such huge mortgages, know its all relative, but hear some scary figures talked about

Two years left on mine and owe under ten grand, thirty four years of final salary pension and hoping to retire at fifty five to have some time before i'm too knackered to enjoy it

We're ****ing loaded.

you would be though ..... you dont have kids so shuttup 😉

If you can afford to retire at 55 you are very lucky indeed.

no debt, never had a credit card
no mortgage now, finished 2 month ago
no pension.......gonna work till i die 8)

we should be ok i reckon...i hope.

If you can afford to retire at 55 you are very lucky indeed

Not all luck, left school at sixteen and worked for the same firm the past thirty six years. Only ever had one family car and older ones at that, modest holidays and live in a small 3 bed end of terrace cottage which we renovated ourselves. Wife stopped work to look after our daughter and didn't get caught up in the cash in the equity and live like pools winners syndrome

The Torygraph story seems a little alarmist.

The Oracle of Omaha seems to think that (US) banks are worth a [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14669071 ]punt[/url].

The BofE seems to think the UK economy doesn't need intensive care just [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14667274 ]yet[/url].

As for Apple, who I follow as an investor rather than a fan, well the analysts seem to think they will truck on fine without [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14661845 ]Jobs[/url]. Apple shares are down only 0.58% today which is a pretty good show for any corporation that's just lost it's CEO let alone one who is venerated like Jobs.

Lower than average wage.
Very small mortgage <£20k to pay.
No debts.
Few K in the bank.

Should be laughing really, but ever since i was made redundant from my previous job after 23yrs i feel uncomfortable about spending large amounts, which is why i'm sat on a cash sum rather than getting the new kitchen and bathroom i need!

Not all luck

Fairy nuff - when I said "lucky" I probably should have said "fortunate". Being able to retire at an early age these days is rare, and you can't buy time.

No mortgage, comfortable salary, spend quite a bit less than I earn and have done for a long time. No debt at all, and handily all my car-related costs are more than covered by my car/mileage allowances at work.

Only financial-related worries are that I'm unlikely to get a mortgage any time soon on a place I'd actually want to live in, but will keep saving my deposit money anyway. And that shares going down mean my (fairly young) pension is worth less - plenty of time to make that up though.

I've got exactly 39p.

Poor. A teacher. Underpaid. Probably will never own a house.

The UK is a failed state.

Poor. A teacher. Underpaid. Probably will never own a house.

Check out the above link and say you're poor. my wifes a teacher, we 'own' our house.

However the point is if you live here you are well off however poor you are here.

Well I know what you mean but that's not necessarily accurate. If you are a subsistence farmer somewhere in Sub Saharan Africa you might be doing ok for your and your family; however there'll be people begging on the streets of London who make more per day but are a hell of a lot worse off.

It's not really useful to compare monetary income between two people when the cost of living and the non-monetary economy are so different.

Size of mortgage is immaterial - % against home value is. I owe £112k on a house worth £300k so could easily move to another address in the same town and have no mortgage which I feel is key.

Recent circumstances mean I will be able to pay off the majority of the mortgage and I am currently thinking hard about what I will do - being mortgage free at my age is a very tempting thought.

Paid off mortgage about 5 years ago, about £280K in cash/shares/ISAs. Looking to retire mid 50's which is ten years off.

Hmmm.
Paid an ok wage, recently moved house & ensured that we can pay the mortgage on one of our salaries.
I currently overpay the mortgage, save a small amount of money per month & put money aside for car costs like servicing, insurance, MOT etc. seeing as I do a lot of miles & like to keep on top of the car costs.

I also have a small cash buffer in the bank, but that is slowly disappearing with getting the house sorted out.

I do tend to worry about money & rarely splash out on treats.....things like a new ipod (mine doesn't hold all my music) , new camera equipment etc...
It amazes me how relaxed people can be even when they have massive debts & monthly outgoings.

no debt.. rented accommodation.. no savings investments or insurances.. self employed

After bills and living costs we are left with approximately a paper-rounds worth of disposable income each week..

😀

recently started a new job after being made redundant, so sweet fa in savings, but i do have a small pension from the last job, in a rented house, and have a car making some questionable noises.

could be better, could be worse.

One thing redundancy has done is make me value money far more. really is a case of do i REALLY need something?

Inheriting a 6 figure some in my 20's means I am financially more secure than most people under 30. I figure if i fall on hard times I only have myself to blame :-/

I suppose I've been careful since starting work, I'm 40 now. My job doesn't feel so safe in these times but I don't have a mortgage and I have enough cash to keep my family going for a couple of years if it came to that - also a few years of ISAs I could liquidate and my house is worth about 3 times the national average so I could trade down if I needed to.

You are in the wealthiest 100.0% of people in the world. There are 0 (more than 0.0 billion) people less wealthy than you. You are 0 times wealthier than a billion people. (A billion people earn less than £373 a year).

Though I'm actually quite well off in the grand scheme of things, hence why it's a rubbish idea looking at things just from that perspective.

Poor. A teacher. Underpaid

46p. Payday tomorrow. whoo.

140K mortgage. No debt. No credit card. 2 Personal pensions which hopefully will let me retire at 60. CSA payments. Company has been teetering on the edge of going under for over two years... (sometimes wish it would so I could move on).

Could be a lot worse.. but could be better.. I never have anything left after spending on the necessities.

Good luck all...

I spent all my working career in public service. Teaching, Whitehall, Local government. Well paid final salary pension etc. Bought two houses for women I didn't like so had f all 10 years ago.

Made redundant a year ago with no savings and £200k mortgage. Lived on redundancy and odd jobs/consultancy/joke seekers. Nightmare as am 55. Felt forced to take pension early. That meant I lost 20% of its value but days after I did it I got a contact to provide services to a consortium of schools (cause they can't get it of councils anymore). That combined with the pension means I'm on far more than I was before and have a nice lump sum to cushion the unexpected.

I feel much more secure than I have done for years.

Sod all to do with money. My Mrs hasn't once complained about not being able to buy handbags or other shite. For the 8 years we've been together the mutual support has been the defining factor in feeling secure.

We own our house, we own both our cars, I have pensions running back twenty odd years. Some savings but not much. I have a credit card with a about a grand on it which is coming down quickly, no other debts.

Yeah, OK I guess. We don't do lavish holidays or fancy eating, our house is a bit crap and both cars are 5-6 years old. It's ok.

Saying that, looking back, I'd have done the money side of things differently now. I'd have given IT a miss. It's really interesting but you very quickly realise you're supporting other people while they get rich and the vast majority of them can't tie their own shoelaces.

It's actually quite funny.

I'm 58 and we're still a bit broke.

But to put it into perspective, approximately 5 billion people would swap their lifestyle for mine in a flash.

And I wake up some days and my hair is all over the place - but about 3 billion people would love to have that problem too.

And there's only one Mrs BigJohn and she's mine, and she's smashing. So nobody can have her either (I think)

I'm surprised at how many people on this thread say 'I've got a mortgage of £x00,000, and no debt'......

i have some rich life experiences that no bank can take away, apart from that i'm ****ed

Was doing OK till end of May this year but haven't had any paid work since - freelance consultant in public / charity sector for last 10 years - due to the impact of the Condem's spending cuts which are now showing through. Cash is slowly running out and all my savings are in shares, ISA's or PEP's which have taken a real hit.

Have 4 years left on my (smallish) mortgage, paid up car (11 years old), no debts, a smallish pension pot, but have put on hold a holiday this year, getting my kitchen sorted and am economising on a few other areas such as mid-week drinking and new clothes.

All in all I'm in a better position than most people, but the current lack of work is frustrating, especially when you spend several days on a tender proposal which comes to nothing. If it continues for much longer it could get a bit scary. I hate feeling unproductive, although I do quite a lot of voluntary work.

Took a punt 10 yrs ago and put my knackers on the block starting a company, worked hard, lost hair, built it then sold it. Did it all over again, just sold that. Those that know what the 'start' was like i.e. my friends don't comment on how well we are doing because they were the ones that fed me when i was skint ! Strangely for all we are in a great position the missus and I live like students sometimes - it's bizarre. I work with guys who are on 6 figure and 7 figure (i jest not) incomes yet are 'skint' because they flash it up. Somehow we don't and while we have a nice house, nice cars, eat well and money saved we live the same as we used to. What I am poor in is time and that is something I am woefully aware of. I do confess to buying nice bikes though, and riding them.

I think it's funny that I left school at 14 with no qualifications, yet I have got more disposable income than almost anyone I know.
I bought my shed in the forest 25 years ago for £5500.
I bought my 21 year old Land Rover 12 years ago for £4000.
I work full time, plus a bit of overtime, in a reasonably well paid job.
No CSA payments.
No mortgage.
No big garage bills.
No status symbols.
I wear Tesco £4 jeans and 2 for £5 T shirts.
Total annual expenditure on "going out" (pubs, restaurants, gigs) = £0
If I wanted a new bike or a new Land Rover, I'd go out and buy one.

I think it's funny that I left school at 14 with no qualifications, yet I have got more [s]disposable income[/s] hippy lifestyle than almost anyone I know.

25 - have 2 years into a pension - more than alot of folk my age that i know esp those that went into trades from school.

have a decent deposit for a house sitting waiting on my mrs to get some job security. - currently only has 2 days a week on a 1 year contract as a teacher - next year could all change or the job could become perminant ....more to keep her sane than anything else 😀

all i really could wish for was more time - plan is not to flash it up and make a hefty hefty dent if not pay off the mortgage and bail on this game before it kills me or i have kids - which ever comes first ....

"its day 8 in the big brother house" - we came on the rig at the same time they went in ......

I'm 42 got no mortgage, house is paid for, and no debt. And a chunk of inheritance in the bank. I have never had a credit card.

I have my own business, i don't make huge money but i don't have to.

I have been paying my pension since i was 17.

I don't live a flash lifestyle.

If i want something i buy it (within reason) 😉

Im a bit too young to know at the moment.

I finished uni last year, have been working 1 year on alright pay and have been making pension contributions since I started. I guess its a good start and I havent had the chance to start racking up the debts yet!

I'll tell you again in 20 years.

as a freelancer my income can be exceptionally lumpy. Summer is always quiet and I get a little nervous about when the next big job is coming. At least once a year every year I calculate how many months expenditure we can cover with cash/ISA savings. As long as it doesnt fall below at least 12 months then we're OK. If it got to 6 months Id have to seriously consider looking for a salaried job again - and Id hate that.

"you cant buy time"

You can, and I do. You cant buy it at the end of your life, but you can buy it back from your working life by earning less and working less when you have the ability to earn more from working more but choose not to.

You can, and I do. You cant buy it at the end of your life, but you can buy it back from your working life by earning less and working less when you have the ability to earn more from working more but choose not to.

That is more using your time wisely rather than buying time isn't it? 🙂

There is definitely more to life than having your nose to the grindstone for the whole of it!

Some of you lot clearly need a couple of children to spend all of that money you've snaffled away 😀

"Financial security" is an oxymoron unless you have a significant amount of varied and non corrolated investments.

It could all change tomorrow.

its not an oxymoron since "financial" and "security" are not contradictory.

🙄

"I'm surprised at how many people on this thread say 'I've got a mortgage of £x00,000, and no debt'...... "

Debt management isn't it.

Mortgages rates are stupidly cheap at the the moment silly NOT to take advantage if you can.

I'm on placement ATM and saving like mad! Can't see me ever owning a house in the near future though

You can, and I do. You cant buy it at the end of your life, but you can buy it back from your working life by earning less and working less when you have the ability to earn more from working more but choose not to

"Financial security" is an oxymoron unless you have a significant amount of varied and non corrolated investments.

were on a very thin line virtually hand to mouth each week with very little left over after bills, food and fuel, we have debt (not including mortgage) which will take about another 3 years to pay off.

i will if all things work out have a very big inheritance, but i block this out and will never rely on it.

i do worry about the future especially with a 14 month old, no pension.

but i know alot more people far worse off than me.

1 flat, 1 house , no mortgages, no credit card debt,lots of kids, cars, guitars and bikes, relatively large income,more than happy ta.

i will if all things work out have a very big inheritance

😕

Due to a few unfortunate occurrences in the last 5 years I have been reduced to sweet FA in terms of investments or assets but I put myself in position to 'stumble over' a wide range of opportunities and I have some transferable skills. So despite lack of 'security' I lead a very rich life. My time is my own. When I want to work there is work to be done and I can do it from a cafe in Geneva or a forest in Ireland. If I had lots of cash in the bank it would be spent on interesting experiences now, not saved for the future. I see retirement as something to be done often for short periods, rather than when I'm too old to enjoy free time. I choose to have free time now. Not for everyone I know, but thankfully we all have a choice in these things. The random events you think you have no control over are rarely either.

Spent pretty much all of my adult life so far with only what I earned each month a mixture of lean times and fat times - no real savings at any time

In my 50s now and a couple of things have come my way, like an endowment that we originally had to pay a mortgage off but was swapped to a repayment and a couple on inheritances
We now have our own house, an apartment in Lanzarote and a quarter share in another apartment in that London [which is let out]- we don't have any mortgages or loans now
We live on my [very average] salary alone and I like to think we live quite simply, no fancy cars, only go out once a week etc.

So to answer the OP
Secure now?, yes - for the preceding 35 years?, probably not

Two part time jobs, one of which is minimum wage. Bank loan for car, two credit cards, saving deposit for carbon race bike which I really don't need. Pension **** that!
Capatilisms broken and when the markets go down the pan I'll be opening the champange!

money money money.. as mr Jobs has found out there is unfortunately one thing you cant buy, i'd rather be skint healthy and smiling than ill .. good luck to him.

"Financial security" is an oxymoron unless you have a significant amount of varied and non corrolated investments.

Only if you're either extremely paranoid, or really do have all your eggs in one basket

The point I was making is that the vast majority of people rely on their income from employment as their source of cash and ability to service debts and pay bills.

Once that goes, so does their "financial security".

For most, financial security means job security.

Well I'm allrite Jack.

Mid 20's, about 6-8 months sallary in savings, paying rent on 2 houses and own two cars, credit card used purely for fraud protection/credit rateing building and clears every month.