Quote Originally Posted by WBA123 View Post
I've always worked hard and watched every penny I spent. I know people in their 30s who have been the same as me. But I've still taken loans/credit cards/mortgages out.

Debt can be useful, if you borrow at a cheap interest rate and invest it. I've done that, I'm massively in debt right now in the form of mortgages, but equally I have property with values that can cover that debt and the mortgages are on long term low interest rates.

You have to be financially intelligent, almost everyone will take a mortgage out to buy a house and its widely applauded by the older generation. When really its the devil in the detail that is important. What's your LTV? How much is that house worth? What interest rate do you have? How many years will it take to pay off? Do you feel comfortable with the monthly repayments? etc.

Same goes for long term 0% credit cards. These can be a great tool. If you want to go on a £5000 holiday and you have the cash available, you might as well take out a long term 0% Credit card and pay that £5k off in 18 months time. In the meantime, you could put that cash into a safe stock market investment fund, or even a savings account and earn a small % back.

I don't necessarily buy into the 'younger generation' are financially illiterate, I've spoken to quite a few young people in their 20s who are heavily interested in investments and really impress me with their acumen. I've spoken to some people still working in their 60s and 70s because they didn't plan their retirement. I think it really depends on the person, rather than their age or generation.
Capitalism in a nutshell.

Favourite ”ism” of Labour or Tories?