Are you better or worse off than this time 5 years ago?

[medusa]

5 years closer to death. Can that be better off?

 

But on the other hand you have survived for another 5 years

[Guest sibon]

I estimate that Coalition policies have cost my household £30 000 over the lifetime of this parliament.

 

I won't be voting Tory, or Tory-Lite. That's a certainty.

[Anna B]

Worse off. Not that I'm complaining too much, I'm still solvent (just) but got a nasty shock when I found out just how little a pension I'll get thanks to new reforms. There are a lot who are worse off than me.

[El Cid]

I work in the public sector, so I must be worse off. If not, Cameron didnt try hard enough.

 

A statement from the 'Office of National Statistics' in 2014 said “After adjusting for the different organisation sizes between the public and private sector, in April 2013 it is estimated that on average the pay of the public sector was between 1.3% and 2.4% lower than the private sector.”

 

But Cameron and Osborn do not agree with the ONS.

[Mister M]

I'm worse off - wages and hours have been reduced at work & I'm dong the work of 2 people. Rent, electricity bills, cost of living have increased.

[-Boomer-]

Pretty much a useless thread since nobody will ever change their opinion

[El Cid]

Pretty much a useless thread since nobody will ever change their opinion

 

Its not easy to take tax cuts and rises into account. I have a friend who is hardened Tory, yet he lives in social housing, as I do.

I big improvement in recent years for me, has been getting a council house, thank you Labour.

[Mister M]

Pretty much a useless thread since nobody will ever change their opinion

 

Because people wouldn't change their opinion doesn't make the thread useless. Sometimes it's good to find out others experiences, especially when the mass media are pushing a particular agenda.

[Cyclone]

Capital assetts increased (due to inheritance)

House value reduced

Wage increase around 2-3% over this time (well below inflation)

Pension worth less than 2009

Another Pension company gone bust and in the Pension Protection Fund which has a reduction

Retirement working to 68 before I can get my pension now

 

Oh I long for those days under Labour when we had decent pay rises and I could look forward to retirement safe in the knowledge I'd got a couple of decent pensions.

 

Are those the days when Gordon Brown executed the largest theft against pension funds in history?

 

About the same, government policies have had little impact on my costs or my income.

Edited May 2, 2015 by Cyclone

[L00b]

Better off financially, though nothing down to Coalition policies.

 

Extra pay is down to passing some additional qualifications (wage level indexed on them, same for everybody at work) and taking on still more responsibilities.

 

House value is slightly higher (not that that matters to me, no plans to sell).

 

Pension pot is well up (but then I did pick a fairly risky strategy).

 

Shares portfolio is further up still.

 

And we've severely streamlined and rationalised fixed and variable outgoings, constantly looking for and taking advantage of better deals (utilities, mobiles, etc.) and ensuring we're not paying twice or thrice for same (the extent to which most everybody must be double- or triple-insured for this/that/the other -and pay in proportion- must be tremendous).

 

But the last 4-5 years of extra work, stress and putting b*lls ever more forward on the chopping block have certainly aged me.

Edited May 2, 2015 by L00b