1 Talking points

Is getting on the housing ladder something that is important to you? Is it something that you think, I want to plan for how I do that? Or is it something you either think is too far off, or that you've given up on ever being able to afford one?

I would definitely like to be able to afford and own my own home. I don't really want to go into renting, because I know it's kind of almost like a... in some ways, it's almost like a trap. I know people who are like in their 40s who are still renting. And I, that's definitely not what I want happen for me.

However, I feel like it will be really hard to get onto the housing ladder. And it's almost inevitable to rent, because you'll have to do that when you first come out of university, because you wouldn't have enough money for a mortgage. And that could almost lead you into a trap of renting like your whole life.

I think that's a concern of mine, that you're probably likely going to have to rent. But by renting, you're not going to have much money to save, to then put the large deposit you need to have a house. Which is probably the biggest thing for people trying to get a house, is that initial deposit. And now, because that's so large, that is really key issue to actually getting on the housing ladder.

Yeah, like in the short term, sort of, maybe in my 20s, renting doesn't bother me so much. But if I was going to get married and have a family, I'd want the security of owning my own home. And I do sort of worry that that just won't be possible.

It's really interesting that you've kind of thought, at least in some sense, anything about that far ahead, and the idea of, OK, this is fine for a period, but what is it I'm going to do in the long term? Do you think that applies to other aspects of how you budget and finance? Have you, for example, thought about a pension? And how you're going to pay for your retirement?

Well, my parents have already set up a pension for me. So obviously, it's not one that you get through work. But it's a personal pension. And I've had that since I was very young. So although there's not a lot of money in it, I've got something at least. And then hopefully, when I'm older, when I start working, I'll be able to create a bigger pension.

You know, I think we definitely need to be taught more about pensions, because my dad puts a lot of emphasis and tells me how important it is to invest in a pension from early on. Because his job isn't particularly well-paying, but he has a very good pension from the job he's done over his life.

And like, we hear a lot of things about like workplace pensions and things like that. But I don't know the intricate details. And I think it would be really useful for us to know for the future.