what a load of bollocks,live for today, tomorrow may never come,saving money for tomorrow is one black hole you might never see.this gov.or the next will always find a way of stripping the workers int tax,stamp duty, etc i am having fun at 50 earning more working for myself and enjoying it.life is what you make it not how old you are, enjoy it while you are still healthy.

I'm 40 in Dec, no kids, no mortgage, no debts, not much education. I have 2motorbikes, jetski, unnecessarily big car, big house all the toys I could ever need. My partner is similar and we are quite happy. Why? Hard work & By not being stupid with my money and blaming the system, or burying my head in the sand and just buying it anyway. We live in a consequence free society with blind stupidity in believing someone else somewhere is to blame for our woes. Wake-up, sorry it's your own dumb fault. No matter what your age get a grip; enjoy, but plan too; if you ain't got the cash DON'T buy it, wait 'til you have!?
40 is the new 20!

I agree with steve k ie:If you aint got the cash DON,T buy it wait til you have? love this saying as i tell this to all my six children, plus they all work my the way, which as been hard for them with freinds who dont work,my youngish works 6 days a week earning just 90.00pound a week as been at her firm for nearly 3 years but is being laid off and is in a state as she will be with out money if not at work, hard work and by not being stupid with money,not blaming the system,or burying your head in the sand.
I am 52 six children own my own house and this as been done by very hard work.
What will happen when i retire well i will be stuffed as will only have a state pension and my hushband pension, will not get any help as will just fall below the help line.
Were as if i rent a porperty, i would get help with the rent, which would then entitle us to other benefits so was it best to own your own house etc no not when you retire send it now go on holiday have funny with your hard earn cash and enjoy live while you can as you dont know what tomorrow brings, but dont ever ever get in debit, be warned no debit but have fun.

Since i turned forty it just got better, i earn good money and carry no debt, i don't know where they get these stats from but they are complete bollocks. If your no good with money it doesn't matter how young you are you'll burn it, credit cards are for people who can't afford their lifestyle but think they can, if you need one then your in trouble, they will strip you clean. Strangely i don't have much of an education either, you either have education or common sense but never both. people with education expect more and drop themselves in it because of the expectation. I've got to have a Range rover because i have diploma, stupidity in it's finest form. I'm now 43, mortgage free and dept free. I get my jeans from Asda and i've always got money in my pocket for a beer, i couldn't be any happier. Forgot to mention, i also work in a factory. The only trouble i have is that i now have to wear glasses to count my change!!

Well, that does not bode well with my situation. Graduating as a mature student, with a sizeable student loan, taking on a mortgage during the housing boom and still well below the average wage, earning £21,000 (well, average for my region up North).
Atleast I don't have dependents and I'm not going to be bullied into paying into a pension or worrying every day about what may happen in 20+ years retirement,espec now burdened with 1st time buyer mortgage. If lower paid (childless) workers weren't taxed so much, maybe we would have more cash to put away for a rainy day.

hey Andy R,
the article wasn't supposed to give the impression that forty-somethings are no good with money -- just that wage growth is unlikely to continue much beyond then.

i.e., you're unlikely to keep seeing pay rises all the way to 65.

Of course this is an average across the population; so it won't apply to everyone - for example, people who retrain in mid career, or graduate as a mature student like Jas here. Or of course our 'favourite' fat-cat directors.

forgot to say though, Andy, I agree with you about credit cards being for people who can't afford their lifestyle but think they can!
That was my mistake in my early twenties, and I've missed out on some good years since then as I had to repay it with interest.

In reply to Mark Hospital. I had my rant after a few beers but i stand by what i said. There is no link between potential earnings and good monetary management. Low earners that know how to be frugal will always get by and be happy, by and large. Yet i know more than one idiot that earns a fortune and is always in dept, no matter what he earns, he'll burn it. On this basis continued wage rise is worthless because it will never be put to one side for the future. On the subject of continued wage rises until your 65, i will. Although i work in a factory i have a trade, most years, no all, we get a rise. Also, in 27 years of employment i've only had three jobs, one of those only lasted 18 months but no matter how shit it got i stick it out. People won't do that any more, they bounce from job to job and invariably ask for, or accept the same money they were just on. Bouncing from one to another means they never become proficient at what they do because there not there long enough, so they stay on the bottom rung. Even at McDonalds you can go from counter server to manager IF you give it time, but people won't. The attitude is "this is crap, i'm off" and they start again, and again, and again. And then their old and it's all over, oh dear. There is no link between earning potential and education either, but i'll save that for another day!!

Of course there is a link between earning potential and education. Are you telling me that people who graduate as lawyers are just as likely to earn as much as a factory worker? I think what you mean is that education doesn't mean that you will necessarily be good with money or have much common sense. And sure there are some well educated bums out there but generally you will find that people with degrees earn on average more than those without.

Jenny, I wholly disagree with your opening statement but do agree with the rest, on average. The crowd i drink with are all university educated, all except for me. A civil engineer, a forensic scientist, two nurses and a teacher. All solid people, the sort you would risk your life for and i've known them all for 20+ years. I, the factory worker earn more than all of them, we'll come back to this later.
Where i live the wealthy educate their children, as we all would if we had sufficient funds. Their children go on to be the good and the great, but was it their education that did that? No, it was daddy that had a word with somebody and a position was created for them. This is more prolific than you think. Do you think Peaches Geldof would be quite as famous if it wasn't for her dad? Or do you think Mr Bush, the president of the most powerful nation on the planet got that position because of his brilliance? Or maybe he had a little help from his dad. It's position and influence that moves people on, not education. Education is supportive but not decisive, i will educate my daughter but in the full knowledge that it may not help her, other than broaden her mind.
Back to my friends, their parents gave their all to pay for their education in the belief it would help them succeed. sadly, none of them where in a position of influence so none of their children became high earners. Sad but true.

I've done well and all i've got is a quick wit and a big mouth.

My boss runs a company with a 10 million + turnover and can't even spell his own name, but who cares? Daddy owns the company.
We have Pakistani graduates here, medical, legal, whatever, they drive taxis. Life can be so cruel.
You could ask Jas above the value of his education, he may have passed with honours but without the contacts...........never mind.

I think the thing we are confusing here is averages - Andy R sounds like he has a great salary but I dont think this is the norm for factory work. I worked in a factory for a while after graduating and certainly did not earn much at all. Sure, you can stay there for years and skill up and become a manager but the only people who I saw driving the flash cars and holidaying in the carribean were the few factory owners at the top.

My parents are both working class with no contacts for opportunities of nepotism, however I do believe that my degree and education helped me to get a well paid job. Conversely, I think that if I had not had the education I did, that I would not be in such a well paid job.

I am sure you would find on average that graduate salaries are higher than those without & hence there is a link between education and earnings potential. Its just Andy's experience is different from the norm.

My experience possibly is different from the norm, i know no different. Yes, i do have a great salary but i also work a lot of hours. The core of my argument is the expectation from a good education and it simply doesn't work like that. Jas possibly thought that if he became a mature student and got that degree that somebody would throw a great job at him, but they didn't.
Nepotism is a dirty word but it is rampant in my industry and i don't expect it to any different in any other. I feel genuinely sorry for people like Jas and like my mate the civil engineer, this guy is gifted yet spent the first 15 years of his working life in a glasshouse. The closest he came to civil engineering was working in a hire shop, which he still does today, he's now 49. But this guy is also quite shy, he certainly doesn't have that go get attitude, which it is just as an important component as the education in securing that great job.
I am actually quite jealous of educated people because A: i don't have one, and B: i'm not capable. But i'm good with my hands and i build things. It's looked after us very well.
Jenny, you hold a good argument and i suspect that it is this ability AND your education that has put you in good stead, i sincerely hope it continues to work for you. As for averages, i hate them. They never give a clear picture and they can be very misleading, yet people use them a benchmark? They can't be trusted.
At the end of the day people must do what they feel is best for their own hopes and dreams, but just don't expect everything because it's not going to happen, i've been trying for years!!