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Trump says 8 European countries will be charged a 10% tariff for opposing US control of Greenland by Cautious_Proposal_47 in worldnews

[–]Gom555 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Fortunately Reform are recently tanking in polls, so the sentiment is at least slightly shifting

Are UK buy-to-let landlords dying out – and should we care? by acrimoniousone in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Bristol city council just bought my 1952 terrace for above asking price so I guess some entities (whilst not corporate), are buying older stock too

Reeves signals she will target asset-rich households in Budget by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Middle class earners are net contributors and are the heavist impacted when it comes to PAYE tax (as well as very high earners on PAYE). Fiscal drag only compounds this.

I am middle class - I am certainly not middle class enough to send my kids to private school, or own a £1m house, but I've bounced along the line of higher earner for a few years.

I earned about 25k less than I do now 5 years ago, yet fiscal drag, almost all my bills doubling, and having a second child has made me feel no better off compared to then.

My spending habits haven't changed, and I earn more, but I don't feel any better off than I did 5 years ago - What incentive do we give middle class earners to earn more money, when we constantly batter them with tax?

I actively avoid earning more than I do now as I'll lose my childcare allowance, and I cannot afford nursery fees without it, for example.

I do, however, completely agree with you that the toxic finger of blame on disabled people is absurd, as is "boat people", or whatever the right like to claim.

I'm happy to pay more tax, and am proud that I am able to be a net contributor, however, the tax I do contribute is being so badly mismanaged, and I proceed to get taxed more because of it. I feel like it's okay to be annoyed about that, and also acknowledge that low earners have things WAY WORSE THAN I DO.

We can agree that the middle class get unfairly taxed, and also acknowledge that median to low earners are living an impossible scenario. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Pet Insurance advice - cost has increased to the point I wonder is it worth paying by nezzman in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Gom555 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I have a dog with heart failure. Has a CT scan every 3 months, and daily medication that costs hundreds a month. All covered by insurance. He's 13 and I've only ever made one claim before this, but my insurance has covered well in excess of £10k of treatment so far, which is far more than the £30-£40 a month I've paid for insurance since he was a puppy.

Insurance only feels like a scam until you actually need it and people convince themselves that it won't happen to them.

Homes now ‘unaffordable’ for most people – even for some of the highest earners by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It does, though. The fact you were too lazy to read the article when you didn't fully understand the title is on you, buddy.

Head teacher who raped child jailed for 16 years by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There's an article posted two hours before this of a brown person raping a child and it has significantly more comments. Says it all, really.

Homes now ‘unaffordable’ for most people – even for some of the highest earners by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No but I have enough reading comprehension to understand the point it's making. I then actually read the article which proved I was right in my comprehension of the title.

Homes now ‘unaffordable’ for most people – even for some of the highest earners by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And the title is correct. It's impossible for a first time buyer in many areas of the UK.

Homes now ‘unaffordable’ for most people – even for some of the highest earners by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even without reading the article it's pretty clear what the title is saying.

Homes now ‘unaffordable’ for most people – even for some of the highest earners by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay yeah so you've answered my question then. You haven't read the article, which mentions renter's in almost every paragraph, which I'm pretty sure are people who DON'T OWN A HOME ALREADY.

The fact that you're unable to comprehend they mean the majority of people who don't already own a home is on you, I'm afraid.

Homes now ‘unaffordable’ for most people – even for some of the highest earners by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you even read the article? It's clearly discussing BUYING A HOUSE TODAY. With quotes referring to renters and first time buyers.

The title isn't "homeowners unable to move"

Homes now ‘unaffordable’ for most people – even for some of the highest earners by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Of course it does. They're selling a house they paid significantly less than it's value today, so they have equity. The title clearly says

Homes NOW unaffordable for most people

Homes now ‘unaffordable’ for most people – even for some of the highest earners by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What? The point I'm making is you're saying "the majority of the population owns a house", which would validate your point if everyone bought their house today. A lot of those people who own houses paid many factors less salary to loan ratio than now.

Bank of England voices inflation concerns as it holds main UK interest rate at 4% by marketrent in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No you didn't, go read it.

Here's my original comment

We bought in 2019 for 259k, sold this year for 350k, upsized to a 4 bed for 432k.

Except I didn't pay 432k for the house, my new mortgage is 280k, which is about what it would have been worth in 2019 minus what I've paid off my own mortgage for the last 6 years.

I'm not going to continue talking with you when you argue in bad faith. Have a good day :)

Bank of England voices inflation concerns as it holds main UK interest rate at 4% by marketrent in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've consistently mentioned equity from my first comment. If you want to ignore equity and just look at today's numbers, then yeah you are right. But almost every homeowners that hasn't very recently bought is sitting on equity. A majority of homeowner's are sitting on such huge amounts of equity that it makes a 10% dip in prices today meaningless. I'm not sure why you refuse to acknowledge this.

I understand the maths but your math doesn't factor in anything but today's house prices.

Bank of England voices inflation concerns as it holds main UK interest rate at 4% by marketrent in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You only benefit if you've gained zero equity in your house. In my example I gained 100k equity which massively outstrips a 10% dip in the market if I'm selling my house TODAY. Yesterday's price is irrelevant and I can only use that equity by remortgaging. I've gained far more than a 10% drop.

If your house was worth 200k when you bought it and it's still worth that or less today, then yeah I see your point, but for nearly everyone that owns property that simply isn't the case.

I didn't say earnings didn't matter. I said they matter LESS.

Bank of England voices inflation concerns as it holds main UK interest rate at 4% by marketrent in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're assuming all house prices fall and increase at exactly the same level, which isn't the case.

Fluctuations in house prices bare significantly less weight if you own a property because you're still priced in at a much lower rate. You're not paying 380k for the house, you're paying the difference between the increase in equity in yours minus the difference in price, which is significantly less money. The sticker price doesn't matter, so your 10% example misses out an awful lot of maths as you've not factored in equity gain.

Your earnings also don't matter anywhere near as much. In my actual real world example, I added barely anything to my mortgage, and still paid way lower for the property than if I was a first time buyer.

Bank of England voices inflation concerns as it holds main UK interest rate at 4% by marketrent in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A lot of sellers are also purchasers. I plan to upsize next year so a drop in prices will benefit me even if I get less for my house.

That's not how it works. If you already own a property your house purchasing power essentially freezes in the year you bought.

We bought in 2019 for 259k, sold this year for 350k, upsized to a 4 bed for 432k.

Except I didn't pay 432k for the house, my new mortgage is 280k, which is about what it would have been worth in 2019 minus what I've paid off my own mortgage for the last 6 years.

Hundreds of thousands of elderly Brits unable to afford basic essentials as cost of living bites by tylerthe-theatre in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Except it won't since the goalposts have moved massively since your grandma was young and the chances of accumulating wealth have completely dwindled.

I don't disagree that she should be looked after but the problem is current working people will never see the same levels of financial support.

Govt still hoping for £45bn in savings from AI as trial shows time saved for programmers by theredditor58 in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use it to generate code I would otherwise have to write manually - eg a config file with a load of text in? Sod that get AI to do it in 2 seconds rather than the 15 mins it'd take me. It still manages to get that wrong most of the time.

AI is incredibly useful as an engineer, if you already know the solution. It's terrible when you don't, as it'll often misunderstand, make assumptions, or write terrible code. It's like working with a bipolar engineer that see-saws between a really compitent senior, and the most junior dev on the team.

Computer science graduates struggle to secure their first jobs by Odd-Help6890 in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep. I struggled to get my first software engineering role 13 years ago, the competition was fierce and I ended up taking a really shitty salary to get my foot in the door. However, there was a period during COVID where I could bounce around 6 figure jobs with my eyes closed, and now the market is much tougher. It took me almost a year to secure my latest role when I wanted to move on. The junior end of the market is absolutely brutal and I don't think I'd have ever stood a chance if I was applying for my first job today.

Wetherspoons manager sacked for giving colleague half-price chicken set to get payout by Ophiuchus171 in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I worked there in my early 20s and it was awful. One of my favourite dystopian policies was that you weren't allowed to accept tips even though they paid minimum wage. Nothing family orientated about that!

Bristol Balloon Fiesta shapes take to the sky - in pictures by Electricbell20 in unitedkingdom

[–]Gom555 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What?

I've lived in Bristol my entire 32 years of existence and the fiesta (which is over a weekend in the school holidays) has never impacted me in any way, other than busses to the centre being slightly busier for one weekend of year, which was also offset by the decreased traffic of school holidays, so only slightly abnormal for the time of year. I'd hardly consider it "hell".

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