James ConeyJun 10 2020

We are redistributing debt

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One of the great perceived injustices of personal finance is the regular cry that baby boomers are so much better off than 20-somethings.

Well of course they blooming are.

This is not a sign of some kind of intergenerational injustice, it is just that they have been saving for 50 more years. They are bound to have had more pay rises, more chances to save, more time for compound growth, more days to realise the error of their ways.

My mother forever bemoans the number of holidays young people take

Equally foolish is this idea that somehow every property bought by a landlord deprives a first-time buyer of a home. 

And one of the mistakes we (by which I also mean journalists) often make is to compare generations too quickly.

My mother forever bemoans the number of holidays young people take, as a sign of generation X’s fecklessness.

But she fails to add into the equation that when she was young, easy, low cost international travel just was not possible. The irony is, of course, that for now it is no longer possible.

Intergenerational comparisons are largely fruitless. But I was rather intrigued by the bulky piece of research that Columbia Threadneedle issued into differences in age with finances.

For a while now I have been worrying about the under 30s, who leave education into a highly consumerist world, encouraged to spend on credit at the drop of a hat.

Student debt, and the sheer scale of it, desensitise people to borrowing.

The number most striking for me in Columbia Threadneedle’s report was just how many 18 to 24-year-olds admitted that they wished they had looked after their money differently before the Covid-19 crisis. It has proved an early eye-opener.

The research found that more than half of this generation cited living for the moment as a financial priority.

You may say that ’twas ever thus, but rather starkly a large proportion of those surveyed expected an inheritance, when in reality only one in three ever received one.

And this, finally, is my point. That while debt has become normal for a younger generation, more than any before, the idea of being asset rich has become normal for the older generation.

Inheritance planning is going to be become an increasingly vital part of ensuring that we have a sensible spreading of wealth down the generations. 

The issue is how you can go about untapping some of that money, particularly when it is tied up in property, so that older people can see their money passed down.

The answer you always come to is equity release.

I am not saying it does not have its place, but when you view it in context of these societal changes, then all it looks like is debt transference, with an older generation willing to take on the burden for a younger generation.

That is not a redistribution of wealth, it is a redistribution of debt.

Looking to Japan

Anyone who has been to Japan for the first time, and Tokyo in particular, returns home raving about the way it is the future.

Somehow it manages to have that mix of old and new, futuristic bright lights, innovative (and slightly crazy) technology, as well as a proud attachment to its past.

Does it now also hold the future for British companies? Japan may be generally viewed as the slow lane for investment, and decades of low interest rates made it pretty unappealing in terms of returns.

But last month Japanese Smaller Companies were the hottest funds to be in, with the main index third best.

The pound versus the yen is responsible for some of this. But suddenly the well-capitalised balance sheets of Japanese companies, which are generally free of debt, seem attractive too.

A world on lockdown has made the age of share buy-backs and high valuations in western markets seem hugely unappealing.

You can bet companies that took advantage of furlough will be under pressure to haul in bonuses and shareholder payouts until the debt to society is repaid.

Suddenly Japanese companies look like they may have got it right.

Rethinking pensions

Time for a rethink on the money purchase annual allowance – at least temporarily.

Pension recycling is a dirty business, but there are plenty of over 55s out there who faced hard times due to Covid-19 who tapped in to their pension before they wanted.

Many may well get back on their feet and want to replace these lost contributions. The rules need to less restrictive and for the Treasury to adopt a more common sense approach.

James Coney is money editor of The Times and The Sunday Times