One in five university graduates becomes a millionaire

[Stretch]

It's hardly surprising, and pretty much boils down to one thing... property.

I remember hearing one Scottish independence supporter on question time a year or so ago trying antagonize the audience by claiming that 1 in 30 Londoners is a dollar millionaire.

In other words, 3% of Londoners have a house worth more than £600k. Whoopie doo.

Money isn't worth what it used to be.

 

[D.P.]

Chances are many may have. People who go to university tend to come from a slightly wealthier background, meaning you're more likely to inherit money.

Secondly, over a graduate career, you're likely to buy a house, invest in a pension etc. meaning that if you sold/cashed-in everything, you'd have £1 million. These figures also don't include mortgages, so presumably owning 10% of a £400 000 house and having a mortgage on the rest counts as owning a £400 000 house in this situation. It's entirely possible to be a millionaire living in a modest house and not on a particularly high income if you have some put away and some assets elsewhere

No in this situation, if you own 10% of a 400K house you have 40K in assets. What they ignore is that you have 360K of debt, presumably because that debt can be removed by selling the house at 400K and leaving you the 40k back (minus expenses, assuming no increase or decrease in house value).

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Not exactly hard to become a millionaire these days though is it?

Decent house, couple of nice cars and a holiday home and you're nearly there even before taking into account earnings.

 

[Destination]

"The figures, which do not account for household debts such as mortgages"

Precisely, if I've been given a mortgage for £1M, and the property is worth £1M, I do not have assets worth £1M, the bank does, until I pay it off.

Rubbish article is rubbish.

 

[Destination]

Not exactly hard to become a millionaire these days though is it?

Decent house, couple of nice cars and a holiday home and you're nearly there even before taking into account earnings.

I think you will find owning outright those 4 objects is indeed very difficult for most people. Including the 1in10 the article talks about. It also doesn't discuss if they are taking single person in families, or splitting the household assets between each member, or counting a household as above the quota if one member is.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

The other 80% are now working in Starbucks.

Yup. I graduated in 2002 B(Eng.) Electronic Engineering and I've been stuck in £12.5k-£13.5k jobs ever since because none of the grad agencies gave me that break. No one will be interested now, as I'll soon be on the wrong side of 40. When my dad graduated, he was 1 in 20. The problem nowadays is that us graduates are 1 in 2, common as muck.

 

[aardvark]

lol - doesn't account for mortgages therefore nonsense article.

 

[SpeedFreak]

Yup. I graduated in 2002 B(Eng.) Electronic Engineering and I've been stuck in £12.5k-£13.5k jobs ever since because none of the grad agencies gave me that break. No one will be interested now, as I'll soon be on the wrong side of 40. When my dad graduated, he was 1 in 20. The problem nowadays is that us graduates are 1 in 2, common as muck.

So it was the agencies' fault for not handing you a 50k job on a plate?

 

[D.P.]

Precisely, if I've been given a mortgage for £1M, and the property is worth £1M, I do not have assets worth £1M, the bank does, until I pay it off.

Rubbish article is rubbish.

But you don't have £1M in assets according to the article!

Not taking into account debts is not the same as assuming you have no mortgage.

 

[D.P.]

lol - doesn't account for mortgages therefore nonsense article.

Again, it doesn't assume you have the assets from the mortgage - it just doesn't subtract the debt.

If you own 20% of a 500K house and the bank the other 400K then the article will calculate you having 100K of assets.

Why do people find this concept so hard

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

So it was the agencies' fault for not handing you a 50k job on a plate?

No, but I did apply for 120+ jobs (all logged in Excel) before I finally got an offer, yes, £13.5k job. I wasn't after £50k but something nearer to the national average (£26k) would have been fair imo.

 

[anything I don't mind]

I find this story difficult to believe.

It was colleague who saw the online bank balance but i assume it was a current account but now you say that probably a savings account. He does invest in gold mining and other things though.

I don't think my colleague was lying though.

everyone in zimbabwe is a millionaire

 

[delta0]

Once you start building assets and a pension it can quite easily go over £1m.

 

[Haircut]

Again, it doesn't assume you have the assets from the mortgage - it just doesn't subtract the debt.

It actually does subtract the debt, but it would amount to the same thing anyway. Looks like it's just dodgy reporting from the Telegraph.

The gross value of household property and the value of mortgages (liabilities) are presented at the beginning of this chapter and then combined to report on net property wealth (gross assets minus liabilities)

I'd take the figures with a big pinch of salt anyway if you actually look at the ONS statistics.

How is Property Wealth Calculated?

Property wealth estimates are derived from respondents’ own valuations of their property. If a household’s main residence is either owned outright, with a mortgage or part owned/part rented, the person responding to the household questionnaire is asked to estimate the value of their property.

So the property bit is all based on what people think their house is worth

Property Wealth

And here's the total one confirming that they use net property wealth for calculating total wealth (see table 2.1)
Total Wealth

 

[Bear]

Yup. I graduated in 2002 B(Eng.) Electronic Engineering and I've been stuck in £12.5k-£13.5k jobs ever since because none of the grad agencies gave me that break. No one will be interested now, as I'll soon be on the wrong side of 40. When my dad graduated, he was 1 in 20. The problem nowadays is that us graduates are 1 in 2, common as muck.

I graduated in 2000 when I was 30 in electronic engineering and haven't had any problems finding work. Considering the UK has a known shortage of engineers I find it hard to believe its as tough has you say, there is something else at play IMO. The place I contract at has so many vacancies that they can't fill that I've been there for 4 years with no sign of end.

 

[Von Smallhausen]

The other 80% are now working in Starbucks.

Do not swear on the forums. Next time will be a ban.

 

[delta0]

I graduated in 2000 when I was 30 in electronic engineering and haven't had any problems finding work. Considering the UK has a known shortage of engineers I find it hard to believe its as tough has you say, there is something else at play IMO. The place I contract at has so many vacancies that they can't fill that I've been there for 4 years with no sign of end.

Same for me with engineering. I have managed to work always near London too. Not bad for an aero engineer.

 

[Skeeter]

Buy £1m house with £1m mortgate and be classes as a millionaire?

 

[alx]

Precisely, if I've been given a mortgage for £1M, and the property is worth £1M, I do not have assets worth £1M, the bank does, until I pay it off.

Rubbish article is rubbish.

That's not what the article is saying. They take into account the deposit on the property but ignore the debt, D.P. explained it above.

 

[BeatSpec]

Buy £1m house with £1m mortgate and be classes as a millionaire?

For the 15th time, no. Learn to read.