Back in the day, saving for your first home used to be a bit of a doddle. Find a nice savings account paying 5 or 6 per cent, stick away as much as you can every month, and, within a few years, head for the estate agents.
Talk of a ten-year slog to get on the housing ladder and using the stock market to build up your deposit was unheard of. But that was then.
Kirstie Allsopp provoked controversy earlier this week by saying she felt ‘enraged’ when young people claimed they couldn’t afford their first home because ‘there are loads of people who can do but don’t.’ But is it merely a case of cutting back on life’s luxuries?
In such a tough financial climate, it would be tempting to see investing as a magic wand that can conjure up the keys for that longed-for first home.
Investing newbies often underestimate how they’ll really feel when their portfolio swings downwards
After all, a standard savings account today pays less than half a per cent a year and, with inflation inching upwards, saving is a recipe for losing money, not accumulating it.
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