Gaining Clarity: Unravelling Russia, Dealing with Mortgage Woes and Parenting in the Digital Age
Run down and discussion of some of the big things driving my thoughts this month for Paid Subscribers.
Quite often my thoughts manifest themselves as my latest post at the back end of the week.
In those posts I go into a little more detail and ensure that there are actions you can take. The action part is really important to me. These weekly posts will REMAIN FREE!
Without actually taking action we are simply consuming.
However, in this series of posts I share a few of the thoughts currently swirling in my head in more of their raw form, especially for my PAID subscribers.
Mostly I’m trying to work things out in my head through sharing with you. I hope you find them useful. Please jump in with your own ideas in the comments if you’d like.
I write a paid post such as this once a month.
In this post:
My take on the Russia “coup”.
Worries about interest rates.
Why does it feel as though we are in a constant crisis?
What happens when you give mobile phones to teenagers?
Why do parents seem to view 18 certificate videos games differently to films?
My take on the whole Russia “coup”
I know I advocate staying away from the news but I just couldn’t help it over the last couple of days. Russia appears to be entering a whole new phase in its slide into oblivion.
So just to recap. The leader of Wagner, the private army set up by Putin to do his dirty work, has gone rogue and at one point was on his way to Moscow to….do something.
Im not totally sure what he was going to do when he got there against the full force of the Russian special forces and security services. It would have been a bloodbath. I guess that’s why he pulled back.
But, there seems to have been a deal done. This seems to be have been brokered by Alexander Lukashenko, the Belorussian leader. How embarrassing is that for Putin? This has to be having a serious impact on Putin’s standing at home.
Knives will be sharpening.
The thing that worries me is what comes next.
It feels fanciful that we would suddenly end up with a benign leader in the Kremlin that will fall back into line within the world order? Don’t you think?
Or maybe it isn’t. The sanctions, the deaths of many of russia’s young men and the embarrassment that Russia has become maybe is starting to take its toll. People grow weary of war.
And, if you’re an oligarch who for the second year in a row can’t visit their super yacht on the French Riviera that is going to start applying pressure too.
I’m hopeful. You have to be. The alternative is too scary.
And, for Ukraine? Wow, this is fill your boots time. Go grab some land back while Russia looks inward.
Worries about interest rates
Interest rates.
Boring boring boring.
Well, maybe, but pretty important if you want to buy a house, borrow some money to buy a car or start a business.
Interest rates in the UK were raised by 0.5% last week to 5%. As with the US, many of our mortgage holders are on fixed rate deals but they tend to be shorter fixes than those you see in the US. This means we have a swathe of mortgage holders coming off fixed rate deals in the coming couple of years. Effectively this creates a lag on the impact of raising rates. It spreads the pain but creates pain nonetheless.
The classic media narrative has been of crisis as usual and for many families it will create some real belt tightening.
But there are things you can do if you know you’re coming off a fixed deal in the coming few years. And, actually, these were things you probably should have been doing anyway.
The one action I would take now is to fast forward to that fixed term endpoint and work out what you monthly payments would be at rates in the market today. Then ask yourself, can you afford that?
If you feel you might struggle then you have between now and that date to come up with a plan. Do that with your eyes open.
First, identify what monthly payment you could afford. This might be the same as today or (hopefully) it might be slightly more.
Then take the future mortgage rate and work out how much of the loan you would need to pay down to get to that desired monthly payment.
Is that amount realistic? Can you free up savings to pay down some of that mortgage? Can you save a little excess between now and then to close the gap?
Planing ahead can really help. The thing is, for the past ten years, money has been virtually free for those with equity in their homes. That world has come to an end and it’s going to be a painful transition.
Maybe we will see house prices reduce so that first time buyers have a better chance of getting on the housing market.
Why does it feel we are in a constant crisis?
The constant crises seem relentless at the moment but I do wonder if now is particularly different to say ten years ago?
The media seems to be on a constant mission to pump us with adrenaline for the latest thing to keep us awake at night. Maybe good news doesn’t sell.
All the more need to stay away from the news.
What happens when we give mobile phones to teenagers?
My children are approaching that age where some of their friends are getting mobile phones. To be honest, I curse the parents who have already given in.
It makes it so hard for the rest of us and is really irresponsible..to put it mildly.
My children are 8 and 10. I know, it feels crazy that I’m sitting here talking about whether we should give them a mobile phone.
Hint, we aren’t.
But it doesn’t make the pressure any easier.
The arguments parents make is that as they start to walk to school on their own (ours aren’t yet) they want to know they are.
Side thought, it’s a shame we live in a world where this is a problem but that’s for another day.
Phones are designed to be additive. The apps are designed to be addictive. What scares me most though is social media and WhatsApp groups.
The constant need to look good on social media is having such a negative impact on girls in particular. And for boys…well, they open up the nasty world of porn of course.
What we need are phones that are just phones. Maybe a Nokia 2410 but with GPS. I’d buy two of those tomorrow.
Do they exist?
Why do parents seem to view 18 certificate videos games differently to films?
Finally, my 8 year old daughter was invited to a birthday party this week. Pretty standard for an 8 year old.
Except. This gaming party had the below invite. For those not familiar with these games we have:
Call of Duty, certificate 18
Fortnite, certificate 12
Battleground, certificate 16
All involve killing people. Appropriate for a 9 year old birthday party? Definitely not.
The thing is, the parents obviously see this as being no issue for their 8 year old playing these games. In fact, it suggests that the child plays these games on a regular basis.
What does that do to a child? Children simply don’t have the development of an adult to be able to process these graphic games.
Why do parents seem to view video games as being different to films? Or maybe they don’t!
I hope you found this useful and interesting. These types of post are a little experiment that I plan to repeat each month. Please feel free to add comments below.
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My kids are 10, 8, 7 and they aren't getting smart phones for a long time.