insideKENT Magazine Issue 33 - December 2014 | Page 175
Married, Mortgage-free,
with £10k in the Bank
STUDY REVEALS THE NATION’S
ASPIRATIONS BEFORE REACHING 40
The average person wants to be married,
mortgage-free, with at least £10,000 in
the bank by the time they reach 40,
according to a new study by credit card
company Capital One.
Top 40 aspirations by 40
1. Have £10,000 saved in the bank
14. Visit Las Vegas
28. Gain a Bachelor’s degree
2. Own your own home
15. Pay for yourself to travel first class
29. Build your own house
3. Visit Paris / Eiffel Tower
16. Have children
30. Have dinner in a Michelin-starred restaurant
4. Get married
17. Earn a salary of over £100,000 a year
31. Buy yourself or your partner a diamond
5. Visit Australia
18. Be fluent in a foreign language
32. Own a designer bag
6. Pay off mortgage
19. Pay for yourself to travel business class
33. Fall in Love
7. See the Northern Lights
20. Own a brand new car
34. Visit Africa
8. Set up your own business/work for yourself
21. Earn enough money to retire
35. See the pyramids
9. Stay in a five star hotel
22. Live abroad
36. Attend a UK music festival
(i.e. Glastonbury, V Festival etc)
10. Gain a Master’s degree
23. Visit New York/ see the Statue of Liberty
11. Get in shape
24. Own a second property
12. Take your parents on holiday
25. Travel by first class
13. Earn a salary of over £50,000 a year
26. Visit a Disney resort
37. Go on safari
38. Write a book
39. Learn to drive
40. Own a holiday home
27. Own stocks/shares in a company
Financial milestones feature prominently in the top 40 milestones: over a
third (36 per cent) of people believe they should be earning over £50,000
a year, three in 10 (30 per cent) feel owning stocks and shares in a company
is vital, while a further third (33 per cent) want to have paid for themselves
to travel first class.
What’s more, despite over half (52 per cent) of under-40s believing they
should have £10,000 in the bank by their 40th birthday, less than three in
10 (28 per cent) of over-40s said they had achieved this. In contrast,
although only two in five (39 per cent) feel they should be married by 40
almost double (70 per cent) the amount of over-40s said they had wed by
this age.
Some may find comfort in the fact that one in eight aspirations in the top
40 are completely free including falling in love (27 per cent), getting in shape
(36 per cent) and having children (33 per cent).
Vicky Mitchell, chief operating officer at Capital One said: “Setting goals
and targets for ourselves helps us maintain the drive and ambition to get
what we want from life. We all visualise success differently, whether it’s
being able to take your parents on holiday, or falling in love, it’s important
to remember that very few people achieve every target they set themselves.
Learning to value what you have and how far you’ve come in that time is
vital rather than focussing on any financial or circumstantial obstacles that
may have been in your way.”
Paying off the mortgage was a main goal for over half (53 per cent) of under
20s, however, when the same question was asked to those aged 30 to 39,
only three in ten (30 per cent) thought this would be achievable. In reality,
being mortgage-free at 40 is only true for one in eight (12 per cent) of the
UK population.
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