Interest rates are rising and I have too much debt. What should I do? Hope the problem goes away? Sell assets? Graft to earn more money? Or hope inflation will wipe out my debts?

Previous generations thrived on hard work and entrepreneurialism to get ahead — as well as inheritance and who you know, not what you know. Thatcher’s generation (mine) learnt to live in a meritocracy that feasted on debt. We worked hard, seemingly to fund the retired older generation’s undercooked pensions. However, for 25 years we’ve borrowed eye-watering sums to pay for our increasingly immoderate lifestyles.

And why wouldn’t you? In 2001 I borrowed a massive wedge to buy a house. Within a decade my home’s value had quadrupled. I sold up, replacing it with a decent primary residence and a second home at the seaside, while substantially reducing my debt to a more manageable level. And because this was my primary residence, no tax was payable.