Originally Posted by
Rocker Ute
Okay, I'll elaborate before you do your 'nice analysis' post. You've glommed on to one thing I said among many issues based off my experience. Along with not working they also 'live very well' that means they are living in a relatively expensive rental situation, they drive very nice cars and they go and do fun things, like go to Hawaii during spring break, accumulating all of that as debt. So it really isn't so much a millennial thing as it is a spoiled child thing. And by spoiled child I mean a person who expects both during college and immediately after graduation to have all the things their parents worked years to get.
What you've been whining about is a very "first-world problem". However you cite four economic issues in your comparisons: 1. Cost of education, 2. Cost of housing, 3. Cost of transportation and 4. Income.
Now the reason I call you a moron is because only a moron would take those four economic factors and tie the issue to the one least related to, and the one that has the least effect on the other three, cost of education. So those are the cards you are dealt, smart people deal with them wisely.
I was a business grad, my first job out of school paid $24,000 year - and no this wasn't 1960, it was 2000. It was a job that got me on a track to advance where I wanted to go, and I ultimately went to grad school, where my income after grad school was $60k. That gave me opportunities to do new things and increase my earning power. My wife was a school teacher, she made $23k with little hope of improving that. We lived modestly, we graduated without debt, we drove clunkers, we didn't go out to eat. Oh, and my part time jobs (which we actually close to full-time - with a full-time school schedule) paid $12/hour even back then. It wasn't easy.
Either way... what Two Utes said is right. Get a good education, work hard and you will succeed. It might take you longer to climb out of debt, but your earning potential is exponentially higher. I don't see a lot of doctors and dentists living on food stamps. And so you have more debt... Drive a clunker and pay it off faster. Buy a town home instead of a 3500 sq/ft home in a nice neighborhood, until you get out of debt and can actually afford it.
Also, don't clap your hands when you realize what has happened with the housing market. 9 years ago the economy collapsed and most people lost 20-50% of the value of their homes. It wasn't until last year where homes caught back up to pre-recession prices, which means almost 9 years of wealth lost. If homes kept up with just inflation during that time, on a $300k home that is nearly $60k lost. In other words, the home worth $300,000 today (and 9 years ago) should be worth $360k. That seems like a benefit for the people who have entered the housing market lately (we won't even get into mortgages in the 3s). Wages have been stagnant during that same time too, yet expenses keep going up. Your education cost in the past compared to today and income/housing expenses scenario is a reality most Americans are living today. Lost NPV of money not ever earned and never invested.
Yet people clap their hands for Obama and point at the stock market and don't realize that the people who caused real harm to people on main street are richer than they have ever been. Mainstream America is poorer than it was 9 years ago. Other factors that go into the numbers your cited: It costs more to build a house than it did in 1960. There is less land, labor costs are higher, building materials and code is higher. In the SL Valley basically there is no unpurchased land right now for development. Average square feet is also higher. Those things all drive up housing costs.
THOSE are the factors you should be concerned about. Cost of living going up, wages stagnated.
But those are also hard things to control, so you have to make an educated decision. You have to decide what is more important to you, earning potential, debt accrued and how to mitigate that and the lifestyle you are willing to sacrifice for a bit for a better lifestyle in the future. Even if you continue to make all the wrong decisions, your overall quality of life is still markedly better than pretty much any period of time in the history of mankind, other than 1955-1975. And I'd argue with computers, smart phones, affordable flight, Arby's 5 for 5 deals, life is even better than then.
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