Millennials need to stop waiting for someone to wave a magic wand that makes hip urban metros affordable.
Maybe it happens, maybe not, but in the meantime they are losing their core earnings/savings years
Classic example: carping about Prop 13. Its not going to be "repealed" so stop waiting. Democrats have a veto-proof majority in CA yet you'll notice Prop 13 is not even up for discussion
> The study also noted newer financial obstacles for millennials. Broad economic trends depict a rise in health care expenditures, as well as a rise in college tuition that has outpaced general inflation that previous generations avoided in their young adulthood.
They forgot:
- Housing cost: previous generations were often able to pay off a house in 15 years. For millennial a 15 year mortgage is either a pipe dream or will require you to have a worse house in a worse location and still be more expensive than your parents may have paid for a nice house in a nice location. And the down payments were lower percentage of income.
- Lack of retirement options: a lot of people I know (myself included) don't have an option at work for a 401k and forget a pension, unless you have a government job it doesn't exist and if it does you probably won't last long enough without getting laid off to use it.
- Child care costs: my wife and I both work and we spend $19k (as in thousands) a year to send our 2 year old to daycare so we can both work. And we're not sending our kid to a fancy place either.
My wife graduated college in 2008 with $150k in student loan and it took over a year (with an biomedical engineering degree) to find a job. During which time I was the sole source of income and at one point we had no income because I got laid off. And we're two very well educated people with a middle class upbringing and every advantage. I can't even imagine what people with less advantage and non-engineer salaries.
They start by not borrowing $150k for college. You can also look to live in less expensive places and in smaller houses, but yes, housing has increased
The best house of the 70s would be laughably bad today. Poor climate control, sub-standard insulation, smaller rooms, etc. Going back even further (to 'the greatest generation' for example) housing is even more primitive.
Housing, like cars, phones, and almost everything else, gets better as we go along. The best cars of the 80s are terrible compared to the lowest price of today's cars. Phones? Not even worth talking about.
Young adults of today do have some disadvantages, that's true. But the goods they can acquire are better than ever before (but not as good as tomorrow's).
Today's products might be better than yesterday's in some objective way, but do they create better quality of life either absolutely or per dollar? Does the modern barely-affordable house make its residents happier than its "laughably bad" predecessor? Does the modern phone with all of its bells and whistles make people happier than a more basic one, even before we consider things like app addiction and the 24/7 "virtual leash" aspect?
People today are paying more and going into debt for things that aren't functionally any better than what went before, and might even be worse. The reasons why are worth considering. Alternatives are worth considering. "Products are better" doesn't really get us anywhere.
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[ 2.2 ms ] story [ 21.2 ms ] threadMaybe it happens, maybe not, but in the meantime they are losing their core earnings/savings years
Classic example: carping about Prop 13. Its not going to be "repealed" so stop waiting. Democrats have a veto-proof majority in CA yet you'll notice Prop 13 is not even up for discussion
They forgot:
- Housing cost: previous generations were often able to pay off a house in 15 years. For millennial a 15 year mortgage is either a pipe dream or will require you to have a worse house in a worse location and still be more expensive than your parents may have paid for a nice house in a nice location. And the down payments were lower percentage of income.
- Lack of retirement options: a lot of people I know (myself included) don't have an option at work for a 401k and forget a pension, unless you have a government job it doesn't exist and if it does you probably won't last long enough without getting laid off to use it.
- Child care costs: my wife and I both work and we spend $19k (as in thousands) a year to send our 2 year old to daycare so we can both work. And we're not sending our kid to a fancy place either.
My wife graduated college in 2008 with $150k in student loan and it took over a year (with an biomedical engineering degree) to find a job. During which time I was the sole source of income and at one point we had no income because I got laid off. And we're two very well educated people with a middle class upbringing and every advantage. I can't even imagine what people with less advantage and non-engineer salaries.
The best house of the 70s would be laughably bad today. Poor climate control, sub-standard insulation, smaller rooms, etc. Going back even further (to 'the greatest generation' for example) housing is even more primitive.
Housing, like cars, phones, and almost everything else, gets better as we go along. The best cars of the 80s are terrible compared to the lowest price of today's cars. Phones? Not even worth talking about.
Young adults of today do have some disadvantages, that's true. But the goods they can acquire are better than ever before (but not as good as tomorrow's).
People today are paying more and going into debt for things that aren't functionally any better than what went before, and might even be worse. The reasons why are worth considering. Alternatives are worth considering. "Products are better" doesn't really get us anywhere.