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I may be a little behind the times, because I thought that student loans were something You did because You wanted to borrow the money. I didn't know that somehow you were forced into taking out the loans.
Also. I didn't know we were considered The Elderly Rich. We are both on Social Security and it amounts to almost $2500, per month. Is this the usual amount that the elderly have to live on?
And you think that we had any money when we were 18-34?
Try inflation rates up to 20% and mortgage rates up to 17%. Try pay raises that didn't cover inflation so were really pay reductions.
But instead of whining - which is all Millenials seem to do - we worked our way out of it.
I take it you are a boomer ....that time was the late 70's.....stagflation......however, jobs were not outsourced at that time, factory jobs(and unions) were humming full bore, etc...
I can't blame it, morally, on Millenials per their collective plight....anymore than I would morally condemn the struggling or poor of any age.....
Fact is, housing was affordable up to the late 70's(those interest rates were the end of cheap home prices forever, though it took a long time to build up, and the collapse of the Savings and Loans, which were the main source of mortgages till their fall), you again, could, in most places in the USA, find a living wage job, and higher education was reasonable(Tuition for myself from 80-84 was 3 grand a year at a state school in Illinois).....
Now, regardless of your inner fortitute, there simply are not the chances to make it now there once were. This is not a matter of sour grapes, or base morals, simply a reality that we have outsourced our living wage jobs all over the globe...Phillipines, China, Mexico, etc.....and they are never coming back again for the younger generations to accumulate wealth over a lifetime...
Hard work and good morals will not bring back these living-wage jobs..they are long gone.....
I may be a little behind the times, because I thought that student loans were something You did because You wanted to borrow the money. I didn't know that somehow you were forced into taking out the loans.
Also. I didn't know we were considered The Elderly Rich. We are both on Social Security and it amounts to almost $2500, per month. Is this the usual amount that the elderly have to live on?
That, combined with savings, is prob far more, in itself, than most struggling millenials make. I presume you have savings as well. Even if that puts you near the bottom of your cohort, you still have money coming in, and, as I mentioned, the age group of 65-74 has an average of over 200K net worth.....no, that is not a fortune(obviously that is an average, and half have more, half have less)......but that is something coming in, and is guaranteed......and that is the bottom of your cohort, presuming you have little to no savings....
Keep in mind that, though both of you may be struggling as seniors, and many are, at least you HAD a chance to save some money in your lifetime. The issue is that it is a different world for young people out there now.
It was different for you, and you had your chance to save. They largely do not.
Exactly. It doesn't take a genius to see that it can take decades to accumulate wealth.
Good grief, enough with the class envy.
I think you definitely make a good point....all class envy.....lol...
Seriously though, this was a cover story in Business Week a few weeks ago, which is hardly a leftish, Marxian journal...pretty conservative business mag......
The worry is that the US Economy, not just real estate, but all sectors, tanks when no money is circulating, per no money being made to save......you cannot jumpstart an economy on debt......that only goes so far, and leads to busts(The 2007-10 Housing market for starters).....
If we have an entire generation(Millennials) largely broke, that is the weakest link chain that precludes the US from future growth.....cheap labor and part-time jobs at Target/Wal-Mart will not get us anywhere we need to go collectively......except to debt....
What happens is families are not created that foster future economic growth. As the retirees die off, and the medical sector gets all their wealth they don't spend, there will be no younger generation able to bring up the rear per future growth....
I could be wrong...totally wrong....perhaps there IS just as much opportunity, if not more, for the current generation of young adults....perhaps the lack of living-wage jobs is not an issue.
Perhaps they all can create successful businesses on the web, apps, etc.....
I have not seen anyone yet mention this is a problem, so I stand corrected if I am wrong.
Same with the Business Week article.
I still stand, however, in saying that this is not only a problem, but THE problem today per the US economy, and the main reason that wages have stagnated as we come 5 years out of the 2009 recession. And I think the collective insolvency of the Millennials will essentially DE-volve our economy.
This should be headline news everywhere...Not only is it reality, but one we live everyday.
This is our world now......
Again, the Millennials are the first generation in the history of the US to devolve financially.
If that is not headline news, it is prob because it is so alarming we can't face it head-on, as it covers all that has happened last 30 years(wealth coagulating to the top % and seniors, outsourcing, etc.)......
Simply something most people, for good reason, would rather not ponder....
Last edited by scottkuzminski; 01-04-2015 at 09:01 PM..
What rich? Most of the seniors, age 65 - 70, I know took a couple of big hits before their retirement. One of them being after 9/11. There wasn't enough time to regain the losses. A lot of them were counting on selling their houses, to cover any long term care, that bombed too. I'm just thankful that I'm behind them. Occasionally I'll see an 75 - 80ish one that's doing well, they must have cashed out in time. What's up with all the age warfare anyway.
I think you definitely make a good point....all class envy.....lol...
Seriously though, this was a cover story in Business Week a few weeks ago, which is hardly a leftish, Marxian journal...pretty conservative business mag......
The worry is that the US Economy, not just real estate, but all sectors, tanks when no money is circulating, per no money being made to save......you cannot jumpstart an economy on debt......that only goes so far, and leads to busts(The 2007-10 Housing market for starters).....
If we have an entire generation(Millennials) largely broke, that is the weakest link chain that precludes the US from future growth.....cheap labor and part-time jobs at Target/Wal-Mart will not get us anywhere we need to go collectively......except to debt....
What happens is families are not created that foster future economic growth. As the retirees die off, and the medical sector gets all their wealth they don't spend, there will be no younger generation able to bring up the rear per future growth....
I could be wrong...totally wrong....perhaps there IS just as much opportunity, if not more, for the current generation of young adults....perhaps the lack of living-wage jobs is not an issue.
Perhaps they all can create successful businesses on the web, apps, etc.....
I have not seen anyone yet mention this is a problem, so I stand corrected if I am wrong.
Same with the Business Week article.
I still stand, however, in saying that this is not only a problem, but THE problem today per the US economy, and the main reason that wages have stagnated as we come 5 years out of the 2009 recession. And I think the collective insolvency of the Millennials will essentially DE-volve our economy.
This should be headline news everywhere...Not only is it reality, but one we live everyday.
This is our world now......
Again, the Millennials are the first generation in the history of the US to devolve financially.
If that is not headline news, it is prob because it is so alarming we can't face it head-on, as it covers all that has happened last 30 years(wealth coagulating to the top % and seniors, outsourcing, etc.)......
Simply something most people, for good reason, would rather not ponder....
Such nonsense. Every 10 years they have hand wringing like this, mostly by the economically ignorant.
Factories have been closing since the 1960's. Fact is that new jobs can and will be created to replace the old jobs.
The amount of "work" is not finite. See the lump of labor fallacy:
As long as human problems exist, there will be economic opportunity, period. Of course, that doesn't make things easy. You will need the right skills to solve these problems. Until we enter a truly post scarcity economy, we will need workers.
But many of the older skills will truly no longer be needed. However, I can't see certain jobs like the trades ever being replaced or automated.
For your own sake I hope you outgrow your determination to fail while you are in your productive years.
We all have our stories about how tough we had it.
My wife and I decided to be successful in our twenties (early '80's) and did what was needed to carry out our plan.
We moved from a region with a weak economy to the Washington DC area. We climbed on the merry-go-round and rode it for 30-years!
Anyone can still make a huge paycheck in sales like I did. Or in banking and finance like my wife.
It's not glamorous or technical but it got the job done. Live on one income and bank the other.
I'll retire this year, and my wife in four years. It's a great feeling to know you have enough money to kick back without an alarm clock or a boss to greet your day.
When did the 18-34 cohort ever have a high net worth?
Why would anyone think that cohort would have a high net worth?
Why shouldn't the oldest cohort, who spent their lives working and accumulating wealth, have the highest?
I'm 28, have a solid career, and a net worth near zero. I'm fine with it. I'm 28. I financed land and a vehicle and will finance a house on that land soon. I can easily afford the payments on all of it. By the time I'm 50, everything should be paid off and anything I make will go to taxes savings and fun.
What's wrong with that?
I think those complaining are warped. Warped in the sense that they want what their parents have...but at their age. It's not realistic and it leads to debt and frustration when they try to make it happen.
18 to 34 are the burilding years. Go to college and pay your dues and hope it pays off. The problem is they think they should have everything that their wealthy scum bag entertainment and athletic idols have at a young age. Materialism and not being happy with anything but brand new. Brats that all they are. And they whine on, and this is worthy of a thread?
What rich? Most of the seniors, age 65 - 70, I know took a couple of big hits before their retirement. One of them being after 9/11. There wasn't enough time to regain the losses. A lot of them were counting on selling their houses, to cover any long term care, that bombed too. I'm just thankful that I'm behind them. Occasionally I'll see an 75 - 80ish one that's doing well, they must have cashed out in time. What's up with all the age warfare anyway.
Again, its the lack of opportunities to save for the younger generations......when they retire they will rely entirely on whatever social security is available at that point.....at least the older folks had a chance to save, and many did...
To put it bluntly, when the current seniors were saving, jobs were not outsourced enmasse like now, and you could raise a family on a living wage that was not too hard to come by. That is NOT the case now, and will have huge repercussions on the american economy for years to come, as China takes our lunch.
I cannot even imagine the lifestyle millennials will have when THEY retire......if they ever can....
They will enter retirement with ZERO saved.......at least todays retirees have some savings, some have much, so much that they, as I mentioned, are the wealthiest age co-hort of all......
That will hardly be the case with the millennials.....whatsoever..
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