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Not everyone can do that, though, or at least not without moving. That's why I said if you can live somewhere without a car before kids, then you can live there without a car after kids. (I have a child and no car) I'm not in my 20s, but we definitely factor in transportation when we choose where to live, and place a priority on the ability to get around on foot and by public transportation. Many people do not live where that is feasible, however, although that is increasingly what many people -- and perhaps especially young people -- want in a neighborhood.
I hate living in the city - I want a house with a yard bigger than a postage stamp, and I don't want to live with people a wall over. We live in a townhouse now and are starting to make plans for buying a bigger house. We live about 30mi outside of DC, and there's no way i'm dumping half a million dollars or more just to live closer in. I'll deal with the traffic in the winter and ride my motorcycle the rest of the year, and cut my housing cost in half or more, and get more house for the money.
Don't most parents still pay for their kids' college educations? From what I've been hearing lately many of those with a lot of debt are often Gen-Xers who went back later. They're also the biggest defaulters.
I think it is still a mixed bag based on my experience. At least based on my and my close friends' experiences (coming from average middle class families) it definitely isn't accurate to say "most parents pay." My parents didn't pay for my college (I'm 27 years old), but I also made a decision to go to a respected, but in-state, and public college to minimize my loans but maximize my return. I worked jobs in college to pay for some of it and took out loans for the rest. I graduated in 2007 and just made my final student loan payment 1 month ago. My wife (25) was lucky enough to get great scholarships so she also has no loans.
As far as the cars go, my wife and I both took jobs in Greenville, SC that were great pay and great opportunities. Unfortunately the residential side is very suburban: the downtown is awesome, but is 2x as expensive to buy or rent in compared to just moving 5 miles or so out of the heart of downtown. So we do need and utilize our cars on a daily basis. We would love to eventually be some place where we don't need a car (we try and always travel to places with good public transit) but for now they are a necessity (We could bike to work but it is not worth the risk or extra time for me imo). However, we carpool every day and it is only 8 miles to work. We do own two cars, but we each paid cash for used cars within the past 8 years and plan to drive them until they fall apart :P
On the house side, we bought a house 2 years ago and definitely don't regret it. One of my hobbies (well both of ours) is house projects and home interior design and renting just wasn't fun for us. After we factor in the interest write-off (even with low interest rates) we really aren't paying much more than we were for our tiny 2 bedroom apartment and we are also gaining a little equity instead of the money going toward something. So far we have not had any real repairs to do to the house luckily and the houses in our neighborhood have risen in value since we bought. It really depends on where you live. In my area owning is very cheap compared to other parts of the country but renting is still not that cheap. So, that coupled with the fact that we are much happier owning and being able to do all the DIY projects we want, made it an obvious choice for us.
To me, I don't think that the issue is 20somethings not physically being able to afford houses or cars. I think it has more to do with the 20somethings who can afford that stuff just being a bit smarter about what they buy. If you aren't working a "career" job somewhere where you feel like you will be living there for 10 years or so, it probably doesn't seem like a good idea to buy a house. To a lot of people it also doesn't seem like a great deal to buy a brand new car for $20,000 when you can buy a solid, used car for half that and still drive it for 10+ years. After coming out of school directly into the recession, a lot of my friends (and myself included) have just been smarter about not spending, spending, spending, even though we might have great jobs. The economics at the time we first came out completely on our own kind of shaped how we view money.
Last edited by Sunbather; 09-11-2012 at 09:10 AM..
I think it is still a mixed bag based on my experience. At least based on my and my close friends' experiences (coming from average middle class families) it definitely isn't accurate to say "most parents pay." My parents didn't pay for my college (I'm 27 years old), but I also made a decision to go to a respected, but in-state, and public college to minimize my loans but maximize my return. I worked jobs in college to pay for some of it and took out loans for the rest. I graduated in 2007 and just made my final student loan payment 1 month ago. My wife (25) was lucky enough to get great scholarships so she also has no loans.
As far as the cars go, my wife and I both took jobs in Greenville, SC that were great pay and great opportunities. Unfortunately the residential side is very suburban: the downtown is awesome, but is 2x as expensive to buy or rent in compared to just moving 5 miles or so out of the heart of downtown. So we do need and utilize our cars on a daily basis. We would love to eventually be some place where we don't need a car (we try and always travel to places with good public transit) but for now they are a necessity (We could bike to work but it is not worth the risk or extra time for me imo). However, we carpool every day and it is only 8 miles to work. We do own two cars, but we each paid cash for used cars within the past 8 years and plan to drive them until they fall apart :P
On the house side, we bought a house 2 years ago and definitely don't regret it. One of my hobbies (well both of ours) is house projects and home interior design and renting just wasn't fun for us. After we factor in the interest write-off (even with low interest rates) we really aren't paying much more than we were for our tiny 2 bedroom apartment and we are also gaining a little equity instead of the money going toward something. So far we have not had any real repairs to do to the house luckily and the houses in our neighborhood have risen in value since we bought. It really depends on where you live. In my area owning is very cheap compared to other parts of the country but renting is still not that cheap. So, that coupled with the fact that we are much happier owning and being able to do all the DIY projects we want, made it an obvious choice for us.
To me, I don't think that the issue is 20somethings not physically being able to afford houses or cars. I think it has more to do with the 20somethings who can afford that stuff just being a bit smarter about what they buy. If you aren't working a "career" job somewhere where you feel like you will be living there for 10 years or so, it probably doesn't seem like a good idea to buy a house. To a lot of people it also doesn't seem like a great deal to buy a brand new car for $20,000 when you can buy a solid, used car for half that and still drive it for 10+ years. After coming out of school directly into the recession, a lot of my friends (and myself included) have just been smarter about not spending, spending, spending, even though we might have great jobs. The economics at the time we first came out completely on our own kind of shaped how we view money.
If gen y are smarter consumers that's great. I'm mid 40's and when I was in college they were handing out credit cards to new college students like candy to kids at Halloween. A lot of people got in over their heads. I briefly was but realized my mistakes and paid it down. Now the only debt I carry is a mortgage on a home in a good inner ring suburb that has plenty of equity. I also bought it at a good price relative to the then market price in 2000 before home prices got crazy out of hand. We buy used cars with cash and drive them into the ground.
I'm guessing buying a house probably isn't the best decision right now even if you have the money unless you have somewhat unique circumstances, i.e. you somehow know you are going to be there 10 plus years, ideally more.
If gen y are smarter consumers that's great. I'm mid 40's and when I was in college they were handing out credit cards to new college students like candy to kids at Halloween. A lot of people got in over their heads. I briefly was but realized my mistakes and paid it down. Now the only debt I carry is a mortgage on a home in a good inner ring suburb that has plenty of equity. I also bought it at a good price relative to the then market price in 2000 before home prices got crazy out of hand. We buy used cars with cash and drive them into the ground.
I'm guessing buying a house probably isn't the best decision right now even if you have the money unless you have somewhat unique circumstances, i.e. you somehow know you are going to be there 10 plus years, ideally more.
There are certainly still people that are like that with the credit cards. College kids are certainly in a vulnerable spot financially and probably always will be. The best anyone can do is be more proactive about warning their kids going to college about credit cards...or better yet get them a card early on and teach them how to use it probably. That's what my parents did and it worked for me. Might not work for everyone of course. /shrug
And I can definitely understand about buying a house. However, it is our ONLY debt of any kind and, as I stated, both my wife's and my hobbies tend to revolve around house projects and we've been much happier owning this home than we were previously when renting. If we come out a little behind in the end, it will end up just being the cost to enjoy our time there. We did buy in 2010 though when the prices in our area dropped to just about the lowest they ever got to (they've have since gone back up some in our area) and we got the $8000 FTHB credit - I didn't necessarily agree with it but I took it since it was there. We have only been in the house 2 years so far so we will see how long we are here. I am happy staying here as long as we can and I feel confident we will be at our employer for quite a long time, but you can't always predict the future of course.
It won't matter when oil costs too much for you to run your vehicle. People will have to adapt by switching to other methods of transportation.
That is not a valid argument. It is a red herring. You are assuming that oil prices are going to go up AND still be necessary in the future. Please go back to the drawing board and restate a valid argument for the PRESENT. In the meantime, I will keep driving to work because there is really no other option besides spending 2 hours on a train or 3.5 hours on a bike. Or of course move, which is even less feasible.
I was 33 before I bought a house and 32 before I bought my first new car. I had no interest in either prior to that. I made good money, but I had student loans, credit card debt from college, I wanted to travel and party, not mow the lawn. Kids today are not making good money. In my profession many kids are starting at about the same pay as I did.
I was 33 before I bought a house and 32 before I bought my first new car. I had no interest in either prior to that.
Spot on.
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