2023 Real Estate Observations (Boston, Lowell, Andover: school tuition, tuition, hospital)

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by msRB311

that really struck a nerve with you for some reason. I don't know you or your parents, if you're ok with what you're doing why do you care what strangers on the internet think? For many people having to give their parents money would be a burden to them. You really care a lot about what people here think. So yeah I also have to ask are you ok? What other people think here should not get you so riled up. It's fine to debate but not everyone is going to have the same opinion as you.

I have nothing to complain about.

My parents and close circle of friends' parents came to America with nothing.

-we went to low ranked schools but still did okay
-we are productive members of society
-we all own 700k-1mil homes and new cars
-some of us have stocks, some have investment homes.
-we max retirement accounts
-we save for our kids college
-we help out our parents financially. We bought them a home and new cars and this is common in our culture.
-we never complain about real estate prices or anything in general about this country.

USA is the only country in the world where this would be possible. All this complaining about real estate prices baffles me. If we can do it then anyone can! USA is truly the land of opportunity.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

This is some kind of alternate universe from the real world. Median household income at age 75 is less than $40k. Median household net worth including home equity at age 75 is less than $250k. The biggest growth industry in the country is trailer parks in the south and southwest for aging Boomers who can’t afford anything else. Toss an expensive chronic health problem into the mix and it quickly gets pretty dire.

My mother was wealthy. A decade of dementia and she died penniless a few weeks shy of 91. A couple with $250k net worth and $40k in income at age 75 are going to be in dire straits if something expensive happens. We’re out of Medicaid nursing home beds so it isn’t even possible to warehouse all of them in nursing homes.

Exactly, a very sad situation our country is in when it comes to aging population and healthcare. One area European countries do a lot better job than us, even if it is considered socialized healthcare....no one goes quite as broke as Americans do on healthcare in Europe.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

I have nothing to complain about.

My parents and close circle of friends' parents came to America with nothing.

-we went to low ranked schools but still did okay
-we are productive members of society
-we all own 700k-1mil homes and new cars
-some of us have stocks, some have investment homes.
-we max retirement accounts
-we save for our kids college
-we help out our parents financially. We bought them a home and new cars and this is common in our culture.
-we never complain about real estate prices or anything in general about this country.

USA is the only country in the world where this would be possible. All this complaining about real estate prices baffles me. If we can do it then anyone can! USA is truly the land of opportunity.

Ok that's you. My parents were born and raised in Boston, I've also been here my whole life and I complain about real estate prices here. Sounds like you think you're better because you don't complain.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

Exactly, a very sad situation our country is in when it comes to aging population and healthcare. One area European countries do a lot better job than us, even if it is considered socialized healthcare....no one goes quite as broke as Americans do on healthcare in Europe.

What do you suggest America does? Give more money to our aging population? People want to live longer and are living longer but sounds like so few have money to live on. With the way real estate keeps going up I can't imagine what it will be like when we are elderly. But apparently so many people seem to have millions in their 401 by the time their 35...so who cares about those that don't. That seems to be the attitude of many. at the same time you can't always look for others to pay your bills.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

I have nothing to complain about.

My parents and close circle of friends' parents came to America with nothing.

-we went to low ranked schools but still did okay
-we are productive members of society
-we all own 700k-1mil homes and new cars
-some of us have stocks, some have investment homes.
-we max retirement accounts
-we save for our kids college
-we help out our parents financially. We bought them a home and new cars and this is common in our culture.
-we never complain about real estate prices or anything in general about this country.

USA is the only country in the world where this would be possible. All this complaining about real estate prices baffles me. If we can do it then anyone can! USA is truly the land of opportunity.

Why don't you shed some light for us as to the salary that allows you to do all this? I'm sure there are more folks out there who are not able to do all these things based on their salaries. For some reason, a lot of folks here on CD are out of touch with reality and don't realize that not everyone in MA makes $200K+ per year or is a dual income household.

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

Exactly, a very sad situation our country is in when it comes to aging population and healthcare. One area European countries do a lot better job than us, even if it is considered socialized healthcare....no one goes quite as broke as Americans do on healthcare in Europe.

That's because there's no price transparency or rationalization of care.

Trump actually took a big step towards transparency by making hospitals publish their rates, except it was impossible for me to parse the data sets that a hospital group like MGB published.

We also need death panels.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by msRB311

What do you suggest America does? Give more money to our aging population? People want to live longer and are living longer but sounds like so few have money to live on. With the way real estate keeps going up I can't imagine what it will be like when we are elderly. But apparently so many people seem to have millions in their 401 by the time their 35...so who cares about those that don't. That seems to be the attitude of many. at the same time you can't always look for others to pay your bills.

That's the quagmire this country is in though. Maybe we need to take a lesson from European countries and totally revamp our healthcare system?!

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by msRB311

What do you suggest America does? Give more money to our aging population? People want to live longer and are living longer but sounds like so few have money to live on. With the way real estate keeps going up I can't imagine what it will be like when we are elderly. But apparently so many people seem to have millions in their 401 by the time their 35...so who cares about those that don't. That seems to be the attitude of many. at the same time you can't always look for others to pay your bills.

No, it's the opposite...the old folks will just have to die.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

That's because there's no price transparency or rationalization of care.

Trump actually took a big step towards transparency by making hospitals publish their rates, except it was impossible for me to parse the data sets that a hospital group like MGB published.

We also need death panels.

What's a death panel?

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

What's a death panel?

From another blog:

"A death panel is simply a group of dispassionate professionals who look at various tests and treatments in various medical scenarios and decide whether they should be allowed or not."