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I tell what is going to destroy social security and Medicare, overweight millennials with their type 2 diabetes and heart problems at less than 40 years old. Guys 20 years younger than me ask me my secret to staying in shape. I tell them I work hard and eat healthy. They are so enlightened but they can't figure out simple truths. My old man lived to 89, survived WW 2 and smoked, but was more healthy than your average overweight millennial. Talk about selfish.
I tell what is going to destroy social security and Medicare, overweight millennials with their type 2 diabetes and heart problems at less than 40 years old. Guys 20 years younger than me ask me my secret to staying in shape. I tell them I work hard and eat healthy. They are so enlightened but they can't figure out simple truths. My old man lived to 89, survived WW 2 and smoked, but was more healthy than your average overweight millennial. Talk about selfish.
Where are these overweight Millennials? I know quite a few Millennials, but they're not overweight. Is this a regional thing?
I tell what is going to destroy social security and Medicare, overweight millennials with their type 2 diabetes and heart problems at less than 40 years old. Guys 20 years younger than me ask me my secret to staying in shape. I tell them I work hard and eat healthy. They are so enlightened but they can't figure out simple truths. My old man lived to 89, survived WW 2 and smoked, but was more healthy than your average overweight millennial. Talk about selfish.
Too many people of all ages are fat. I don't like hearing getting old means inevitably getting fat. I hope the young who are overweight can overcome it before getting older which will hasten health problems.
Maybe boomers seized all the good health for themselves too.
The OP is correct, much to the chagrin of the detractors and older people in this thread.
Here is why:
Average babyboomer - usually independent fresh out of high school, no welfare needed, "launches" right away
Walks out of high school STRAIGHT into a living wage or higher career that lasts 10-20 years or more (didn't even need "college degrees" to get good jobs back then), few if any layoffs or worrying about job insecurity due to the strong economy. The stability provided by "being in the right place, at the right time" in 1950-1970 era America and such good wages and steady work allowed the rising boomer to quickly attract a young wife and buy a house while very young. By the way, houses were dirt-cheap as the boomers were coming up, $20k-$60k for a decent house was not unheard of. The ones who got in real early managed to snag $15k houses. As time went by these boomers rode on the "wave" of inflation with ever increasing equity in their houses (sometimes in the 6-figures of free money) and rising wages/regular promotions at work, they were on "the receiving end" of the American economy.
Average millennial circa 2010's - can't afford independence until late 20's/early 30's, needs welfare, uses roommates, lives at home, etc
Walks out of high school and can't find any living wage jobs at all. Has to go to "college", using 5-figure (or more) student loans to do so, to even be considered for entry level jobs. Sometimes 2 or 3 degrees are needed due to the market being oversaturated with college degree holders. When he gets out of college, he struggles to find work and the competition for the few remaining "good" jobs is fierce. He might go a year or two before actually landing a job in his field of study. When he finally does land a decent entry-level job, he is CONSTANTLY worried about the economy and the threat of sudden layoffs. As women are mainly attracted to money and stability in a man, he might go a decade or more before he makes enough to attract a mate. In the meantime, he will be stuck renting and paying off his student debts for years, forget qualifying for a mortgage as his debt-to-income ratio makes him ineligible. And when he finally does get into a position to buy a property? He finds houses are now ASTRONOMICALLY expensive compared to the $20k-$60k his father paid decades ago. As time goes on millennials are drowned by the "wave" of inflation as rents, property values, cost of living, etc are constantly going up, while wages stay flat at work, they are on "the losing end" of the American economy.
Maybe a little over-simplistic, but what I wrote is true in a "general" sense; the boomers had life "on easy mode" compared to millennials, and this is not really up for debate.
I'll bet you couldn't keep up with what I do in a day now when I'm 55, much less what I did at 20. Ever roofed a house? I used to do those on the weekends after I worked 60 hours in my other job. You probably spend your weekends playing Xbox right?
I bet you roofed houses uphill in three feet of snow both ways too. How is any of that nonsense relevant to this discussion?
Boomers had the exceptional luck of being born into an economically powerful United States at a time when global competitors had been knocked on their butts after dealing with almost complete destruction during WWII. Boomers were able to get jobs that paid living wages with only high school educations. Boomers were able to buy real estate when it was cheap and in some cases fund retirements and college funds for their kids with nothing more than the subsequent price appreciation. Many boomers will receive a lifetime of guaranteed money from pensions that they decided no longer needed to exist for future generations. Boomers throw a fit and can't imagine living with one less penny of Social Security or Medicare for themselves while coming up with plans to completely eliminate those same programs for future generations.
As a collective, the Boomers are the most selfish generation ever to exist in the United States. They took advantage of good economic times to enrich themselves personally and now that their time in the sun is waning, they are doing everything in their power to make sure the ladder to the top is pulled up before any younger generations even have a chance to start climbing.
Pardon me, but I did grow up in the 50's (born in 1950), and you don't have a frickin' clue about the baby boomers. I would venture to guess that most, like me, grew up in solidly middle-class neighborhoods, went to college or attended trade schools, maybe went into our parents business, and worked hard for a good long career. I know that I didn't buy my first house until I was 35 years old, at a 12% interest rate (and it was only that low because I financed it through my base credit union). A lot of the reason that some baby boomers are able to own 2 or 3 houses is that they saved their money along the way - we were encouraged to do so by our Depression-era parents who were desperately afraid of ending up poor and homeless. The baby boomers are also the generation that frequently takes care of their parents as well as raising their kids and paying for their college degrees; that's why we are the "sandwich" generation. We didn't "seize" any wealth - we created it through hard work and thoughtful investing. You might want to try it.
Perfectly said @Bungalove!!
The only thing I could add to this > WE were brought up to not waste money on toys, the latest fad or use credit to finance our daily living expenses. Credit abuse in the long term is a noose that has made Banks and Loan folks billions!
We learned to live within our means and didn't try to keep up with the "Joan's" ! Also, due to having parent's that went through the GREAT Depression, they taught us just how to do all that with basic tools to live within our means!! Bless our parent's for teaching us those wise decision making tools!!
Would've been nice to grow up in the 50s. Didn't have to spend 90% of your money on education, health care and housing, like people have to today. An average Joe could afford to live in an area with nice views and good public schools. Now the Boomers own all the nice neighborhoods. Many of them own 2 or 3 houses! "Elites couples" in my generation can't afford 1 housee. We nneed to end this gerontocracy and make room for the next generation.
This doesn't describe the boomers I know.
Also, my dad and others worked their butts off in factories to earn what he had which isn't what you are describing.
I have yet to live in a nice neighborhood. We also don't own a home at all at this point. Education used to be what you could afford and most weren't going to 4, 6 or 8 years of college. On healthcare, we didn't constantly run to the doctor or for tests and considered preventative health care to be exercise and diet!
We need to get jobs back into the country so that the whiners will realize what it is really like to earn a living and stop thinking they should have what everyone has that worked their butts off "just because".
Gen X is the last great generation, at least the older ones. Unfortunately too many of them did not pass the independent DIY ethic on to their kids.
In my hood NO millennials do any manual work, it is ALL older people shoveling, repairing, gardening, etc. I have seen the slackers parents defend them for not helping - just don't know what to say about that. The grandparents don't get it either.
Yup! I'm 42, and my parents were actually PRE-Baby Boomers (born 1937 and 1939) whose parents all were adults (or almost - my paternal grandmother was 17 when the Crash of 1929 occurred) during the Depression. It's really sad to realize that the parents of these whiny little brats comes from MY own generation, a generation that, for the most part, obviously didn't listen to the lessons their parents and grandparents had to teach them, or else they tried to buck the stern discipline we received. I wasn't raised with that me-me-me, gimme gimme gimme mentality, and neither was any other of the kids in my family in my generation, either. Actually 8 of my 1st cousins are in the BB generation, age range 53 to 63, and only one of my blood relatives in my parents' generation is a BB; the rest were born 1943 or earlier. All I know is that my parents, their siblings, and my grandparents on both sides didn't put up with any lip from the kiddies and they let us know it!
In my house we didn't have cable TV (although it did exist in the early 1980's because one of my friends had it), expensive vacations (but I remember weeks spent with my grandparents during the summer!), designer clothes, and it was 1994 before my father finally bought a PC, and then they didn't have Internet until 2000. I learned the difference between needs and wants when I was growing up, and if you have a "need" that must be fulfilled, you may have to stop paying for/discontinue a "want." Honestly, I had no idea how much money my dad made because my parents always made a point of not flaunting it or over-spending on luxuries. They specialized in socking it away in savings, and interest-bearing accounts over the years instead of blowing it on the latest-and-greatest whatever. They still live in the same house they bought back in 1972. I'm still surprised how the 5 of us managed to fit in that house, because it only had one bathroom and 3 bedrooms. I never had a room of my own until I went away to college, because I slept in the attic.
I bet you roofed houses uphill in three feet of snow both ways too. How is any of that nonsense relevant to this discussion?
Boomers had the exceptional luck of being born into an economically powerful United States at a time when global competitors had been knocked on their butts after dealing with almost complete destruction during WWII. Boomers were able to get jobs that paid living wages with only high school educations. Boomers were able to buy real estate when it was cheap and in some cases fund retirements and college funds for their kids with nothing more than the subsequent price appreciation. Many boomers will receive a lifetime of guaranteed money from pensions that they decided no longer needed to exist for future generations. Boomers throw a fit and can't imagine living with one less penny of Social Security or Medicare for themselves while coming up with plans to completely eliminate those same programs for future generations.
As a collective, the Boomers are the most selfish generation ever to exist in the United States. They took advantage of good economic times to enrich themselves personally and now that their time in the sun is waning, they are doing everything in their power to make sure the ladder to the top is pulled up before any younger generations even have a chance to start climbing.
And those boomers who were let go by their long-term jobs cannot get hired because they don't have college degrees, while many have been taking care of ailing parents while putting their kids through school.
Everything is soooooooooo easy when it's the other guy and you're a scorekeeper.
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