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When I was in college and majoring in engineering, admittedly many years ago, it took 80 hours a week just to keep up with the course load. One 5 credit class required 3 hours of lecture, 2 hours of recitation, 3 hours of lab and 15 hours of homework a week. The required course load was 18 credits a term, because if you didn't graduate in 4 years they would cancel your student deferment and you would be on your way to VietNam. For a while I polished test tubes on work-study for 5 hours a week, but even that was more time than I had. I was fortunate that there were mickey mouse classes like Economics where I could read the book show up for midterms, write a paper and get an A.
Working even part time was an impossibility. I certainly hope there are majors today that are as demanding. Students who put in the work deserve financial support. I don't have any heirs, so when I croak my money goes to a scholarship fund for the academically excellent but financially dismal.
This story reminds us of how a lot of these issues are phycological, the things you can go without when you are literally running for your life from people trying to kill you (ie dead beats who would drag you to enlistment against your will to go die).
The motivation and mostly peoples strategy and cunning go to their A game because its literally survival. If someone could artificially put themselves in survival mode imagine the things they could accomplish.
Well I can tell you what my daughter did and now my grandson is doing, co-op (both electrical engineering). Not for everyone but a great way to at least offset some of the expense. Aside from the money you get valuable real work experience and almost a guaranteed job when you graduate.
Based on the upper threshold of the millennial generation (~35), I don't think we're "forgoing" home ownership...just delaying. We delay many other things in comparison to Boomers; marriage, kids, retirement contribution, etc.
I for one purchased a condo when I was 22. Fast forward to when I sold it and moved to LA, a very high COL region, and started renting again.
I don't buy the whole "I can't afford a down payment" hoo-rah. Even the biggest banks now have 97% loan to value financing requiring just 3% down payment. All you need is decent credit and 2yrs+ of steady income. High PMI, sure, but an entry to equity building none-the-less.
Never understood the obsession with home ownership. First of all, you don't own the home until its fully paid off. The bank does. Until then you're making payments towards it just as you would when you finance a vehicle. Secondly, even after you pay your home off you still have rising property taxes to pay. Try not paying property tax and see how much you "own your home".
I personally am in the process of purchasing a condo because where I reside, the costs of renting a 2br apt is on par with what a mortgage for a 2br condo would be. Makes financial sense for me. It's affordable with very little maintenance to worry about.
Never understood the obsession with home ownership. First of all, you don't own the home until its fully paid off. The bank does. Until then you're making payments towards it just as you would when you finance a vehicle. Secondly, even after you pay your home off you still have rising property taxes to pay. Try not paying property tax and see how much you "own your home".
I personally am in the process of purchasing a condo because where I reside, the costs of renting a 2br apt is on par with what a mortgage for a 2br condo would be. Makes financial sense for me. It's affordable with very little maintenance to worry about.
Your second paragraph answered your first paragraph.
Never understood the obsession with home ownership. First of all, you don't own the home until its fully paid off. The bank does. Until then you're making payments towards it just as you would when you finance a vehicle. Secondly, even after you pay your home off you still have rising property taxes to pay. Try not paying property tax and see how much you "own your home".
I personally am in the process of purchasing a condo because where I reside, the costs of renting a 2br apt is on par with what a mortgage for a 2br condo would be. Makes financial sense for me. I could never see myself dropping 300k-600k on an old house built 30+yrs ago!
Never understood the obsession with home ownership. First of all, you don't own the home until its fully paid off. The bank does. Until then you're making payments towards it just as you would when you finance a vehicle. Secondly, even after you pay your home off you still have rising property taxes to pay. Try not paying property tax and see how much you "own your home".
I personally am in the process of purchasing a condo because where I reside, the costs of renting a 2br apt is on par with what a mortgage for a 2br condo would be. Makes financial sense for me. I could never see myself dropping 300k-600k on an old house built 30+yrs ago!
Hogwash and tomfoolery.
Come and knock on my door, and I dang certain will not tell you, "Get off the Bank's porch."
Your second paragraph answered your first paragraph.
Not necessarily. I've seen cases where people liquidate almost everything just to put a down payment on a house so that they can pay it off for the next 30yrs! They sacrifice vacations and drive old beaters just to say that they're a "home owner".
In my case, I put down very little and have a mortgage under 1k/month. It did not effect my bottom line. I did not have to cash out savings or liquidate investments to do so. I wont have to refinance years down the line just to cash out some equity that may or may not be there. I also did not purchase this condo with the intentions of it being an "investment". I bought it solely for the security of having a place to live that I can easily afford.
I call total BS on this whole "you can work full-time while in college to pay for tuition.." mantra.
No employer is going to hire someone full-time who is attending in-person classes full-time.
Not true. I worked full-time for four years while taking 5-6 live classes a semester. During that time, I worked for two separate employers who were both generous about accommodating my work schedule so that I could go to class in the morning, work in the evening, and have Sundays and Mondays off. One of those jobs even had a crappy policy where if my replacement didn't show up, I was mandated to stay for an extra 8 hours. I got overtime almost every week.
It's definitely possible. I even had time for a social life on my days off. The only downside to this was that my GPA was a 3.07 when I graduated. Had I worked part-time, I believe that I would have earned a 3.5. Right now, I've gone back to college and I'm only working part-time. On most days, I'm bored out of my mind because I'm not used to having this much free time.
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