Millennials the new poor in the USA, while seniors are the new rich - Is there any hope for those 18-34? (Indianapolis, Kansas)
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In the '70s I built many 950-1100 sf 3 br starter homes that sold like hotcakes.
I have two brothers in the business and it seems many with champagne taste only have a ginger ale budget.
Another way to put it is the era of Starter Homes has gone by the wayside here in the SF Bay Area...
Working in a Hospital... I meet a lot of people from all walks of life and Real Estate is a frequent topic... I had not realized the bias towards used homes...
Often when people say they can't buy a home, they mean they cannot buy the home they want... at least this is my experience.
I have two brothers in the business and it seems many with champagne taste only have a ginger ale budget.
Another way to put it is the era of Starter Homes has gone by the wayside here in the SF Bay Area...
Working in a Hospital... I meet a lot of people from all walks of life and Real Estate is a frequent topic... I had not realized the bias towards used homes...
Often when people say they can't buy a home, they mean they cannot buy the home they want... at least this is my experience.
Or that they can't afford it yet, because they wait until they think about actually buying before saving anything...and that turns around and bites them.
In the '70s I built many 950-1100 sf 3 br starter homes that sold like hotcakes.
My first house was a 1000 SF 3 BR that I purchased in early 1987. No A/C or dishwasher. The driveway was gravel and it was deep in the boondocks. 50 mile drive to my job. I liked that place. It was fine, I mention it because it adds some perspective to the whole housing discussion taking place here.
A few years back my mid-twenties nephew (a HS graduate) and his wife bought a 2400 sq ft house with all the amenities, as their starter home. They seem to be doing fine, even with a new baby! However, it does illustrate how expectations have changed. And both of them do have to work.
The cost of living in place like SF or NYC isn't because of a "hip tax" - a lot of people want to live there, there are great paying jobs there, there is limited land to build on, and residents are willing to pay a ton of money to live there, so prices rise. Do you think people actually enjoy paying thousands per month for a place that might be $500-$700 in most of flyover country? Absolutely not, but the top jobs in fields like tech and finance are not in podunk South Dakota or Texas. People gravitate to where the jobs are.
It all boils down, though, to whether or not you can afford to live in a place like that. All the bling in the world doesn't matter much if you are too stressed or overloaded with debt or a massive cost of living for the basics to enjoy the other amenities.
And there are not only two choices - "flyover country" or "hip city." There are many, many options for people (of course) when it comes to choosing a career and building a life somewhere.
I understand why people live in big metro areas that cost an arm and a leg - it fits their lifestyle and their interests for one thing, and that's fine. I'm not criticizing that choice at all. But if you (not you personally - anyone) choose to live in a place with incredibly high costs, don't complain about the costs and your student loans you took out to land that job in that area at the same time. You didn't have to take that route - it was your choice.
By the way, people are gravitating to Texas because that's one place "the jobs are." It may not suit your tastes, but believe it or not, we even have "cool" jobs here - and lots of them even pay well. But they pay ESPECIALLY well when you consider that most of our state also offers a low cost of living.
Math - a basic skill. People need to apply it to their lives. For instance, my husband just got offered a job in Pennsylvania. We considered it. But we did the math, and decided against it. It didn't meet our financial goals overall.
It all boils down, though, to whether or not you can afford to live in a place like that. All the bling in the world doesn't matter much if you are too stressed or overloaded with debt or a massive cost of living for the basics to enjoy the other amenities.
And there are not only two choices - "flyover country" or "hip city." There are many, many options for people (of course) when it comes to choosing a career and building a life somewhere.
I understand why people live in big metro areas that cost an arm and a leg - it fits their lifestyle and their interests for one thing, and that's fine. I'm not criticizing that choice at all. But if you (not you personally - anyone) choose to live in a place with incredibly high costs, don't complain about the costs and your student loans you took out to land that job in that area at the same time. You didn't have to take that route - it was your choice.
By the way, people are gravitating to Texas because that's one place "the jobs are." It may not suit your tastes, but believe it or not, we even have "cool" jobs here - and lots of them even pay well. But they pay ESPECIALLY well when you consider that most of our state also offers a low cost of living.
Math - a basic skill. People need to apply it to their lives. For instance, my husband just got offered a job in Pennsylvania. We considered it. But we did the math, and decided against it. It didn't meet our financial goals overall.
I agree that overall the big cities are not the best bargain and do cost a ton, but for some big industries, they might be the biggest or only places of employment.
If you work in the hedge fund or investment banking industry, you're probably not going to be able to find many jobs in places like Nashville, Indianapolis, Kansas City, etc. At a minimum, the most prestigious of those jobs are in NYC, Boston, and SF mostly.
We have a steady stream of young singles and couples that move to SF for the experience... there is a huge draw and many do make good money...
Often, they do leave the city if kids come into the picture...
I wake up each morning and see SF across the bay... it does make for a beautiful skyline... funny thing is I can go years without setting foot in SF... if parking's a problem... it's simply not worth the effort for me.
I agree that overall the big cities are not the best bargain and do cost a ton, but for some big industries, they might be the biggest or only places of employment.
If you work in the hedge fund or investment banking industry, you're probably not going to be able to find many jobs in places like Nashville, Indianapolis, Kansas City, etc. At a minimum, the most prestigious of those jobs are in NYC, Boston, and SF mostly.
The 12 federal reserve banks are headquartered in Boston, NYC, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas and San Francisco. If you are working for a hedge fund they will have a major presence in Chicago because that is where the CBOT is located. You could also work the CBOE, CMT and CHX. One of the first things you learn about New Yorkers is that they have no idea what is going on in the rest of the country. They spend way too much time sitting around telling each other how great New York is.
Even a place like Kansas City has the KCBOT, which most newspaper reporters have never heard of, in addition to a federal reserve bank headquarters. If you want to work in finance or trade, the only reason to stick with NYC is ego.
The 12 federal reserve banks are headquartered in Boston, NYC, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas and San Francisco. If you are working for a hedge fund they will have a major presence in Chicago because that is where the CBOT is located. You could also work the CBOE, CMT and CHX. One of the first things you learn about New Yorkers is that they have no idea what is going on in the rest of the country. They spend way too much time sitting around telling each other how great New York is.
Even a place like Kansas City has the KCBOT, which most newspaper reporters have never heard of, in addition to a federal reserve bank headquarters. If you want to work in finance or trade, the only reason to stick with NYC is ego.
The Federal Reserve Banks pay civil service salaries, and mostly hire Ph.D. economists. (Ask Tim Geithner.) Most hedge funds do not have a major or minor presence in Chicago because they do not make use of the commodities or futures exchanges; that was a long time ago. Most hedge funds are long-short equity funds and they only use futures to hedge. They can buy the futures without actually being in Chicago, just as I can buy Japanese stocks without going to Japan.
New Yorkers do sometimes act as though people outside New York are rubes or idiots, but that's the price you pay for living where the money is. When I went from Chicago to New York to advance my career in finance I got a 143% raise, and my compensation doubled and nearly doubled again in the 15 years i was there. It wouldn't have happened anywhere else.
In the end they are a lot better off especially looking at future than those young in Europe at 30 -50% unemployment rates. Many see a loss generation there and the instability it will bring.
The Federal Reserve Banks pay civil service salaries, and mostly hire Ph.D. economists. (Ask Tim Geithner.) Most hedge funds do not have a major or minor presence in Chicago because they do not make use of the commodities or futures exchanges; that was a long time ago. Most hedge funds are long-short equity funds and they only use futures to hedge. They can buy the futures without actually being in Chicago, just as I can buy Japanese stocks without going to Japan.
New Yorkers do sometimes act as though people outside New York are rubes or idiots, but that's the price you pay for living where the money is. When I went from Chicago to New York to advance my career in finance I got a 143% raise, and my compensation doubled and nearly doubled again in the 15 years i was there. It wouldn't have happened anywhere else.
The separation occurs at the highest levels. For someone working in most corporate finance roles, the difference won't be as severe.
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