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I love people that mock folks that get by on their bootstraps. Just shows me that they have no intention of trying hard, or making effort, or becoming one of those evil bootstrappers that earn their way in this world. Yup, much better to wait for their luck to change, and spend their time complaining how they can't get ahead and nothing is their fault.
Thus proving that you do not understand the premise.
I'm Mr. Bootstrapper. I'm the Alpha Freakin' King of Bootstrapping. My entire life has been one big bootstrapping adventure. But that has absolutely no bearing on the financial outlook of a hypothetical Millennial graduating high school in 2015 compared to a hypothetical Boomer graduating high school in 1975.
Me, the great grand and all-powerful bootstrapper is going to do well in either scenario. That has no bearing on the discussion. And that's why I'm not regaling folks with anecdotes about "Scooter, the Plucky Millennial Realtor." It is contrary to the topic: What are the prospects for Millennials as a generation compared to Boomers as a generation. Boomers had it easier than Millennials. GenX had it easier than Millennials.
Personal stories of triumph (or failure) aren't relevant.
You are completely ignoring individual effort in your continued fixation with lumping every person born in a certain year together, as if they will all have the exact same lot in life.
In every generation there are winners, losers, workers, slackers and lots in between.
Hilarious, that you discount anecdotes, but go on about hypotheticals.
Boomer graduating high school in 1975. Decent grades, no scholarships.
State university tuition, room, board and incidentals: $3,000 per year. Minimum wage in 1975: $2.10. Throwing away income taxes for convenience, 1,428 hours of work per year to pay tuition.
Millennial graduating in 2015. Same hypothetical kid.
State university tuition, room, board and incidentals: $25,000 per year. Minimum wage in 2015: $7.25, 3,448 hours of work per year to pay tuition. (That's almost a 70-hour workweek to pay for school.)
So how EXACTLY do Millennials have it better than previous generations?
Note that 2015 prices aren't on this chart. But $25,000 is an accurate number, which I pulled from a run of the mill state university. This also jibes with my first-hand experience paying for tuition while working. I'm part of the last group that could pay for school and graduate debt free. That isn't an option any more.
No one said they had it better. Some things are better, some things are worse. Things change. Fact of life.
But, considering some of their grandparents were children in the 30's and went to bed hungry or lived in houses without indoor plumbing, I'd say all in all they have it pretty well on average whether or not they can afford to go to college or have to assume some debt to do so.
I love people that mock folks that get by on their bootstraps. Just shows me that they have no intention of trying hard, or making effort, or becoming one of those evil bootstrappers that earn their way in this world. Yup, much better to wait for their luck to change, and spend their time complaining how they can't get ahead and nothing is their fault.
Even worse, the hypocrisy of someone who claims to be the king of bootstrapping telling others its not something they should have to do.
No, actually I deal mostly with averages and modes. Because if we're going to compare one generation to another, those are the only things that will work.
Bootstrap anecdotes about Scooter the Plucky Realtor have nothing to do with generational differences. They serve only as one side's way to deflect that society is in a tailspin.
Boomer graduating high school in 1975. Decent grades, no scholarships.
State university tuition, room, board and incidentals: $3,000 per year. Minimum wage in 1975: $2.10. Throwing away income taxes for convenience, 1,428 hours of work per year to pay tuition.
Millennial graduating in 2015. Same hypothetical kid.
State university tuition, room, board and incidentals: $25,000 per year. Minimum wage in 2015: $7.25, 3,448 hours of work per year to pay tuition. (That's almost a 70-hour workweek to pay for school.)
So how EXACTLY do Millennials have it better than previous generations?
Note that 2015 prices aren't on this chart. But $25,000 is an accurate number, which I pulled from a run of the mill state university. This also jibes with my first-hand experience paying for tuition while working. I'm part of the last group that could pay for school and graduate debt free. That isn't an option any more.
HUGE unemployment in the late 70's.
And the other unspoken truth about the difference: the high rate of teen and early 20 pregnancies. I knew VERY few people in the late 70's and early 80's that had children in their teens and/or were unmarried. But I doubt I could come up with a single person that doesn't have at least one grandchild of with parents in their teens or early 20's. And usually neither parent has a great job, and the parents are rarely together anymore.
I'll give you that - this whole "baby daddy" thing will sink generations of Millennials.
You are completely ignoring individual effort in your continued fixation with lumping every person born in a certain year together, as if they will all have the exact same lot in life.
In every generation there are winners, losers, workers, slackers and lots in between.
Hilarious, that you discount anecdotes, but go on about hypotheticals.
Not to mention the fact some of these Millenials will no doubt overcome any obstacles they face and go on to create solutions to some of the current problems facing society as a whole.
No, actually I deal mostly with averages and modes. Because if we're going to compare one generation to another, those are the only things that will work.
Bootstrap anecdotes about Scooter the Plucky Realtor have nothing to do with generational differences. They serve only as one side's way to deflect that society is in a tailspin.
Untrue if Scooter represents the average Millenial in the sense that she is overextended on housing costs so she can live in a luxury home in her 20's.
I don't know any middle class Boomers who lived in what I would consider luxury homes in their 20's. I know lots of Millenials who do or who are working on how to overextend themselves so that they will shortly. Even what most Millenials consider starter homes is ridiculous imo.
How is this even news. It's obvious that this is how finances work. The wealthiest group is the group that has not or just started drawing from retirement and the poorest is the group that has barely had an opportunity to start saving.
How is this even news. It's obvious that this is how finances work. The wealthiest group is the group that has not or just started drawing from retirement and the poorest is the group that has barely had an opportunity to start saving.
If it was obvious how finance worked, this thread wouldn't be more than 50 pages. Millennials have hurdles to success that Boomers and Gen X did not. People refuse to take off the blinders and look at the groups as a whole.
It's considerably easier to roll out the tired "just bootstrap your way to success" lectures.
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