Posted on 01/03/2024 10:19:29 AM PST by BJ1
A real estate agent on social media has given some stats comparing the costs of housing (ownership and rent), college education and gas vs. the income in years 1970 and 2023.
It sure looks like the American Dream is unattainable for a substantial portion of the Gen Z generation.
What would that house sale return have been if JFK had not won that 1960 election which resulted in this last 130 million people?
Even 25 years ago when I lived in Switzerland i could see how much easier quality of life was there. Everyone (90%) was middle class. Everyone was paid 13 months’ salary for 11 months’ work. The 13th month was about the amount of taxes for that year (dependent on canton). The 4 weeks off work allowed every family to travel. People went home for 1-2 hrs at lunch still. Education included job training and licensing. University was free for those who sought and tested into the careers it applied to.
Old people were technically poor but their senior and nursing facilities were free. Your employer covered all accidents even off work (lots of ski injuries). Every family could easily afford semi private med insurance in which most costs were paid. Unlimited sick time from work with MD note.
We have in the USA lost all of these trappings of middle class comfortable life. Some we never had, but middle class life was not bad in the 1970s.
Left the Army after 8 years, got my CPA, still working at 69, mostly by choice. I made sure my kids were born in Texas, and taught them how to swim. I have 3 grandkids, and making sure my influence is felt. I’m known in the area for my numerous appearances at Veterans Day assemblies, it’s a privilege to pass on my experiences and the greatness of being an American.
C'mon...Ever hear of LBJ and his socialist programs and the Great Society, war on poverty, head start and on and on.
I'm a boomer and when he elected I was just a kid...It was the "WWII Greatest Generation" who voted for LBJ...
My parents purchased a 3 br 2 ba 2000 sq ft house for $19,000 in 1963. My first condo was 2 br 1 ba 880 sq ft for $36000 in May 1978. Sold the condo for $48k in 1983 for a 4 br 2 ba 1334 sq ft house for $108,000 @ 13.25% interest. Sold the last house in 2001 for $246k and purchased the current 3 br 2 1/2 ba 3900 sq ft house in Idaho for $179k. Fully paid off in 2003 via sale of company stock.
I graduated from UCSD at age 19 and headed to grad school at SDSU in the Fall of 1977. No student loan debt. The degree in Molecular Biology was not relevant to my early employment. Radio Shack $2.65/hr. Marine Electric Company start at $6.19, finish at $9.50. Marine Electric was my employer in the "condo" years. PacBell 1980 at $19k/year to start. Finished PacBell in 1991 at $60k/year. Not disclosing current employer or income. Suffice to say, just being a "boomer" was no party. It took years to improve annual income and quality of housing.
Yes, housing prices are higher than in the past. But let's compare starter home mentalities too. The problem is location and inventory. In "affordable" neighborhoods, the amenities may be fewer while the criminal class may be higher than in more expensive areas. People who bought in the last 10 years or so also have historically low mortgage rates and are less than willing to sell if they have to buy and refinance.
You bet. In CA, my “Greatest Generation” folks bought a brand new home on ONE single income....
Try that today in CA.
As if Boomers weren’t doing that their whole lives? How many election cycles have GenZ gone through?
I think one of the things that seems lost on the Gen Z crowd is that our housing system was traditionally based on married couples buying homes. I see a lot of young singles trying to float a household on their single income. That was hardly the case back in the day.
People buying property for Air BNBs and the like killed the markets in high tourism areas. Those used to be available housing. Now they are BnBs for the casual tourist.
The work from home wave sent people out for rental units in Urban areas and they bought up the capacity in suburban and rural areas.
These things, in and of themselves would not ruin a market. But combined over a short time along with record low interest rates and you have available units getting sucked out of the market—which just drives up the retail price.
Yes, it does suck for these kids. It’s going to take a long while for the system to shift in order to accommodate them. Sadly, its going to take the deaths of the boomers to open up the log jam.
My boomer parents quit voting Dim with LBJ and picked Republican candidates that at least promised to reign in spending (though often didn't).
Women got the Federal vote in Switzerland in 1971.
“”””My boomer parents quit voting Dim with LBJ and picked Republican candidates that at least promised to reign in spending (though often didn’t).””””
To be 21 in 1968 they just barely made it, but LBJ didn’t run, it was Humphrey versus Nixon.
In 1968 the Democrats won 47% of the under 30 vote and in 1972 won 46% of the under 30 vote.
QUIT electing Democrats and life will dramatically improve.
Crooked Republicans will then be easier to root out.
>>>I wouldn’t trust anything lying fake Indian Warren has to say. It’s a shame you do.<<<
Don’t be an ass and try to shame me. I have been following this topic a fair bit. It’s just uncommon to find a source that has so many facts in one concise place, hence why I posted Warren’s info. Just because someone you dislike writes a book doesn’t mean it has to be factually inaccurate. And I did preface that this was before she became a politician.
Nonetheless while I was searching for a particular video of hers I found this 3 minute gem from some outfit called the Lucia Capital Group.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhlJUOBMjqs&ab_channel=LuciaCapitalGroup
The video says many millennials are able to live within their means by going without what prior generations had: Cars and homes. FYI this video is 4 years old. Real estate has bumped up in most markets a lot since then, and ofc the interest rates are double. If Millennials were delaying home buying when the market was relatively cheap, what hope does Gen Z have for doing as well as their parents.
Technically, my boomer parents weren’t real boomers. Both of my parents were born shortly before we entered WW2 (1938 and mid 1941) in between the greatest generation and the boomer generation. As you can probably understand, they identified more with the boomer generation than the WW2 generation.
The woman is a liar on a grand scale. I'm not buying what madame Pocahontas is selling.
“””””Technically, my boomer parents weren’t real boomers. Both of my parents were born shortly before we entered WW2 (1938 and mid 1941) in between the greatest generation and the boomer generation.”””””
They were of the ‘Silent Generation’ 1925-1945 that everyone skips over to pretend that boomers gave us the hippie 60s.
The generation of Jane Fonda and Mick Jagger and Joe Biden and Bob Dylan.
I got a dollar (in 1964 to 1968). Then I got into that really high pay in 68 when I got my first Uncle Sam pay. $26 advance pay. A twenty, a five and a one. Then they marched us over to the barber shop where I had to give that bastard who cut off all my hair the one dollar bill. Monthly pay for E-1 less than 4 months was $95.70.
“””””C’mon...Ever hear of LBJ and his socialist programs and the Great Society, war on poverty, head start and on and on.
I’m a boomer and when he elected I was just a kid...It was the “WWII Greatest Generation” who voted for LBJ...”””””
How about when America had its only ever ‘President for Life’ and the massive shift of America to the permanent left and when the black vote became forever Democrat followed by decades of leftward presidents, Supreme Courts, college deans, Congresses, Senates, Teacher unions, Hollywood leftist/communists, all unionized government workers, mental hospitals shutdown and patients moved to the streets, the replacement immigration laws passed, the first affirmative action bill passed, NOW and the feminist movement, the ACLU,
the NAACP.
All that was before the very first boomer was old enough to vote in a presidential election, an election in which the youngest boomer was 4 years old.
There’s a new Panda Express opening in my little N. GA city. They’re advertising for employees now starting at $19/hr.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.