Millennial Who Grew Up In The 1990s Says Boomers Don't Understand 'We're Working 3 Times As Hard For A Third Of What They Had At Our Age'

Yahoo finance ^

[ProgressingAmerica]

For many millennials, the economy can feel like a game of musical chairs where previous generations already grabbed the seats, refinanced them at 3% interest and now insist there are still plenty left if younger people would just "budget better." Somewhere along the way, the American dream started feeling less like a finish line and more like one of those carnival games rigged just enough to keep people throwing money at it.

That frustration spilled into Reddit's r/economy subreddit when one millennial who grew up in the 1990s posted a blunt message about the growing disconnect between younger Americans and boomers over money, housing and financial expectations.

"I'm a millennial who grew up in the 90s and what boomers don't understand about us is that we're working three times as hard for a third of what they had at our age," the Redditor wrote. "And the milestones they want us to hit weren't postponed by laziness, they were priced out of reach by the economy they voted for."

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TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: boomers; fakenews; genz; igotminesofyou; illegaltruth; immigranttruth; millennials; softspoiledyouth; waaaaaaa; zeroeffsgiven

[Prince of Space]

My husband is 73 and still working full time. I’m about to go back to work for a few yrs in an entry level job. Our 2 daughters are both doing better than us, for which we’re happy. They aren’t depending on getting anything when we die which is good because there won’t be much left. To lump individuals into one group & then blame them for your troubles is dumb because we all have different journeys.

[dljordan]

“The Boomer generation is typically regarded as one of the greediest the country has ever seen.”

Yeah asswipe. After I got out of the Navy I just decided to get a job building houses and being greedy.

[55Ford]

Heres what boomers are - FAFO

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

I’m watching my youngest ones struggling. Only three of our kids own their own home. It’s out of reach for the others, no matter how hard they work, no matter that both husband and wife are working. They can barely afford rent, and cannot scrape together the 10 to 20% down payment on a half-a-million dollar house.

FWIW, FHA loans allow for down payments as low as 3.5%. So, for a ~$500,000 house, the down is ~$17,500.

I personally think the main difference in purchasing power between boomers and later generations are that their discretionary expenditures are higher.

IOW, they waste their money on trifles instead of saving for a house.

Things such as newer cars with lots of options and high car payments, expensive cell phones, expensive computers, larger houses with higher rents, credit card payments, designer clothes & shoes, Starbucks coffee, internet, cable TV, movie channels, buying lunch instead of brown-bagging, eating out for dinner, etc.

These all eat into their monthly budgets.

[Maskot]

Yup. Everyone blames the previous generation for their current struggles. Every struggle is BECAUSE OF POLITICIANS OF ALL STRIPES! Waiting for the politician purge to happen and will buy more popcorn (at a discount, of course) 😉

[CFW]

Some in the younger generations complain about “boomers” but we didn’t elect short-busers to positions of authority. Maybe that is why our generation became successful.

[ronniesgal]

why are boomers considered greedy?

[1Old Pro]

I personally think the main difference in purchasing power between boomers and later generations are that their discretionary expenditures are higher.

Yep, when I bought my first house I ate out about 2 times per year and drove a 10 year old car I worked on myself. Kids today eat out 3 meals per day and drive a new car..

[Cowgirl of Justice]

They expect to be handed every single thing like their mommies did for them all of their lives - too many of them can’t hold down full time employment or make their rent/mortgage, school loans or other bills on time. WE did all of that without complaining.

[Tell It Right]

Similar story for me (a Gen X'er). I worked full time the entire time I was in college, most of those years pulling orders in a grocery warehouse in hot Alabama working 35 to 50 hours per week. I worked 5 days per week including weekends, with the other 2 days in college (usually Tuesdays and Thursdays) getting a BS in computer science (not exactly a lazy major). Taking only a few courses per quarter, thus finally getting my "4 year" degree in my late 20's.

For most of my teens and twenties (all but the last year in college) I had epilepsy that was supposed to be incurable and I was taking meds that I hated about as much as the seizures. The meds made me sleepy all the time. Yet God healed me from that (I owe Him!!!) in my last year of college. And I took my two hardest courses while I was being weaned off of the seizure meds and could think a little clearer.

How many of the young people trust God like that and work like we did? They use the word "can't" way too much.

[SMARTY]

Right... and they throw hard eared money around like confetti!!! New cars every other year, vacations every year, loading up the charge card for unnecessary BS....!!!

None of them 'gets' what saving and waiting to afford a thing before buying it!

[DiogenesLamp]

It’s inflation. I am gen X, very well paid, and I can’t afford the things that my Boomer relatives could even though I earn significantly more than they did. All the financial schemes over the last 6 decades, private and public, have made everything so expensive that even someone with a six figure salary struggles to make ends meet. And Covid really tipped the apple cart over - even more inflation.

You are right about inflation, but you aren't noticing that shitbag Obama caused 100% inflation (and his government lied about that) and shitbag Biden also caused 100% inflation. (And his government also lied about that.)

Everything I bought doubled in price around 2009. It also doubled in 2021. Didn't matter what item was being bought, it cost roughly double what it did before those two took office.

Biden shutting down all the drilling everywhere he could caused fuel prices to soar, and everything else in the country is highly dependent on the cost of fuel.

Yes, inflation is killing us all, and nobody seems to be blaming the people who caused it.

[Prince of Space]

Then maybe move in with mom & dad or find a place outside of the city where they can afford to live more affordably. Life is a series of choices. Kids today should be making hard choices if they want anything to change. Otherwise they’re just playing the blame game which gets them nowhere in life.

[Varsity Flight]

Scarcity: by design.

Again, Bricks without straw...

The Generation of the coming Apocalypse and the return of the Hybrids. ☢️✖️

[1Old Pro]

Otherwise they’re just playing the blame game which gets them nowhere in life.

Yep, didn't exactly help the African American community.

[ladyjane]

A GPA of 3.73 meant something back in the day.

Now 66% of the grades at Harvard are A’s

[dznutz]

Smoking weed and playing GTA in mom’s basement has its consequences.

[Tellurian]

When a country imports third world labor they get third world living conditions.

The third worlder's gladly work for less pay and gladly live 2 or 3 families to a house. Eventually, all that the labor market will support is providing half or one third a "living wage" to each native born laborer.

Same for converting stay-at-home moms to wage slaves. Where one person's wage used to support a household, eventually it would take two.
Inflation makes it all automatic, no wage reductions required.

[Prince of Space]

Stop blaming an entire generation for the condition of the world today & instead direct your ire toward the politicians who allowed this to happen, many of whom were from the Silent & Greatest generations as well as the Boomers.

[MarlonRando]

It’s very difficult to buy a home these days. Interest rates so high. After the war(s) a lot of the GI’s got their low-interest loans but they literally had to fight for them.

$100 to fill up your gas tank, $200-300 for a cart of groceries, sky-high insurance if every kind of It’s tough. A degree isn’t a guarantee of a job.