"Boomerang" generation comes home to roost

Seattle Times ^ | Monday, August 1, 2005 | Bettijane Levine

[redneckerinBoston]

You're right college isn't all it's cracked up to be. I just had to take a leave of absence when BU had a paperwork glitch and lost my $46,000 scholarship. Come to find out, I can get a good-paying job and a cute two-bedroom house near my parents if I want. I was going for a degree in education so the pay is actually better just getting this job. So, college may not be all it's cut up to be.

[MinorityRepublican]

bttt

[Porterville]

I wouldn't confuse your misunderstanding of economics with your certainty of the world.


Say it with me "6 percent" come on you can say it..." 6 percent" it isn't much harder than that. Sour grapes doesn't amount to true market value. I hear the ocean at night. It is 73 degrees on the hottest day. My grass has trouble growing because of the sand. My truck should be parked in the garage because of the salt air. Every breath is a blessing. My town is a tourist destination.

Just because you don't have doesn't mean you got to hate. Create and stop being bitter.

[centexan]

My daughter and I have a contract. After she graduates college she will pay me the amount due on her college loans. (I work 70+ hours a week and make money so she was not eligible for scholarships even though she was top 3% in her class.) I will repay the loan and invest the money she pays me for her in trust. The money invested will be hers when she's 30 as long as she's kept her end of the bargain. She thinks it's a great deal (so far)

[MinorityRepublican]

bump

[wtc911]

Alternately, you can turn it around and say the boomer parents are being selfish by trying to punt the kids out the second they turn 18.

-----------------------------------------

Only if you want to be dishonest since that article says "after fours years of college". How long should you mooch off your family?

[rochester_veteran]

For the most part, those of us who never sent their kids to college are luckier.

My kids all live on their own, have productive jobs, make their way and they do it with hard work.

Guess College ain't everything it's cracked up to be.

I agree with you, college isn't for everyone. I knew it wasn't for me in the traditional sense. I knew if I went right after high school, I would've flunked out within a year. I enlisted in the service and 4 days after high school graduation, I was marching in formation and getting yelled at by drill instructors! You grow up fast in that environment. :-)

Taking up a trade is just as honorable and often-times, more profitable as getting a degree. I have a friend whose son did not want to go to college and became a mason instead. He made big money and used it to buy a diner with an apartment upstairs and will be opening that soon.

I'm trying to raise my kids to be good citizens who have a good work ethic and contribute to the community. I'll do my best to help them out for college, but it they choose a different route, that's fine by me.

rochester_veteran

[rwfromkansas]

Sounds like a great plan.

I was kind of in the same position....luckily I got scholarships for academics (though I went to one of the best high schools in the state, so my 3.98 GPA just meant there were still 20 students out of 1000 better than me). However, other than that I was stuck with mostly loans since we did not qualify for aid based on financial need.

70 + hours a week? Wow. What work do you do?

[MinorityRepublican]

bttt

[MinorityRepublican]

bttt

[MinorityRepublican]

bump

[obnogs]

I wonder what percentage of households have both kids and a parent (3 generations) living with them?

[MinorityRepublican]

Economic neccesity is bringing back the extended family. Nuclear family is now obsolete.

[k2blader]

This "I moved out at 18 and have never looked back" stuff is getting so boring.

There's nothing at all wrong with *responsibly* living with one's parents after age 18. There are good reasons why this may happen in some, if not many, cases.

[MinorityRepublican]

BTTT