Why do people think Boomers had it so good?
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Anonymous
The oldest millennial is 40. Is that what you want? People hit 40 and all of a sudden it is out to pasture with you? |
Anonymous
I learned it from you, dad. |
Anonymous
Many of those homes don't exist anymore. You will likely be buying a condo instead, which is totally fine by me. I'm a young Gen X and bought my first home last year. It's a 2BR, 2BA condo. I'm not demanding that the government give me a SFH or kick our elders out of their SFH. |
Anonymous
Exactly. The standard of living now is so much higher. We (late-born Boomer here) were satisfied with many, many fewer brands of everything at the store, and fewer vacations. It takes more money to keep up with the Joneses now. What we Boomers had growing up was a feeling of security and faith in the system, even after Vietnam/Watergate, which is sadly lacking now. I never thought I would get shot at school. |
Anonymous
Wait, really? If only we millennials had known there were bountiful, affordable houses out there in the prime locations the boomers got to live and all we had to do was be ok with a little smaller house! No, wait, even a friggin' vacant lot costs a million bucks: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/Rock-Spring-Rd-22207/home/22678434 So I guess it actually is that housing is completely unaffordable and not "millennials only want HGTV houses" after all. |
Anonymous
We did not fear being shot. Being blown up by a nuclear weapon, though . . . BUT we ghad desks to hide under! Times were good |
Anonymous
Boomers did not buy in the best neighborhood. Maybe start looking to live elsewhere and the DMV is a place to move to later in your career. |
Anonymous
They weren’t in prime locations at all. They might be good locations now but not then. The houses were “far out” with far far less amenities. You are looking at it with today’s goggles. |
Anonymous
Yep. I remember when Vienna was considered so far out it wasn't a practical commute. So police, fire, and trades people lived here. Houses were small (you can still see some). Reston was considered the other end of the world. Heck, even Falls Church was a commute for GS 9s and 10s only. |
Anonymous
I am loathe to get sucked into this discussion, but these weren't prime locations years ago. That's why there were 2 BR, 1 ba houses on them. The definition of a prime location changes over the years, and if you are lamenting that you can't buy in what was once a run-of-the-mill neighborhood but is not a prime location, you're really off base. |
Anonymous
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Millenials are whiny and entitled. Boomers have more money because they’re older. Millenials are richer than Boomers were at their age. It takes time to build wealth.
https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/millennials-personal-finance-real-estate-50742ffe?st=qrfc0qlfqglupds&reflink=article_copyURL_share The median household net worth of older millennials, born in the 1980s, rose to $130,000 in 2022 from $60,000 in 2019, according to inflation-adjusted data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Median wealth more than quadrupled to $41,000 for Americans born in the 1990s, which includes the generation’s youngest members, born in 1996. The turnaround has been so dramatic that millennials—mocked at times for being perpetually behind in building wealth, buying homes, getting married and having children—now find themselves ahead. In early 2024, millennials and older members of Gen Z had, on average and adjusting for inflation, about 25% more wealth than Gen Xers and baby boomers did at a similar age, according to a St. Louis Fed analysis. |
Anonymous
Agreed. But fact remains that majority of boomers lived with "a lot less". Most were in 1200-1500 sq ft homes-3 bedroom and 1.5 to 2 baths. They didn't live in 4000sq ft + mansions. or even 2400sq ft homes. They had ONE tv, not 3+. They often lived with one car--the SAHM would drive the dad to work or the family went without a car during the day. Kids played outside with the niehgborhood kids after school, most didn't go to 3 hours of dance/gymnastics/club BB/etc. But nowadays the equivalent home is a condo or TH, in rare instances there are newer smaller SFH. And don't start on intrest rates-I can recall my parents having a mortgage for 16%+. |
Anonymous
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That millennial or Gen-Z starter SFH is now listed in Woodbridge for $500K to $600K. This home sold for $78K when it was built in 1984, it's had a few updates and now sells for $566K.
https://redf.in/yzv8UR |
Anonymous
This. Oceanfront property used to sell at a discount in LA because of a feared Japanese invasion. Should we all be complaining that Manhattan beach is now expensive but used to be dirt cheap? |
Anonymous
Pensions disappeared because of corporate greed. Top executives are allowed to shelter unlimited amounts of compensation from taxes. Employees have limits of how much they can contribute annually to their 401k Walmarts CEO Doug McMillon kept about $169m in his deferred compensation account. When he retires he will be able to generate a monthly retirement check of more than $1 million dollars. Only about half of employees of the shameful Walmart stores save any money at all in their 401k. Their salaries are just too low to set aside anything. This has nothing to do with people born in the 50s or people born in the 70s. This is pure greed amongst the powerful and voters not voting for their best interests. |