Why do people think Boomers had it so good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I purchased my first home in 1986 with a mortgage rate of 11%.

Not very meaningful without other details.
How much was it?
How much for down payment?
Income?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a boomer. My first apartment was 200 sf walk up apartment with no AC, no dishwasher, a pullman kitchen that consisted of a mini fridge and hot plate with bars on windows and doors.

Today kids want doormen, pools, gyms in their first apt.

Things are not really more expensive it is expectations are higher. And that costs more.

You really don’t think things are more expensive?

[Anonymous]

In 1984 the median home price in the US was $78.2k
In 1984 the median household income in the US was $22.4k
In 1984 home cost 3.5x income

In 2022 the median home price in the US was $433.1k
In 2022 the median household income in the US was $74.6k
In 2022 home cost 5.8x income

Thats it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I purchased my first home in 1986 with a mortgage rate of 11%.

Not very meaningful without other details.
How much was it?
How much for down payment?
Income?

NP, but my parents bought their first home a few years earlier than this PP. The mortgage rate on their 15 year mortgage fixed rate was 12%. The total cost of their home just outside the beltway was 2x their annual income. Down payment of 20% was provided by my grandparents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a boomer. My first apartment was 200 sf walk up apartment with no AC, no dishwasher, a pullman kitchen that consisted of a mini fridge and hot plate with bars on windows and doors.

Today kids want doormen, pools, gyms in their first apt.

Things are not really more expensive it is expectations are higher. And that costs more.

Maybe, but also you (boomer) raised your kids (millennials) to expect more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a boomer. My first apartment was 200 sf walk up apartment with no AC, no dishwasher, a pullman kitchen that consisted of a mini fridge and hot plate with bars on windows and doors.

Today kids want doormen, pools, gyms in their first apt.

Things are not really more expensive it is expectations are higher. And that costs more.

Maybe, but also you (boomer) raised your kids (millennials) to expect more.

By the time millennials were determining their expectations, the internet and all of its healthy influencing had taken over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a boomer. My first apartment was 200 sf walk up apartment with no AC, no dishwasher, a pullman kitchen that consisted of a mini fridge and hot plate with bars on windows and doors.

Today kids want doormen, pools, gyms in their first apt.

Things are not really more expensive it is expectations are higher. And that costs more.

Maybe, but also you (boomer) raised your kids (millennials) to expect more.

+1. Boomers didn’t model the best priorities for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a boomer. My first apartment was 200 sf walk up apartment with no AC, no dishwasher, a pullman kitchen that consisted of a mini fridge and hot plate with bars on windows and doors.

Today kids want doormen, pools, gyms in their first apt.

Things are not really more expensive it is expectations are higher. And that costs more.

Maybe, but also you (boomer) raised your kids (millennials) to expect more.

Yes many of us did (I'm not a boomer). However, I've also made my kids aware that we didn't live like we do now when we were in our 20s. My kids understand wants vs needs.
My kids also know we are the exception and in the 1%+ (probably top 0.5%). They know they have to work to earn the nice things in life. Yes, they have a financial fallback, but my oldest knew when they got their first job that sure they could afford the brand new luxury apartment with a pool and everything, but for $400/month (+150 for heated parking) less they could live in the 5 year old,(also luxury but without the pool) apartment complex, with a much better management team and with included heated parking (midwest, trust me you want that) that is right next door. Oh, and their apartment is 200 sq ft bigger in the "cheaper place". So they are saving $550/month and in a place that is 1000x nicer than my first apartment.
And they can afford it all on their own and happily invest the rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole argument is stupid. But anyone is welcome to buy a house that the Boomers had available to them a high interest rates. Go forth with that 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 1200 sq foot abode.

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.

No, but you thought you would get hit by a nuclear bomb. We practiced crawling under the school desk for cover. In retrospect, that truly was a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a boomer. My first apartment was 200 sf walk up apartment with no AC, no dishwasher, a pullman kitchen that consisted of a mini fridge and hot plate with bars on windows and doors.

Today kids want doormen, pools, gyms in their first apt.

Things are not really more expensive it is expectations are higher. And that costs more.

Maybe, but also you (boomer) raised your kids (millennials) to expect more.

Yes many of us did (I'm not a boomer). However, I've also made my kids aware that we didn't live like we do now when we were in our 20s. My kids understand wants vs needs.
My kids also know we are the exception and in the 1%+ (probably top 0.5%). They know they have to work to earn the nice things in life. Yes, they have a financial fallback, but my oldest knew when they got their first job that sure they could afford the brand new luxury apartment with a pool and everything, but for $400/month (+150 for heated parking) less they could live in the 5 year old,(also luxury but without the pool) apartment complex, with a much better management team and with included heated parking (midwest, trust me you want that) that is right next door. Oh, and their apartment is 200 sq ft bigger in the "cheaper place". So they are saving $550/month and in a place that is 1000x nicer than my first apartment.
And they can afford it all on their own and happily invest the rest.

I mean, your kids have luxury option 1, 2 and 3...It's not really amazing and responsible to not lose your money when you have so much to start + a safety net. It's a lot harder to remain okay financially when your options are cheap awful place 1, cheap awful place 2 and expensive for you option 3 (an option your child would NEVER consider and would find disgusting) which will hinder your ability to save, but also allow you to sometimes go home after 8pm at night without fearing for your safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a boomer. My first apartment was 200 sf walk up apartment with no AC, no dishwasher, a pullman kitchen that consisted of a mini fridge and hot plate with bars on windows and doors.

Today kids want doormen, pools, gyms in their first apt.

Things are not really more expensive it is expectations are higher. And that costs more.

My 23 year old recently informed me that he would not buy our home for what it would be listed at. It wouldn't meet expectations.

[Anonymous]

Boomers are too lazy to look at the data. They rely on anecdotes and sheer fantasy that confirm their biases and coddle their fragile psyches. History will look upon them with universal scorn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a boomer. My first apartment was 200 sf walk up apartment with no AC, no dishwasher, a pullman kitchen that consisted of a mini fridge and hot plate with bars on windows and doors.

Today kids want doormen, pools, gyms in their first apt.

Things are not really more expensive it is expectations are higher. And that costs more.

My 23 year old recently informed me that he would not buy our home for what it would be listed at. It wouldn't meet expectations.

I kind of get this. It used to be that home prices somehow related to the house: a little bungalow house was cheap, a burb house was affordable, a mansion was expensive. My house cost 400k (which felt fair) and someone buying it now just a few years later would have to pay 900k...I think it'd be sheer lunacy to do that. It's not that nice, it's certainly not 900k nice. For 900k I'd want something MUCH better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole argument is stupid. But anyone is welcome to buy a house that the Boomers had available to them a high interest rates. Go forth with that 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 1200 sq foot abode.

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.

No, but you thought you would get hit by a nuclear bomb. We practiced crawling under the school desk for cover. In retrospect, that truly was a joke.

And so boomers went out and drove up gun sales. And now our kids are not only practicing for active shooters, they are actually facing those threats in a way that boomers never did.

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/06/22/the-demographics-of-gun-ownership/

Worse generation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I purchased my first home in 1986 with a mortgage rate of 11%.

Ah, for 100k in McLean? Well put me in my place.