Why do people think Boomers had it so good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is that how you live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is your advice to live the decades of your life in poverty, pinching pennies and dealing with the discomfort of extreme weather while earning well and putting away cash and hope to enjoy it in old age hopefully if you don't drop dead before you get there?

That's very much the middle class life of the Boomers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My boomer inlaws had to deal with 10% mortgage rates in the late 80s, adjusted for inflation their house was 250K

We have 7% mortgage rates, and that same house is approaching 500k.

When you adjust for inflation, its 51% increase in mortgage costs for the same house today.

I'm PP, forgot to mention my in-laws parents(wife's maternal and paternal grandparents) had it even better when it came to housing. Both sides owned homes in Tenleytown, bought for the equivalent of 225k, single income, 4-5 children. Those same homes are between 1.5-2 million today.

What was tenleytown back then when they bought for 225K? My in-laws almost bought near Dupont back then when it was cheap and it was a no-go zone for most people as you could get jump and there was a red light district. They would have paid less and would have been sitting on more than one million today. Now, do people who bought in San Jose which was a total sh** hole with nothing around before Silicon Valley. Who cares. People were prescient and many didn't want to live in these areas back then and those who did sometimes sold before prices went way up and never "cashed out". How many areas never went up in price at all or not enough to barely keep with inflation? Inflation itself would make 225K home be worth 3x this depending on how many decades ago, that's not appreciation.. It's the deterioration of the buying power of your dollar.

It was my wife’s Grandparents, so this was in the late 50s early 60s when they bought. Tenleytown was a white middle class neighborhood. The 225k was the price adjusted for inflation. I think they bought under 30k last time I checked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is your advice to live the decades of your life in poverty, pinching pennies and dealing with the discomfort of extreme weather while earning well and putting away cash and hope to enjoy it in old age hopefully if you don't drop dead before you get there?

That's very much the middle class life of the Boomers.

Why don't you tell us more about middle class life of people in 19th century too This is more about technology and advancements that we now take for granted and are accessible to most, vs. before they were luxuries. As a result of our advancements we now have higher standard of living and what you describe is poverty and hardship. No AC, no adequate heating? No wifi (even the cheapest plan)? No airline travel at all? Working poor, many of whom are immigrants are able to afford an international airline ticket to the country once in a while.

Why don't you also list a color TV as a "luxury"

[Anonymous]

consumption culture has totally rotten us today....


... i think this is the biggest difference.

[Anonymous]

They had it a lot simpler which to me is better. Even the consumerism that's mentioned above is, yes, a total issue, but something societal and difficult to fight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My boomer inlaws had to deal with 10% mortgage rates in the late 80s, adjusted for inflation their house was 250K

We have 7% mortgage rates, and that same house is approaching 500k.

When you adjust for inflation, its 51% increase in mortgage costs for the same house today.

I'm PP, forgot to mention my in-laws parents(wife's maternal and paternal grandparents) had it even better when it came to housing. Both sides owned homes in Tenleytown, bought for the equivalent of 225k, single income, 4-5 children. Those same homes are between 1.5-2 million today.

What was tenleytown back then when they bought for 225K? My in-laws almost bought near Dupont back then when it was cheap and it was a no-go zone for most people as you could get jump and there was a red light district. They would have paid less and would have been sitting on more than one million today. Now, do people who bought in San Jose which was a total sh** hole with nothing around before Silicon Valley. Who cares. People were prescient and many didn't want to live in these areas back then and those who did sometimes sold before prices went way up and never "cashed out". How many areas never went up in price at all or not enough to barely keep with inflation? Inflation itself would make 225K home be worth 3x this depending on how many decades ago, that's not appreciation.. It's the deterioration of the buying power of your dollar.

It was my wife’s Grandparents, so this was in the late 50s early 60s when they bought. Tenleytown was a white middle class neighborhood. The 225k was the price adjusted for inflation. I think they bought under 30k last time I checked.

That was the start of the Washington area population growth. I bought an apartment downtown for 30k in the late '90s. Sometimes you get lucky on timing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is your advice to live the decades of your life in poverty, pinching pennies and dealing with the discomfort of extreme weather while earning well and putting away cash and hope to enjoy it in old age hopefully if you don't drop dead before you get there?

That's very much the middle class life of the Boomers.

No it wasn’t. So ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is your advice to live the decades of your life in poverty, pinching pennies and dealing with the discomfort of extreme weather while earning well and putting away cash and hope to enjoy it in old age hopefully if you don't drop dead before you get there?

That's very much the middle class life of the Boomers.

No it wasn’t. So ridiculous.

Yes it was. They bought a crappy rambler in the 50s/60s. Fixed it up over time and moved up. Eating out was a luxury saved for special occasions and usually bland. Vacations were a car trip to various camp sites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is your advice to live the decades of your life in poverty, pinching pennies and dealing with the discomfort of extreme weather while earning well and putting away cash and hope to enjoy it in old age hopefully if you don't drop dead before you get there?

DP: It should be a balance of the two. Sure you need to "enjoy" life. But also need to plan to pay for your own retirement, etc. DOnt expect others to provide it for you. You don't get to complain that you cannot afford college for your kids when you have been making $300K+ since the oldest was 5. Had you planned you can still live a very nice live with extras and afford 85% of colleges. If you want those that cost 90K as an option, then you had to make choices and save more and spend less on extras. But you had those options. You could have lived in a smaller, not as modern home, etc. and chose to save more for college or retirement or anything else. If you choose not to, then you have to live with the consequences.

But the fact remains majority of Americans do not understand how to live within their means. They also do not fully understand the differences between "needs" and "wants". You don't need a smartphone, you do need a basic phone for texting and calls. You don't need a new smart phone every 1-2 years. I've had my last 3 last for 3 years before they have issues (and then man, it's a quick demise). You don't need to eat out 2+ times per week. Most of us growing up in the 70/80s went out to eat 1-2times a month and then it was Pizza/Some restaurant like Sizzler (all you can eat for $6, so now maybe $15-18 per person). My family never went to a restaurant and spent $100+ for 4. My parents didn't order drinks when at a restaurant (you can make a cocktail or have a beer or wine at home for so much less). Most 20 somethings I know go out 1-2 times a week with friends, at a minimum. They don't pack lunches for work, they get food, they think nothing of grabbing Starbucks every day. Those little things do add up (despite what you want to think). And it's the mentality of back then, people were a bit more frugal and didn't spend money if it wasn't in their budget. And most budgets included saving for retirement and college if they could.
My Poor parents paid 10% of what they earned each year I was in college to match the same amount I came up with (I worked 50-60hours in summers and 10-12 during the school year/WS job). The issue was my parents were lower income---I had 3 years where I got free lunch at school. So it's not as if they were paying $50K on $500K income. They were paying $4-5K on a $40K income. And also paying additional $4-5K for 3 of those years when a sibling was also in college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is your advice to live the decades of your life in poverty, pinching pennies and dealing with the discomfort of extreme weather while earning well and putting away cash and hope to enjoy it in old age hopefully if you don't drop dead before you get there?

That's very much the middle class life of the Boomers.

Why don't you tell us more about middle class life of people in 19th century too This is more about technology and advancements that we now take for granted and are accessible to most, vs. before they were luxuries. As a result of our advancements we now have higher standard of living and what you describe is poverty and hardship. No AC, no adequate heating? No wifi (even the cheapest plan)? No airline travel at all? Working poor, many of whom are immigrants are able to afford an international airline ticket to the country once in a while.

Why don't you also list a color TV as a "luxury"

Hey, I was in College before my parents had a color TV

Difference is you can now get a huge color TV for $200 and it will last you 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is that how you live?

It’s how I lived when I was saving and investing a huge percentage of my pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is your advice to live the decades of your life in poverty, pinching pennies and dealing with the discomfort of extreme weather while earning well and putting away cash and hope to enjoy it in old age hopefully if you don't drop dead before you get there?

It’s not poverty at all. It’s how almost everybody lived prior to 1975. It’s actually fun to watch the money pile up. You can still work out, take hikes, enjoy parks watch network tv with an antennae.

[Anonymous]

It’s not how much you make,

It’s how much you keep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not hard today if you live the way people used to. Live in a 1950s Wheaton rambler, No dinners out, no air travel, no cable, no air condition, heat set at 60, flip phone only mint mobile, no eating out, minimal Walmart clothing, used Nissan Sentra, use McDonald’s parking lot Wi-Fi, Walmart / Aldi groceries no name brands.

The money piles up and invest it.

Have some discipline like the boomers grew up in.

Is your advice to live the decades of your life in poverty, pinching pennies and dealing with the discomfort of extreme weather while earning well and putting away cash and hope to enjoy it in old age hopefully if you don't drop dead before you get there?

It’s not poverty at all. It’s how almost everybody lived prior to 1975. It’s actually fun to watch the money pile up. You can still work out, take hikes, enjoy parks watch network tv with an antennae.

You probably live longer. Nothing to do but work out, not eating in restaurants, not stressing out online, not getting social media dopamine hits all day, not worrying about about not being able to pay bills or how to retire .