Why do people think Boomers had it so good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a hard insight issue and the tricky part is that it's impossible to know if the comparison is fair because not enough time has passed.

Yes Boomers dealt with Vietnam, stagflation, and much more restrictive banking policies that made home ownership more challenging. However that turned around and Boomers then enjoyed perhaps the single most prosperous two decades in the US during their prime earning years. The homes the bought in the early 80s with 12% interest rates and that they had to scrimp and save for to qualify at all, doubled, then ,tripled, then quadrupled in value. Their salaries also increased by multiples. The stock market exploded and they wound up on the ground floor of that rocket.

So yes, in 1982, boomers as a generation were struggling. But in 2024 they are not. They have immense wealth, plus social security is still solvent and medicare is actually functioning better than ever thanks to work on prescription drug prices and supplemental plans. They made it.

Millennials have different challenges. Yes mortgage rates are lower and the rules around mortgages are looser (though not quite as loose as they used to be and that's a good thing). Millennials have more debt starting out thanks to education costs, and unlike boomers they have zero faith their own children will be able to self-fund college. The economy is stronger but the job market is more competitive thanks to globalization and American workers must compete with more highly qualified workers.

Maybe it will all work out like it did for boomers. I hope so! One challenge millennials face is that they continue to lack political power as the political landscape remains dominated by Boomers with a continued focus on Boomer concerns. Key millennial issues (cost of college and cost of housing) still lack consensus and addressing them has been an uphill battle.

To top it off, when millennials advocate for policies that would relieve these key pressures, they are called entitled and whiny and told "hey boomers had high mortgage rates and it was hard to even qualify." But this ignores the fact that *those circumstances changed because they were bad.* Policies shifted to make it easier to buy a home and boomers profited wildly from it. The reason mortgage rules were relaxed and rates brought down over time was not dome gift to millennials. These were policies intended to help boomers. And they did.

This only applies to the privileged class. My boomer mom lives in the house we were born in and has a life you can't complain about, she does get social security and medicare, but none of the bolded benefitted her, a teacher in a middle class neighborhood where the housing has not doubled in value relative to inflation. The housing crisis, where so many people lost their homes -- a huge portion of them were boomers. Boomer home ownership fell by more than 10 percentage points and did not recover. And only half of home owning boomers owned their houses outright when the mortgage crisis hit; many have fallen behind on payments and are still at risk of losing their homes, leaving many without the housing wealth they were counting on for retirement. Some Millennials may not be able to afford to buy them, but some Boomers cannot afford to keep them either. And they can't make up for the losses over time with years to work and increase earnings. Don't forget that many of those who did see housing increases also had to live off of that equity because they had no pensions or savings, didn't work for companies with 401K plans, don't own stock, didn't have protected healthcare for most of their lives, etc. (see, e.g., the new thing for boomers called reverse mortgages). Some Boomers benefitted from the boom, but not everyone. Not by a long shot. Much of your post is only about the wealthier Boomers.

Wealthy, white boomers. PP’s description doesn’t apply to my AA’s family of origin.

This 100%.

[Anonymous]

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

For like 10k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a hard insight issue and the tricky part is that it's impossible to know if the comparison is fair because not enough time has passed.

Yes Boomers dealt with Vietnam, stagflation, and much more restrictive banking policies that made home ownership more challenging. However that turned around and Boomers then enjoyed perhaps the single most prosperous two decades in the US during their prime earning years. The homes the bought in the early 80s with 12% interest rates and that they had to scrimp and save for to qualify at all, doubled, then ,tripled, then quadrupled in value. Their salaries also increased by multiples. The stock market exploded and they wound up on the ground floor of that rocket.

So yes, in 1982, boomers as a generation were struggling. But in 2024 they are not. They have immense wealth, plus social security is still solvent and medicare is actually functioning better than ever thanks to work on prescription drug prices and supplemental plans. They made it.

Millennials have different challenges. Yes mortgage rates are lower and the rules around mortgages are looser (though not quite as loose as they used to be and that's a good thing). Millennials have more debt starting out thanks to education costs, and unlike boomers they have zero faith their own children will be able to self-fund college. The economy is stronger but the job market is more competitive thanks to globalization and American workers must compete with more highly qualified workers.

Maybe it will all work out like it did for boomers. I hope so! One challenge millennials face is that they continue to lack political power as the political landscape remains dominated by Boomers with a continued focus on Boomer concerns. Key millennial issues (cost of college and cost of housing) still lack consensus and addressing them has been an uphill battle.

To top it off, when millennials advocate for policies that would relieve these key pressures, they are called entitled and whiny and told "hey boomers had high mortgage rates and it was hard to even qualify." But this ignores the fact that *those circumstances changed because they were bad.* Policies shifted to make it easier to buy a home and boomers profited wildly from it. The reason mortgage rules were relaxed and rates brought down over time was not dome gift to millennials. These were policies intended to help boomers. And they did.

This made me chuckle. Sure, they dealt with the ravages of war but it's NBD. Such a millennial post.

My dad is a Boomer. Served during the Vietnam era. I don't think he'd shrug it off so lightly. My grandfather was greatest generation and served in WW2. He came back deaf and a changed man. I don't think younger generations quite understand the long-lasting effects that these wars had on these generations - particularly those that served, which constituted a huge portion of the population.

Millennials only focus on how much money they believe Boomers have now - in their retirement. And no, they're not looking at struggling boomers in middle-America but their own white, wealthy parents. My darling millennials - your worldview is skewed. Of course white, wealthy boomers have money now after 50 years of savings. You, too, will have more money after investing for 50 years. This is basic math.

But lucky you that you will likely never have to serve in war as every generation before you, and you have significantly more physical, food, and political security than any prior time in history. I know that they don't believe that but just open a history book to any random year in the 19th/20th century and do a side-by-side. Plus, most of what I hear complaints about are not buying a 3500 sq ft house. Ok. Check avg housing size in 1950 and then get back to me.

Imagine thinking Vietnam was the last war. Who do you think went to Iraq? Afghanistan? Those silly millennials who have only known peace, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a hard insight issue and the tricky part is that it's impossible to know if the comparison is fair because not enough time has passed.

Yes Boomers dealt with Vietnam, stagflation, and much more restrictive banking policies that made home ownership more challenging. However that turned around and Boomers then enjoyed perhaps the single most prosperous two decades in the US during their prime earning years. The homes the bought in the early 80s with 12% interest rates and that they had to scrimp and save for to qualify at all, doubled, then ,tripled, then quadrupled in value. Their salaries also increased by multiples. The stock market exploded and they wound up on the ground floor of that rocket.

So yes, in 1982, boomers as a generation were struggling. But in 2024 they are not. They have immense wealth, plus social security is still solvent and medicare is actually functioning better than ever thanks to work on prescription drug prices and supplemental plans. They made it.

Millennials have different challenges. Yes mortgage rates are lower and the rules around mortgages are looser (though not quite as loose as they used to be and that's a good thing). Millennials have more debt starting out thanks to education costs, and unlike boomers they have zero faith their own children will be able to self-fund college. The economy is stronger but the job market is more competitive thanks to globalization and American workers must compete with more highly qualified workers.

Maybe it will all work out like it did for boomers. I hope so! One challenge millennials face is that they continue to lack political power as the political landscape remains dominated by Boomers with a continued focus on Boomer concerns. Key millennial issues (cost of college and cost of housing) still lack consensus and addressing them has been an uphill battle.

To top it off, when millennials advocate for policies that would relieve these key pressures, they are called entitled and whiny and told "hey boomers had high mortgage rates and it was hard to even qualify." But this ignores the fact that *those circumstances changed because they were bad.* Policies shifted to make it easier to buy a home and boomers profited wildly from it. The reason mortgage rules were relaxed and rates brought down over time was not dome gift to millennials. These were policies intended to help boomers. And they did.

This made me chuckle. Sure, they dealt with the ravages of war but it's NBD. Such a millennial post.

My dad is a Boomer. Served during the Vietnam era. I don't think he'd shrug it off so lightly. My grandfather was greatest generation and served in WW2. He came back deaf and a changed man. I don't think younger generations quite understand the long-lasting effects that these wars had on these generations - particularly those that served, which constituted a huge portion of the population.

Millennials only focus on how much money they believe Boomers have now - in their retirement. And no, they're not looking at struggling boomers in middle-America but their own white, wealthy parents. My darling millennials - your worldview is skewed. Of course white, wealthy boomers have money now after 50 years of savings. You, too, will have more money after investing for 50 years. This is basic math.

But lucky you that you will likely never have to serve in war as every generation before you, and you have significantly more physical, food, and political security than any prior time in history. I know that they don't believe that but just open a history book to any random year in the 19th/20th century and do a side-by-side. Plus, most of what I hear complaints about are not buying a 3500 sq ft house. Ok. Check avg housing size in 1950 and then get back to me.

DP here
Gen X and Millennials have also served in war-Iraq and Afghanistan. My Gen X husband went to Iraq twice. My boomer dad also "served during Vietnam" but did not go to Vietnam, nor any combat zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boomers have had 40 years to build their wealth, millennials maybe 15. Forget housing costs, mortgages etc., it’s really education debt where the boomers have had an advantage. Education inflation has outpaced just about everything else.

+1 and they benefitted twice.

Boomers went through college for next to nothing (or nothing). They had no college debt.

But then a lot of Boomers convinced their kids that not only was college essential, but you should aim to go through the best college you could get into. And if the family couldn't afford it, well there are these student loans now. It's "good debt." You'll make so much money when this degree from a school I get to brag to other boomers about you'll pay then off in no time!

(JK you'll get laid off twice and spend 30 years crawling out if that debt and be unable to buy a house).

So Boomers had to pay for zero college educations because theirs were mostly free and their kids were paid for through loans.

Meanwhile millennials had to pay for their own education cations via loans and, if they have kids, have to save up the cost of college because it will be even more expensive for their kids and they don't want their kids burdened with loans as they were.

And yes: not all boomers. Not all millennials. But when you find someone railing about boomers take a look at their background-- you'll find a lot of people who borrowed money to attend colleges their parents really wanted then to attend (colleges that sound impressive) and are bitter that their parents unwittingly led them down a path of debt.

A lot of Millennials got bad financial and education guidance from their parents and when they complain about boomers they are talking about their specific boomer parents. And they have a reason to be upset, frankly.

[Anonymous]

Look, it's all being able to look through the rearview mirror and then make the determination that Boomers had it good.

However, if you were to magically transport back to 1981, you would never envy the Boomer generation.

The Dow was 9400 in 1965...and it was 2700 in 1982...can you imagine living through 17 years where the stock market collapsed by 71%? It was a slow-moving trainwreck. Inflation was also nuts...like over 10% per year.

Now, between 1982 and today the Dow went almost straight shot from 2,700 to 40,000. All those boomers that just left their accumulated savings in the market made a fortune.

Also, the WSJ just published an article saying that housing affordability today is essentially the same as it was in 1984. It become significantly more affordable between 1984 - 2015...then zoomed higher to unaffordable through today.

The big differences are that both college and healthcare as a %age of income were way lower back in the day. You could go to Harvard for literally $650 in 1955...which would only be like $10k in today's dollars.

[Anonymous]

My parents are late boomers. They bought their house in Chevy Chase for 100k in 1979 when rates were 20%. It’s probably worth $3m now. They didn’t save much else and got their inheritances and are set for life and my mom loves to tell me how she’s going to spend it all before she dies.

[Anonymous]

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

But your home price to income ratio was WAY different that it was then.

The federal minimum wage is still $7.25. It's unconscionable.

[Anonymous]

This topic, again! Have you considered that maybe *some of the people* in your life are crappy - and it's not an entire generation?

"Boomers pillaged society's wealth and then pulled the ladder up behind them!" Actually, my Boomer parents sacrificed a lot to be able to give their kids a better life (fully paid-for college, etc.). Even now that they're retired, they're not spending every penny on cruises or something - they gift each child $30K per year instead of spending more on themselves.

I know lots of other Boomers who did/do the same. So maybe just some of the people in your life are crappy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, it's all being able to look through the rearview mirror and then make the determination that Boomers had it good.

However, if you were to magically transport back to 1981, you would never envy the Boomer generation.

The Dow was 9400 in 1965...and it was 2700 in 1982...can you imagine living through 17 years where the stock market collapsed by 71%? It was a slow-moving trainwreck. Inflation was also nuts...like over 10% per year.

Now, between 1982 and today the Dow went almost straight shot from 2,700 to 40,000. All those boomers that just left their accumulated savings in the market made a fortune.

Also, the WSJ just published an article saying that housing affordability today is essentially the same as it was in 1984. It become significantly more affordable between 1984 - 2015...then zoomed higher to unaffordable through today.

The big differences are that both college and healthcare as a %age of income were way lower back in the day. You could go to Harvard for literally $650 in 1955...which would only be like $10k in today's dollars.

Only the very wealthy had money in the stock market. Middle class boomers and their pensions and cheap houses and were pretty comfortable. They had housing, affordable medical car, and cheap colleges, and one spouse didn’t have to work to make this happen - so no childcare camps. Maybe they don’t travel as much or have fancy phones? But millennials recognize that giving up a phone and avacado toast is not going to close the gap on housing costs. The income to housing ratio has been terrible for 20 years.

Link to that WSJ article about housing affordability?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

For like 10k

Which is now 1.5 million. What difference does it make on the mortgage rate if the house is so much less? The rates are very problematic now because the house prices are so high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, it's all being able to look through the rearview mirror and then make the determination that Boomers had it good.

However, if you were to magically transport back to 1981, you would never envy the Boomer generation.

The Dow was 9400 in 1965...and it was 2700 in 1982...can you imagine living through 17 years where the stock market collapsed by 71%? It was a slow-moving trainwreck. Inflation was also nuts...like over 10% per year.

Now, between 1982 and today the Dow went almost straight shot from 2,700 to 40,000. All those boomers that just left their accumulated savings in the market made a fortune.

Also, the WSJ just published an article saying that housing affordability today is essentially the same as it was in 1984. It become significantly more affordable between 1984 - 2015...then zoomed higher to unaffordable through today.

The big differences are that both college and healthcare as a %age of income were way lower back in the day. You could go to Harvard for literally $650 in 1955...which would only be like $10k in today's dollars.

But anyone going to college in 1955 were silent generation, not boomers. Boomers didn't start college till 1964.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

But your home price to income ratio was WAY different that it was then.

The federal minimum wage is still $7.25. It's unconscionable.

Agree. Take the average home price over a 30 year timeframe along with the a low, medium, and high income to create a ratio then and now. I'm sure they will be vastly different even with a higher interest rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

But your home price to income ratio was WAY different that it was then.

The federal minimum wage is still $7.25. It's unconscionable.

Incorrect! On home price to income the guideline has been 28% of gross income to cover a mortgage assuming 20% down. That was true in 1980 as it is today. Home sizes are much bigger today. In 1975 it was 1750 sq ft and it’s now 2500 sq ft. Mortgage rates of 15%+ in the early 80s killed the housing market in terms of both transactions and price.

[Anonymous]

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

Mortgage rate doesn’t matter all that matters is the price you paid. Your rate might have been high but your prices were WAY lower then.

Better to spend 90k on a house with 11% than 600k on a house with 3%