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[Andrew Korenchkin]

All those fucking candles....

I buy albums but I stopped since I can't afford it. I got a bit of money for graduating, and I saved every penny and still haven't touched it.

 

[Cymbal Head]

Damn kids these days would rather have food than ride the endless carousel of debt that is the foundation of modern society.

What a bunch of snowflakes.

 

[kmfdmpig]

I love that college continues to be brought up as if it's a waste of money for most people.

That's simply not the case. Statistically speaking the more education one has the more they earn (although after graduate school it depends on the subject), the better employment rates one will have, and the shorter time between jobs one will have.

I know that the media loves to fixate on the outliers like a barista who has a PhD, but that's the exception, not the norm. If you look at the actual data college, as expensive as it is, remains a good option for the majority of people.

 

[the1npc]

There are way more options than that, tradesmen are in high demand right now, i.e. a master plumber can make upwards of $40/HR. There is also the military.

Its difficult to even get an apprenticeship here and your making minimum wage for years too after getting one. Im busting my ass working 50-60 hours a week landscaping, ive thought of military but its such a last resort for me.

 

[Ron Mexico]

Doesn't help when the universities skew or outright lie about their placement statistics.

And even worse when we were never taught to think critically and ask that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Mind you, I don't have the perfect answer. But I don't feel the scope has ever truly been addressed in any real way.

 

[jfkgoblue]

I was about to join the Navy but I would have been either full out denied or red tagged. I wish I knew a lot more sailors who budgeted though. 35k aint bad though, at least where I live. Would kill to make that much. Is that sad? lol.

Yeah a lot of my fellow sailors lived paycheck to paycheck and those are the ones that never leave the military because they can't risk going without that stable paycheck. $35k in an area where the average one br cost around $950/month, my current location it's half that.

So I was forced to have roommates

 

[TheCochese]

Doesn't help when the universities themselves heavily skew or outright lie about their placement statistics.

Our high schools could also do a better job of instilling the realities of life. OK, reach for the stars. But if what you want to do doesn't pan out, here are some backup plans.

 

[Haly]

And it all began with a humble gym in the Melbourne suburb of Elwood, when Mr Gurner was just 19 years old.

”I saw an opportunity and took over the lease," he told news.com.au.

”I didn't even know what I was doing, to be totally honest, but it was a really good opportunity, a good spot."

His grandfather gave him $34,000 to kickstart the project and Mr Gurner spent four weeks renovating the space while getting his gym license by correspondence. Within six months, the place was pumping.

”I didn't even know what I was doing, to be totally honest, but it was a really good opportunity, a good spot."

His grandfather gave him $34,000 to kickstart the project and Mr Gurner spent four weeks renovating the space while getting his gym license by correspondence. Within six months, the place was pumping.

His grandfather gave him $34,000 to kickstart the project and Mr Gurner spent four weeks renovating the space while getting his gym license by correspondence. Within six months, the place was pumping.

His grandfather gave him $34,000

Forgive us if we're not taking this guy's opinions on personal finance as it pertains millennials seriously.

Oh, excuse me, I interrupted the regularly scheduled #notallboomers. Continue as you were.

 

[jfkgoblue]

Its difficult to even get an apprenticeship here and your making minimum wage for years too after getting one. Im busting my ass working 50-60 hours a week landscaping, ive thought of military but its such a last resort for me.

It really depends on the trade. A starting electrician can earn upwards of $17/HR for example.

The military is good because it is a very stable job and will pay for any future college as long as you serve 3 years and leave honorably.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

Our high schools could also do a better job of instilling the realities of life. OK, reach for the stars. But if what you want to do doesn't pan out, here are some backup plans.

Parents - kids - parents - kids

Doesn't matter too much what schools do. They are still a by-product of the culture.

As long as people think what they think changes aren't bound to happen that drastically.

 

[hypernima]

Yeah a lot of my fellow sailors lived paycheck to paycheck and those are the ones that never leave the military because they can't risk going without that stable paycheck. $35k in an area where the average one br cost around $950/month, my current location it's half that.

So I was forced to have roommates

I kind of regret not joining, but I can't imagine I'd have made it with my illness.
I have once stretched out 1500 over 8 months.
I can only imagine what I could do with the post deployment pay :S

 

[jfkgoblue]

Forgive us if we're not taking this guy's opinions on personal finance as it pertains millennials seriously.

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

For small towns that will easily get you a home, car and good. I'm big cities it's almost like nothing.

 

[Ron Mexico]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

Agree, but the fact of the matter is this guy was the wrong choice of messenger which made it easy to move the focus away from what's otherwise a worthwhile conversation.

 

[Kusagari]

The coffee thing is kind of stupid to apply to buying a house but it's very true that I know people complaining about not being able to pay regular bills they have when they're spending almost 10 bucks at Starbucks every day.

 

[TheCochese]

Parents - kids - parents - kids

Doesn't matter too much what schools do. They are still a by-product of the culture.

As long as people think what they think changes aren't bound to happen that drastically.

Perhaps it was a byproduct of going to a good school, but we had guidance counselors who would take you through your college and career designs. They weren't that great at explaining realities, though. Yeah, you want to do this, let's get you there. But they never told you what happens when life throws up roadblocks. There is a lot of that where family structure plays a role, but the guidance counselors are there for this specific purpose.

I didn't see enough people trying to explain how a $150k degree and a $40k job shouldn't go together.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

Ha! If I had 34k in cash at 19 I'd own multiple homes by the time I was 30.

 

[The Real Abed]

So, no avocados and no iPhones. Well the avocados I can live without.

 

[hipbabboom]

Love the whole "left get rid of fancy education" idea floating around in here. It make way more sense than making education free like some communist might think. I mean who's going to pay for something unnecessary like free education. People just need to live within their means. Frankly speaking, not everyone needs to have a home so certainly not everyone need to have an education. Life is about choices so chose young people: A fancy job, a fancy home or a fancy brain. Chose wisely because there's no do-overs in the adult world.

 

[the1npc]

It really depends on the trade. A starting electrician can earn upwards of $17/HR for example.

The military is good because it is a very stable job and will pay for any future college as long as you serve 3 years and leave honorably.

Im making $16 but I get laid off in the winter. Sometimes I can find odd jobs for cash ut helps. We have a very hard time finding employees who actually want to work / move thier ass. People might be more lazy these days but still wage stagnation is crazy. Also my parents bought a huge house for 200K around 10 years ago now its worth 900k.

 

[Massicot]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

It's not, but its 30k more funny money to risk than most people will ever see at once.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

No one needs the Internet that badly. It's fine and all that but the extra entertainment things is why people are so broke.

This is so ignorant and incorrect that it means all your other points are wrong as well.

The internet is a vital part of life now and if you don't have it you literally cannot do much of ANYTHING in modern life.

 

[Poppy]

if it came down to not eating food i like for a year or not buying a house for ten years i still would probably just not buy a house

i aint livin forever, i got food out there to eat man

that being said im pretty sure the struggle the man depicts is not exactly accurate to my generation, overall. things arent like they used to be

 

[Haly]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

To be clear are we talking about 34k today or in 2001, when he was given this windfall? Are we factoring in the global downturns since then, the popping of various real estate bubbles across the world, one of which is clearly what he built his present day fortune on? Are we ignoring the support network he clearly has as the scion of a family who can give a 19 year old $34,000 on a whim?

Or are we just going to go "well it's not THAT much, clearly no silver spoon"?

 

[benicillin]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

Okay we'll pretend that getting 34k in 2001 for free, no strings attached, at 19 years old (higher than the average single income a high school graduate works for for an entire year) isn't a lot of money. And that's ignoring the benefits that come from clearly being in a family where people have that kind of money to throw around.

 

[AndyD]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

It wasn't just the money, which at 19 is an enormous amount, but also the gym opportunity for a perfect time perfect place situation. These types of things don't happen everyday, and don't happen to everyone, so trying to frame them as the basis to change the behavior of the everyman is inaccurate.

 

[jwk94]

So, no avocados and no iPhones. Well the avocados I can live without.

Another phone thing I wanna bring up. Yesterday, my sister wanted the two of us to buy my mother a new phone full price. So, we go to the Verizon store and look at the S8 and a few iPhones, everyone's surprised by how much they cost ($600-700), except me. So, when we get home, I go to Swappa and pull up one of the newer iPhones on Verizon: $475 for the 7 and lower for anything else. I know my mom doesn't need the seven so there's no point in spending that much. If you don't need a new phone, there's always a cheaper option.

 

[ghostofsparta]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

According to thiswebsite (not sure how credible it is), it'd be 51k today (based of the year 2001 because he's 35 now).

You don't think a free 51k would propel you dramatically?

 

[see5harp]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

34 grand nearly 20 years ago is still more liquid cash than I've ever had in my life. The most I ever had was when I was saving for my first house and even then I didn't have that much, plus I had to sell mutual funds.

 

[benicillin]

According to thiswebsite (not sure how credible it is), it'd be 51k today (based of the year 2001 because he's 35 now).

You don't think a free 51k would propel you dramatically?

Nah it's just shy of the average yearly household income in America. At 19. For free. Without having to work for it. Or get into debt. Not much money at all!

 

[Cymbal Head]

I remember back in 2008-9 thinking about how the financial crisis was going to have long-lasting effects on the cohort of people, like me, who were just entering/about to enter the workforce, and wondering what those would be.

Turns out we're wary as fuck about buying homes and focus on enjoying life because you never know when everything you have could be ripped out from under your feet.

Go figure.

 

[TheCochese]

They had an economic situation with labor leverage that looks almost nothing like today's. When given the reins of power they decided to knock down much of what gave them the ability to live the lives they did.

So yes, fuck them. They worked, many worked hard, but they don't seem capable of understanding that the jobs and quality of life offered to them relative to their experience and education are irrelevant compared to what the current generation has to cope with.

There's a reason new home ownership is down, and I'll tell you right now without a doubt it's not because of fucking avocado toast.

It's going to be damn interesting looking at the housing market in twenty years. Senior living and self storage places here are popping up like banks were in the mid-2000s. Market seems poised for a tank when a glutton of McMansions come on the market and this next generation doesn't quite have the cash to go into them.

 

[AndyD]

According to thiswebsite (not sure how credible it is), it'd be 51k today (based of the year 2001 because he's 35 now).

You don't think a free 51k would propel you dramatically?

And you have to keep in mind it's not just 35k in cash, but 35k and the project with relatively little risk and responsibility. He had no kids, no family to worry about, no creditors for the loan, it if did not work out, it would still be a net gain in experience at a great age.

 

[Harlock]

There is some true on what he talks. 20, 30 years ago, people did not spend so much money in superfluous things like Starbucks, parents give less money for your kids, electronics were sparse. Young people lacks the economic learning to plan your future.

 

[Twilight Princess]

My advice is don't buy coffee, buy a 5k espresso machine + 2k grinder. You save so much money in the long run.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

You're spot on with the age-- I'm 37. So if you don't mind me using you as the example here (and I'm sure it goes without saying but you totally have my respect and admiration for juggling all that), would you have made any other choices, say college, or what have you, had you known that your likely income would be $X and your likely debt coming out of school would be $Y?

I don't think that we as mid-30 somethings now, truly grasped the magnitude of our choices when we were 18 and I think that has only gotten prohibitively worse as the years have gone by. I know not everything in life can be boiled down to a simple risk vs. reward calculation but I think there needs to be more pragmatism woven in to how we educate our young. I can't begin to tell you how many times over the years I've had an 18 year old (hell, even some college grads) come into my office and not even know how to fill out a check. Now, if we're not teaching the absolute basics like that, how are we supposed to help that same kid make an informed choice as to how they're going to create the foundation for that future?



I also agree with this and yes, totally different topic, but I think college is going to look a hell of a lot different in a generation or two.

We were a product of our environment. Our society entrusts 17 year olds with life choices that will affect them peversely for the rest of their days, all the while pushing them to make these giant investments in education so they can later maybe make out with a better income situation. I'm talking about nearly 2 decades worth of higher education expectations from peers, parents, teachers, school administrators, the media, and even the government being thrust onto impressionable youngsters, and that's for a justifiably good end goal. Wanting kids to seek a higher education is not a bad thing. How we've chosen to pay for it as a society is the bad thing. You can't tell kids after everything goes to shit in the job market that they should have been more modest with their education choices when you as the adult in the postion of role model and influencer were the one advocating for pushing to get the best education feasible to get the competitive leg up.

We certainly need to be more pragmatic as the new adults in the room, and we need to get away from the allures of private school branding and the pricetag premium that comes with it. Public colleges and universities should be highly subsidized or tuition free. This sort of policy shift would make all the difference for future generations starting their adult lives.

 

[Snowybreak]

Heh... Reminds me of a morbid joke that me and a couple friends share.

"What's your retirement plan look like?"

"A gun."

 

[Kerensky]

You start to realize how petty and how wasteful we really are, why.. Cause it's easy? Id argue against that as well. Just being accustomed. Also accustomed to blowing all our money and being addicted to buying in general.

I'm inclined to agree with this. if i need things i usually look around in the secondary market, even technology can be found cheaply in government/business sales when they rotate equipment, of course repairing and maintaining things by yourself is also a cheap way of making it last long past it's rated lifetime!

My cheapskate tendencies were further nurtured by the fact that my apartment's neighbors are elderly and blast they heating up to the max, creating a comfortable 17 centigrade in my own home. Cold showering made me incapable to feel cold too making my heating bill look like a second Christmas when it arrives!

But when i see our American friends i can only see their houses cramp and stacked with boxes of old toys and things, the black friday and cyber monday riots, and the massive credit-card megathread on this site only cements the idea that a spartan live style is simply unheard of in the states.

 

[mullet2000]

34k is not a whole lot of money TBH.

A 34k salary is not a lot of money.

Straight up 34k in cash is a lot of money. I could do a LOT with 34k dropped on me and it would raise my quality of life noticeably. (Could pay off my student loans entirely, for one)

 

[jfkgoblue]

According to thiswebsite (not sure how credible it is), it'd be 51k today (based of the year 2001 because he's 35 now).

You don't think a free 51k would propel you dramatically?

I have more than that saved just from putting money in savings and investing so, no? And like I said earlier, this was just from putting a few hundred away each month for 6-7 years.

$51k is nice, but it isn't life changing.

 

[Baron Doggystyle von Woof]

He is right you fucking hipsters.

This has nothing to do with low wages and constant rise of housing prices wordwide.

Work even harder guys.

 

[benicillin]

I have more than that saved just from putting money in savings and investing so, no? And like I said earlier, this was just from putting a few hundred away each month for 6-7 years.

$51k is nice, but it isn't life changing.

Yeah that's where you're entirely wrong.

 

[dave is ok]

I have more than that saved just from putting money in savings and investing so, no? And like I said earlier, this was just from putting a few hundred away each month for 6-7 years.

$51k is nice, but it isn't life changing.

It is absolutely life changing for like 90% of the worlds population.

It's good that you have a quality of life where you don't think of $51k as anything special though

 

[smokeandmirrors]

I have more than that saved just from putting money in savings and investing so, no? And like I said earlier, this was just from putting a few hundred away each month for 6-7 years.

$51k is nice, but it isn't life changing.

51k would pay off my student loans and give me a good amount of money to invest for a couple years to get to a good amount of money for a solid down payment on a house I'm continually belittled for not buying.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

He is right you fucking hipsters.

This has nothing to do with low wages and constant rise of housing prices wordwide.

Work even harder guys.

The delta between the red and blue trend lines in the top chart is the sound of billionaires pocketing your would-be salary increase year-over-year.

 

[jfkgoblue]

Yeah that's where you're entirely wrong.

I have never had a large income, but a one time paycheck of 50k would not be life changing at all. It would be nice, and probably raise my qol a little as I could pay off my car, but overall it wouldn't change all that much.

 

[michaelius]

So, no avocados and no iPhones. Well the avocados I can live without.

No one needs $800 phones - there are plenty of 200-300$ models that work just fine.

 

[ronaldthump]

Never heard of people spending $19 on avacodos, is this an Australian thing?

this thing is a reference to going out to brunch and paying that much for a plate of avocado and toast.

bacon, bread, avocado etc $19
coffees $4

In some ways, this isn't neccessary untrue. But if you want to save up for a home, sacrifice. I bought my place. I did also save up

 

[NESpowerhouse]

That's why we've had to resort to stealing.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

I have never had a large income, but a one time paycheck of 50k would not be life changing at all. It would be nice, and probably raise my qol a little as I could pay off my car, but overall it wouldn't change all that much.

Then you're in a better condition than a lot of us!