JimBob1952
Senior Member
I want to put in a kind word for "the kids", be they Millenials, Gen Z, whatever.
When I was 22 I moved to New York. A studio apartment on the Upper East Side cost $200 per month. My college tuition had cost about $1500 per year, so no student debt. I made a whopping $8500 per year, but I paid all my bills and had a little left over each month.
47 years later, that same apartment is about $3500 per month. The 22 year old now has massive student debt, plus his or her salary, while much more than $8500 per year, has nowhere near kept pace with rents.
The point is, it's a lot harder to get ahead these days, or so it seems to me. Even kids with good jobs and good salaries just get by. It's not so much that they want it now, it's just that they can't afford much.
When I was 22 I moved to New York. A studio apartment on the Upper East Side cost $200 per month. My college tuition had cost about $1500 per year, so no student debt. I made a whopping $8500 per year, but I paid all my bills and had a little left over each month.
47 years later, that same apartment is about $3500 per month. The 22 year old now has massive student debt, plus his or her salary, while much more than $8500 per year, has nowhere near kept pace with rents.
The point is, it's a lot harder to get ahead these days, or so it seems to me. Even kids with good jobs and good salaries just get by. It's not so much that they want it now, it's just that they can't afford much.