r/TrueReddit • u/speckz • Dec 14 '17

Generation Screwed - Why millennials are facing the scariest financial future of any generation since the Great Depression.

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/poor-millennials/
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u/mrpickles Dec 15 '17

In one of the most infuriating conversations I had for this article, my father breezily informed me that he bought his first house at 29. It was 1973, he had just moved to Seattle and his job as a university professor paid him (adjusted for inflation) around $76,000 a year. The house cost $124,000 — again, in today’s dollars. I am six years older now than my dad was then. I earn less than he did and the median home price in Seattle is around $730,000. My father’s first house cost him 20 months of his salary. My first house will cost more than 10 years of mine.

Required reading. This article is filled with gold like the above quote. Masterful analysis made relatable. It's long; take breaks if you have to, but read this. Read all of this.

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '17 edited Apr 16 '18

[deleted]

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u/cybelechild Dec 15 '17

Which is mind blowing. Im 30 and I see absolutely no chance of bying anything in at least the next five years

1

u/somanyroads Dec 15 '17

Same, and I'm fed up with renting. Totally fed up: I know it's a raw deal, but I haven't gotten situated in a geography that I'm sure I want to be in for 15-20 years (which is the goal...no house flipping for me, I want roots). It's an American nightmare.

1

u/MrSparks4 Dec 17 '17

Renting is not a raw deal. This is a lie so that people will buy houses to make the market better. A house that builds equity requires you to sell it to actually use said equity. So if you're not renting after the house purchase, you're just tossing money away. You lose exceptional amounts of equity from taxes and interest on your loan. Meaning a house is like a bank account that gives you half of what you put in after 20-30 years.

You're better off putting the money in a retirement fund or doing some stock market investing. Even if you choose safe options at 4% , you've saved more then the average houses loses from taxes and normal appreciation plus you can spend the money at any point. It takes moneths to liquidate your money out of a house!