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Young People Should Put Down Their Smartphones, Step Away From The Avocado Toast, And Do This
Here's another regret they might have--not having lived while they're young. The idea that all meals out with friends and family--moments you may treasure for the rest of your life--are "mindless" or that buying coffee to say study for a test or just for the sheer pleasure of being alive and enjoying a coffee is always a waste sounds like the typical view you hear from these financial planning types. They're busy wagging their fingers at kids when in fact young people are making less money today in low-end jobs on an inflation-adjusted basis than they did thirty or forty years ago in many states. It also makes the assumption that every young person will live to retirement age when in fact they won't. It's a matter of achieving balance--enjoying some daily pleasures--and saving. It's also a matter of paying young people appropriately.
@LewisBraham. Given I invested in stock market just before dot com bust while my friends were buying lexuses, and then did not after the crash for fear, i came out the worse. So I can agree to "living while you were young". For instance, I dunno if I will every go to Europe now, I should have when I was young.
HOWEVER, let's not forward the notion that old timers are going to bail out students with starbucks-latte laden credit card bills. I'm very sorry if you got into Harvard and can't pay for it. If you get a student loan, and you don't become Obama by the time you are 50 to be able to pay it off, then that's your problem. Similarly if you want to go find yourself at a private college that costs the same as harvard but is inferior to your public university, then you shouldn't even be granted a loan (which is really a government issue).
I remember putting myself through grad school and graduating with only $3000 debt. This was in early 90s. I paid it off in my first year. I had 2 days of entertainment in grad school. 2 $1 movie tickets. I didn't buy a new car when I started working. I first paid off my debt. The next year I put $3000 toward downpayment for a CIVIC.
The problem with millenials is personal responsibility. My older is spending $9 - $18 on lunch everyday. I keep telling her she has a part time job and she can spend whatever she earns so it is all good now. Once she gets to college, that has to stop.
This is not about painting millenials with a broad stroke. However I can tell you right now my friends growing up were not those who turned up their noses when I went to their house in my beat up hatchback or my checked shirt from k-mart. If so, they wouldn't be my friends. If you need to purchase a $100 denim so you can make friends, YOU have a problem. At Costco it costs $15. You don't want to invest and think long term, fine. That is your prerogative. But don't come crying to mama later.
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There is no silver bullet. You need to find the right balance that works for you both now and in your future.
HOWEVER, let's not forward the notion that old timers are going to bail out students with starbucks-latte laden credit card bills. I'm very sorry if you got into Harvard and can't pay for it. If you get a student loan, and you don't become Obama by the time you are 50 to be able to pay it off, then that's your problem. Similarly if you want to go find yourself at a private college that costs the same as harvard but is inferior to your public university, then you shouldn't even be granted a loan (which is really a government issue).
I remember putting myself through grad school and graduating with only $3000 debt. This was in early 90s. I paid it off in my first year. I had 2 days of entertainment in grad school. 2 $1 movie tickets. I didn't buy a new car when I started working. I first paid off my debt. The next year I put $3000 toward downpayment for a CIVIC.
The problem with millenials is personal responsibility. My older is spending $9 - $18 on lunch everyday. I keep telling her she has a part time job and she can spend whatever she earns so it is all good now. Once she gets to college, that has to stop.
This is not about painting millenials with a broad stroke. However I can tell you right now my friends growing up were not those who turned up their noses when I went to their house in my beat up hatchback or my checked shirt from k-mart. If so, they wouldn't be my friends. If you need to purchase a $100 denim so you can make friends, YOU have a problem. At Costco it costs $15. You don't want to invest and think long term, fine. That is your prerogative. But don't come crying to mama later.