4 ms·

People want the nice things their parents had, but not on the same timeline. They don't realize that nice things take a while to accumulate. Yes my parents dri

People want the nice things their parents had, but not on the same timeline. They don't realize that nice things take a while to accumulate. Yes my parents drive a Prius. But growing up in a family with 5 other siblings, they pretty much drove beaters. And our house started with, as we so fondly called them, the seven ugly carpets of the world. And those were slowly replaced over time. The house we lived in until I was one had slanted kitchen floors - just throw a towel at the correct wall if you spilled. The point is that our parents affluence isn't the result of a general rise in affluence - it's accumulated. But we often don't think about that when making our early financial decisions.

paulcole 10y ago
Your parents had 6 kids to care for. If not for that, wouldn't their standard of living greatly exceed that of a childless couple today?
grecy 10y ago
> People want the nice things their parents had, but not on the same timeline I don't think that's telling the whole tale. Soon after my parents got married in '74 they bought their first home, brand new. It cost 5 years of my Dad's salary at the time (a new teacher). So with the two of them working, they paid it off in just over 3 years. Go find me a house for sale now that's less than 10 or 15 years of an individuals salary. The world is a much different place - so I think people want the nice things their parents had, and they'd be happy if it were even the same timeline, but it's much, much longer.
- brockers 10y ago
  My home is 2-3 years of my annual salary. So is most of my co-workers. Yes, that is probably not true for a teachers salary (although my first home was definitely within 4 years of a teachers salary.) Are you living in the Bay Area? Is that why medium home prices are so high?
  - grecy 10y ago
    > * you living in the Bay Area? Is that why medium home prices are so high?* Canada/Australia. Pretty much anywhere you want to live houses are insanely expensive. Upwards of $450k for a 2-3 bedroom built in the 60s.
- zeveb 10y ago
  > Go find me a house for sale now that's less than 10 or 15 years of an individuals salary. My condo is worth 1-1½ times my salary. 'The Census ACS 1-year survey reports that the median household income for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Texas metro area was $59,530 in 2014, the latest figures available.'[1] 'The median home value in Dallas is $147,400.'[2] $147,400 is 2.47 years. Double that, if you think the median household has two incomes. U.S. median household income is $56,500. There are plenty of houses to be had for less than $565,000–$847,500. [1] http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/texas/dallas/ http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/texas/dallas/ [2] http://www.zillow.com/dallas-tx/home-values/ http://www.zillow.com/dallas-tx/home-values/ [3] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/business/economy/us-census-household-income-poverty-wealth-2015.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/business/economy/us-census...
- tzs 10y ago
  > Go find me a house for sale now that's less than 10 or 15 years of an individuals salary. There seem to be a few houses in San Francisco for sale now that are under $600k: https://www.redfin.com/city/17151/CA/San-Francisco/filter/sort=hi-price,property-type=house,max-price=600k,viewport=37.87983:37.65756:-122.30842:-122.56282 https://www.redfin.com/city/17151/CA/San-Francisco/filter/so... Raising the limit to $1 million, which is less than 10 to 15 years of many tech people's salary, greatly increases the number available. Note I've set the filter to only include houses. It excludes condos, townhouses, and multi-family dwellings.
- hsod 10y ago
  Median American household income 2015: $56,500 [0] Median American home sale price July 2016: $244,100 [1] [0]: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-poverty-idUSKCN11J1PP http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-poverty-idUSKC... [1]: https://ycharts.com/indicators/sales_price_of_existing_homes https://ycharts.com/indicators/sales_price_of_existing_homes

paulcole 10y ago

Your parents had 6 kids to care for. If not for that, wouldn't their standard of living greatly exceed that of a childless couple today?

grecy 10y ago

> People want the nice things their parents had, but not on the same timeline I don't think that's telling the whole tale. Soon after my parents got married in '74 they bought their first home, brand new. It cost 5 years of my Dad's salary at the time (a new teacher). So with the two of them working, they paid it off in just over 3 years. Go find me a house for sale now that's less than 10 or 15 years of an individuals salary. The world is a much different place - so I think people want the nice things their parents had, and they'd be happy if it were even the same timeline, but it's much, much longer.

brockers 10y ago
My home is 2-3 years of my annual salary. So is most of my co-workers. Yes, that is probably not true for a teachers salary (although my first home was definitely within 4 years of a teachers salary.) Are you living in the Bay Area? Is that why medium home prices are so high?
- grecy 10y ago
  > * you living in the Bay Area? Is that why medium home prices are so high?* Canada/Australia. Pretty much anywhere you want to live houses are insanely expensive. Upwards of $450k for a 2-3 bedroom built in the 60s.
zeveb 10y ago
> Go find me a house for sale now that's less than 10 or 15 years of an individuals salary. My condo is worth 1-1½ times my salary. 'The Census ACS 1-year survey reports that the median household income for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Texas metro area was $59,530 in 2014, the latest figures available.'[1] 'The median home value in Dallas is $147,400.'[2] $147,400 is 2.47 years. Double that, if you think the median household has two incomes. U.S. median household income is $56,500. There are plenty of houses to be had for less than $565,000–$847,500. [1] http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/texas/dallas/ http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/texas/dallas/ [2] http://www.zillow.com/dallas-tx/home-values/ http://www.zillow.com/dallas-tx/home-values/ [3] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/business/economy/us-census-household-income-poverty-wealth-2015.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/business/economy/us-census...
tzs 10y ago
> Go find me a house for sale now that's less than 10 or 15 years of an individuals salary. There seem to be a few houses in San Francisco for sale now that are under $600k: https://www.redfin.com/city/17151/CA/San-Francisco/filter/sort=hi-price,property-type=house,max-price=600k,viewport=37.87983:37.65756:-122.30842:-122.56282 https://www.redfin.com/city/17151/CA/San-Francisco/filter/so... Raising the limit to $1 million, which is less than 10 to 15 years of many tech people's salary, greatly increases the number available. Note I've set the filter to only include houses. It excludes condos, townhouses, and multi-family dwellings.
hsod 10y ago
Median American household income 2015: $56,500 [0] Median American home sale price July 2016: $244,100 [1] [0]: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-poverty-idUSKCN11J1PP http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-poverty-idUSKC... [1]: https://ycharts.com/indicators/sales_price_of_existing_homes https://ycharts.com/indicators/sales_price_of_existing_homes