4 ms·

200k in the bank is nothing in sneeze at. Not to take away from his financial success but he is 32 and still living at home! Personally, I don't think I'd _ever

200k in the bank is nothing in sneeze at. Not to take away from his financial success but he is 32 and still living at home! Personally, I don't think I'd _ever_ trade money for the freedom and fraternization that can happen when you leave home and start spending money :) hmmm.. maybe that's why I'm 28 with $1900 in the bank! Ouch. Reading stories like this make me a little jealous but at the same time it seems like life might be passing this guy by. He might not be travelling, meeting girls, or enjoying life. I just don't see the goal is saving everything for this "future" date..

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
joevandyk 16y ago
You can't travel, enjoy life, or meet girls while living with your parents?
- WestCoastJustin 16y ago
  Sure you can ;) Just not the sleazy kind! haha. Really thought, I think there is something to be said for branching out on your own without living with your parents. The experiences that come with dealing with day to day issues on your own are invaluable. Who knows maybe he is really making the most of it -- he is on nytimes.com after all. I can tell you one thing. I'm not going to wake up when I'm 40 and think.. Man, I really wish I would have lived with my parents till I was 35 and saved every penny I had to buy this house. I don't think he can say the same.
- dzlobin 16y ago
  The first two, yes. And then things are really going to kick off for him when he brings back a lady to his room with a twin bed and toys.
lftl 16y ago
I was honestly shocked at the $120,000 median net worth statistic. That's WAY higher than I expected. That was listed as 2007, so I wonder if the housing market and stock market changed that dramatically in the last few years.
- Tichy 16y ago
  Probably people who have positive net worth are more likely to participate.
  - joshu 16y ago
    also probably includes real estate.
nostromo 16y ago
You might check out this Ted Talk. It's about the difference between experiential happiness and remembered happiness. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory.html http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle... It seems that the guy who is 30 and living at home to work towards his dream house will have more remembered happiness (which is more similar to satisfaction) at the expense of being less happy in the moment. Meanwhile, you seem to be the opposite. I'm not making any value judgements -- I think both are fine. In the Ted Talk he asks an interesting question: where would you go on vacation right now if given a blank check? Now -- if you knew you were not going to remember anything about your vacation, would you go to the same place? If no, then you care more about experiential happiness.
- eru 16y ago
  Required reading "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by P.K. Dick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Remember_It_for_You_Wholesale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Remember_It_for_You_Whol...).
lionhearted 16y ago
> Personally, I don't think I'd _ever_ trade money for the freedom and fraternization that can happen when you leave home and start spending money :) I feel exactly the same way, I moved out really early. That said, I think there is a good way to have multiple generations under the same roof. I know a guy, an executive, who lives under his parents' roof with his wife, son, and daughter. It's large enough, they eat together a lot of times, the mother and wife split the chores, and his parents love their grandkids. Babysitters are always available. Both the guy and his father are hardcore business types, the father is a college dropout entrepreneur, the son has an MBA. I gather there's some friction sometimes, it seems to work pretty well. That's in Japan, though the same thing happens in a lot of Asia, and to a much lesser extent, the Mediterranean countries still a little bit. Family ties are a lot closer - I remember being in Italy and thinking how cool it was when I saw grandfather/father/son all eating together quite a lot out at a restaurant, having some guy's time. So, I agree with you, especially the way parenting/freedom in the West works. But I'm personally going to try to keep my home in such a way that the kids feel welcome for a long time - ideally they are independent enough to self-emancipate quite young, but can come back and feel very comfortable at home even as they get into later adulthood. A hard balance to strike and tradeoffs involved, but good if can be gotten down well.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

joevandyk 16y ago

You can't travel, enjoy life, or meet girls while living with your parents?

WestCoastJustin 16y ago
Sure you can ;) Just not the sleazy kind! haha. Really thought, I think there is something to be said for branching out on your own without living with your parents. The experiences that come with dealing with day to day issues on your own are invaluable. Who knows maybe he is really making the most of it -- he is on nytimes.com after all. I can tell you one thing. I'm not going to wake up when I'm 40 and think.. Man, I really wish I would have lived with my parents till I was 35 and saved every penny I had to buy this house. I don't think he can say the same.
dzlobin 16y ago
The first two, yes. And then things are really going to kick off for him when he brings back a lady to his room with a twin bed and toys.

lftl 16y ago

I was honestly shocked at the $120,000 median net worth statistic. That's WAY higher than I expected. That was listed as 2007, so I wonder if the housing market and stock market changed that dramatically in the last few years.

Tichy 16y ago
Probably people who have positive net worth are more likely to participate.
- joshu 16y ago
  also probably includes real estate.

nostromo 16y ago

You might check out this Ted Talk. It's about the difference between experiential happiness and remembered happiness. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory.html http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle... It seems that the guy who is 30 and living at home to work towards his dream house will have more remembered happiness (which is more similar to satisfaction) at the expense of being less happy in the moment. Meanwhile, you seem to be the opposite. I'm not making any value judgements -- I think both are fine. In the Ted Talk he asks an interesting question: where would you go on vacation right now if given a blank check? Now -- if you knew you were not going to remember anything about your vacation, would you go to the same place? If no, then you care more about experiential happiness.

eru 16y ago
Required reading "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by P.K. Dick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Remember_It_for_You_Wholesale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Remember_It_for_You_Whol...).

lionhearted 16y ago

> Personally, I don't think I'd _ever_ trade money for the freedom and fraternization that can happen when you leave home and start spending money :) I feel exactly the same way, I moved out really early. That said, I think there is a good way to have multiple generations under the same roof. I know a guy, an executive, who lives under his parents' roof with his wife, son, and daughter. It's large enough, they eat together a lot of times, the mother and wife split the chores, and his parents love their grandkids. Babysitters are always available. Both the guy and his father are hardcore business types, the father is a college dropout entrepreneur, the son has an MBA. I gather there's some friction sometimes, it seems to work pretty well. That's in Japan, though the same thing happens in a lot of Asia, and to a much lesser extent, the Mediterranean countries still a little bit. Family ties are a lot closer - I remember being in Italy and thinking how cool it was when I saw grandfather/father/son all eating together quite a lot out at a restaurant, having some guy's time. So, I agree with you, especially the way parenting/freedom in the West works. But I'm personally going to try to keep my home in such a way that the kids feel welcome for a long time - ideally they are independent enough to self-emancipate quite young, but can come back and feel very comfortable at home even as they get into later adulthood. A hard balance to strike and tradeoffs involved, but good if can be gotten down well.