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Reading this article as a millennial really hits home as I remember entering the workforce as a teenager mid 2001 as soon as I could drive (months before 9/11),

Reading this article as a millennial really hits home as I remember entering the workforce as a teenager mid 2001 as soon as I could drive (months before 9/11), re-entering the workforce as a young adult early 2008 as soon as I had a degree (months before the great recession), then building a company as an adult for two years and launching it January 2020 (months before the end of the world). There have been no breaks. Nothing has been easy. I don't really know what true success looks like... I struggle and by the skin of my teeth (and now my family's teeth) and the hits just keep coming. We have a house, but I literally fought for it with every ounce of effort I had and got extremely lucky. This is our version of success; we enjoy rays of sunshine from the eyes of hurricanes.

tenaciousDaniel 6y ago
I've had a similar trajectory. Graduated college in 2008. Just decided to purchase my first home a few months ago, signed the contract literally a few weeks before covid.
- Balgair 6y ago
  We had friends conceive the week before covid blew up in the US (estimated, of course). They both lost their jobs in the fallout. No home ownership, no healthcare, and a new one on the way. It's a bit challenging these days for a lot of people.
darkteflon 6y ago
We must be the same age - this has been my experience exactly. You just have to find a way to laugh about it, don’t you. Laugh, and sob quietly into your pillow at 3am.
- netsectoday 6y ago
  Laughing helps sometimes. My response has been something along the lines of exponential mental hardening. Looking back each year just thinking "You had no idea what was in store and weren't completely ready, do better". At this point that timeline is now in months.
- Balgair 6y ago
  Is pillow some new brand of vodka I'm unaware of? ;P
  - darkteflon 6y ago
    Vodka works great too but just be aware that if you’ve got small kids you’ll have to be up in two hours to sing nursery rhymes ;)
voisin 6y ago
Fellow millennial at apparently the same age. I agree with your sentiment. I remind myself that what goes around comes around. Boomers and GenXers bid housing prices up to absurd levels and stayed working longer than past generations (mainly because they failed to save when they could have and have to service debt that is unheard of in past generations). Eventually these assets will be poured back into the market and it will be a buyer’s market. Eventually they will retire and upper ranks will be ours for the taking. They won’t live forever - that wealth will disperse. Our best times are ahead. Theirs are behind. Stay strong and don’t play their game by overleveraging.
- gold_age 6y ago
  > wealth will disperse. Wealth doesn't necessarily disperse. See simulation by Norvig: https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/url/norvig.com/ipython/Economics.ipynb https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/url/norvig.com/ipython/Economic...
- fxtentacle 6y ago
  Sadly, the owning class could just transfer their housing assets into a corporation which will rent it out in perpetuity and pay the profits to their heirs. As such, there's no guarantee that the housing market recovers when the current house owners die.
  - game_the0ry 6y ago
    Partially true. This did happen more or less during the great recession - private equity companies (ie colony capital, blackstone, etc) raised specific funds and created corps to buy foreclosed housing and rented them out. However, typically they will want to realize a liquidity event (sale) which is why sometimes those homes were rent-to-own. Since the market picked back (thanks to the fed for buying trillions in mortgage backed securities), they were able to sell in a good market. So usually want to sell your investment at some point to realize some capital gains, not hold forever. Two opposing forces (outside of supply / demand) will drive pricing: > how much the fed buys in mortgage backed securities > the economy being strong enough to raise real wages of home buyers so they can buy expensive homes Given that the fed bought assets so aggressively in such a short period of time (raising its balance sheet from ~$4.5T to $7T in H1 of 2020) in response to covid [1], my bet is that housing prices will not come down as long as the fed is run by boomers (they can't afford to have their net worth go down bc they are also economically fragile). [1] https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttren...
Proven 6y ago
Or you could have picked a low-risk (government, perhaps) job and avoided the drama... But it's a hard choice to make when you want to become a millionaire.
sharkweek 6y ago
Same age as you, I remember graduating and then the entire global economy collapsing. It has left a lasting impression on my psyche. That being said, I do think our generation will start taking political power soon-ish (decade maybe?) and policy will shift toward larger safety nets being the norm(1). My hope is that because of what we’ve seen, our future politicians will write policy accordingly. (1)Totally open-minded to the fact that this might be wishful thinking.
sologoub 6y ago
Look at it another way - you are building a company and actually launched! Most people will never get there. You have a house, while in the past it was easier, overall home ownership is something only 32% of our age group accomplished. 65% of all US residents will ever accomplish. More importantly - you have a family! So far, I’d say you are doing great! Can it be easier? Sure. However, while my own path hasn’t been rosy, I wouldn’t trade it - it makes us who we are and will make us more resilient in the future. Keep up the good work and never despair! Also, another perspective on the growth. If your starting point is lower, it’s easier to grow by a larger percentage point. US in the 1980s was a pretty great place to live and consumption was already high. It’s that much harder to beat that (or even maintain).
cko 6y ago
Fellow millennial here. If you put it that way, it does seem we got the short end of the stick. But doesn't every generation have a once every decade recession? Though ours is accompanied by two major expenses (housing education) rising way faster than inflation.

tenaciousDaniel 6y ago

I've had a similar trajectory. Graduated college in 2008. Just decided to purchase my first home a few months ago, signed the contract literally a few weeks before covid.

Balgair 6y ago
We had friends conceive the week before covid blew up in the US (estimated, of course). They both lost their jobs in the fallout. No home ownership, no healthcare, and a new one on the way. It's a bit challenging these days for a lot of people.

darkteflon 6y ago

We must be the same age - this has been my experience exactly. You just have to find a way to laugh about it, don’t you. Laugh, and sob quietly into your pillow at 3am.

netsectoday 6y ago
Laughing helps sometimes. My response has been something along the lines of exponential mental hardening. Looking back each year just thinking "You had no idea what was in store and weren't completely ready, do better". At this point that timeline is now in months.
Balgair 6y ago
Is pillow some new brand of vodka I'm unaware of? ;P
- darkteflon 6y ago
  Vodka works great too but just be aware that if you’ve got small kids you’ll have to be up in two hours to sing nursery rhymes ;)

voisin 6y ago

Fellow millennial at apparently the same age. I agree with your sentiment. I remind myself that what goes around comes around. Boomers and GenXers bid housing prices up to absurd levels and stayed working longer than past generations (mainly because they failed to save when they could have and have to service debt that is unheard of in past generations). Eventually these assets will be poured back into the market and it will be a buyer’s market. Eventually they will retire and upper ranks will be ours for the taking. They won’t live forever - that wealth will disperse. Our best times are ahead. Theirs are behind. Stay strong and don’t play their game by overleveraging.

gold_age 6y ago
> wealth will disperse. Wealth doesn't necessarily disperse. See simulation by Norvig: https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/url/norvig.com/ipython/Economics.ipynb https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/url/norvig.com/ipython/Economic...
fxtentacle 6y ago
Sadly, the owning class could just transfer their housing assets into a corporation which will rent it out in perpetuity and pay the profits to their heirs. As such, there's no guarantee that the housing market recovers when the current house owners die.
- game_the0ry 6y ago
  Partially true. This did happen more or less during the great recession - private equity companies (ie colony capital, blackstone, etc) raised specific funds and created corps to buy foreclosed housing and rented them out. However, typically they will want to realize a liquidity event (sale) which is why sometimes those homes were rent-to-own. Since the market picked back (thanks to the fed for buying trillions in mortgage backed securities), they were able to sell in a good market. So usually want to sell your investment at some point to realize some capital gains, not hold forever. Two opposing forces (outside of supply / demand) will drive pricing: > how much the fed buys in mortgage backed securities > the economy being strong enough to raise real wages of home buyers so they can buy expensive homes Given that the fed bought assets so aggressively in such a short period of time (raising its balance sheet from ~$4.5T to $7T in H1 of 2020) in response to covid [1], my bet is that housing prices will not come down as long as the fed is run by boomers (they can't afford to have their net worth go down bc they are also economically fragile). [1] https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttren...

Proven 6y ago

Or you could have picked a low-risk (government, perhaps) job and avoided the drama... But it's a hard choice to make when you want to become a millionaire.

sharkweek 6y ago

Same age as you, I remember graduating and then the entire global economy collapsing. It has left a lasting impression on my psyche. That being said, I do think our generation will start taking political power soon-ish (decade maybe?) and policy will shift toward larger safety nets being the norm(1). My hope is that because of what we’ve seen, our future politicians will write policy accordingly. (1)Totally open-minded to the fact that this might be wishful thinking.

sologoub 6y ago

Look at it another way - you are building a company and actually launched! Most people will never get there. You have a house, while in the past it was easier, overall home ownership is something only 32% of our age group accomplished. 65% of all US residents will ever accomplish. More importantly - you have a family! So far, I’d say you are doing great! Can it be easier? Sure. However, while my own path hasn’t been rosy, I wouldn’t trade it - it makes us who we are and will make us more resilient in the future. Keep up the good work and never despair! Also, another perspective on the growth. If your starting point is lower, it’s easier to grow by a larger percentage point. US in the 1980s was a pretty great place to live and consumption was already high. It’s that much harder to beat that (or even maintain).

cko 6y ago

Fellow millennial here. If you put it that way, it does seem we got the short end of the stick. But doesn't every generation have a once every decade recession? Though ours is accompanied by two major expenses (housing education) rising way faster than inflation.