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I work as a software engineer at FAANG, I will retire young. Basically anyone who is young that doesnt work as an engineer or didnt go to a top school is comple

I work as a software engineer at FAANG, I will retire young. Basically anyone who is young that doesnt work as an engineer or didnt go to a top school is completely shut out of decent housing near decent cities. "Yet somehow the several generation between you and the boomers managed to make a go of it; how did that happen?" This argument makes zero sense. Was going to make a reply, but forget it

samatman 6y ago
Yeah, "Gen X wasn't as badly screwed as the Millennials" isn't the slam-dunk argument it must have looked like when GP typed it out... Zoomers might be ok, though, if they keep their heads down and don't take student debt. The Boomers won't last forever.
scarface74 6y ago
There are a lot of “decent cities” where you can afford a decent apartment working making $40K a year. Apartments in the burbs of Atlanta are around $700-$800 a month.
- chii 6y ago
  The thing is - those wages only give you a meagre living. You cannot enjoy the finer things in life on a 40k salary. The young people have been advertised to all their lives, and what would be considered luxury goods (like an iphone X) is no longer considered luxury, but a required accessory. What was considered, in the last half-century, a luxury food is no longer considered luxury today. Just having bread and staples isn't enough. And i don't blame them - being bombarded from a young age with advertising and media messages telling you that your life "should" have such and such, is making it harder and harder to live frugally.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    According to paycheckcity.com. $40K a year in Georgia is a monthly take home of $2666 month single. I happen to know what living expenses are for a young single person because of my older son. His rent, utilities, car note and car insurance is around $1800 all in. At least until he is 26 and can stay on my insurance. The median household income in the US is only around $63000. https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-household-income-percentiles/ https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-household-income-percen...
    - tolbish 6y ago
      There is a reason why that insurance cutoff age was not 26 when you were growing up.
    - lotsofpulp 6y ago
      The median US household will never save enough to be able to comfortably retire, nor will they have sufficient savings or insurance to be able to deal with health issues or loss of income.
      - scarface74 6y ago
        Yet and still millions of ordinary Americans are retired today and living off of mostly social security and not living on the street. That average is a static snapshot. You would assume that as a person or especially a couple get older, they would move up the income ladder.
        logicslave 6y ago
        "Yet and still millions of ordinary Americans are retired today" The whole point of the conversation is that younger generations will not be like the ones retiring now
refurb 6y ago
The Bay Area is not representative of the US. There are plenty of cities with jobs and affordable housing. They may not be "cool" or located in "fly over country", but believe it or not, they exist.

samatman 6y ago

Yeah, "Gen X wasn't as badly screwed as the Millennials" isn't the slam-dunk argument it must have looked like when GP typed it out... Zoomers might be ok, though, if they keep their heads down and don't take student debt. The Boomers won't last forever.

scarface74 6y ago

There are a lot of “decent cities” where you can afford a decent apartment working making $40K a year. Apartments in the burbs of Atlanta are around $700-$800 a month.

chii 6y ago
The thing is - those wages only give you a meagre living. You cannot enjoy the finer things in life on a 40k salary. The young people have been advertised to all their lives, and what would be considered luxury goods (like an iphone X) is no longer considered luxury, but a required accessory. What was considered, in the last half-century, a luxury food is no longer considered luxury today. Just having bread and staples isn't enough. And i don't blame them - being bombarded from a young age with advertising and media messages telling you that your life "should" have such and such, is making it harder and harder to live frugally.
- scarface74 6y ago
  According to paycheckcity.com. $40K a year in Georgia is a monthly take home of $2666 month single. I happen to know what living expenses are for a young single person because of my older son. His rent, utilities, car note and car insurance is around $1800 all in. At least until he is 26 and can stay on my insurance. The median household income in the US is only around $63000. https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-household-income-percentiles/ https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-household-income-percen...
  - tolbish 6y ago
    There is a reason why that insurance cutoff age was not 26 when you were growing up.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    The median US household will never save enough to be able to comfortably retire, nor will they have sufficient savings or insurance to be able to deal with health issues or loss of income.
    - scarface74 6y ago
      Yet and still millions of ordinary Americans are retired today and living off of mostly social security and not living on the street. That average is a static snapshot. You would assume that as a person or especially a couple get older, they would move up the income ladder.
      - logicslave 6y ago
        "Yet and still millions of ordinary Americans are retired today" The whole point of the conversation is that younger generations will not be like the ones retiring now

refurb 6y ago

The Bay Area is not representative of the US. There are plenty of cities with jobs and affordable housing. They may not be "cool" or located in "fly over country", but believe it or not, they exist.