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> We still have zero hope of affording a house, let alone retirement. This is ridiculous. If that’s actually true, move. Lower your expenses. Figure out someth

> We still have zero hope of affording a house, let alone retirement. This is ridiculous. If that’s actually true, move. Lower your expenses. Figure out something else.

UncleMeat 4y ago
Moving thousands of miles sucks. Leaving all of your family, friends, and work is an enormous disruption to a life.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- teakettle42 4y ago
  Life isn’t easy. Sometimes you have to make hard choices. What’s your point?
  - UncleMeat 4y ago
    It is still reasonable to call it a broken system even if "move to Idaho" is an option.
    - teakettle42 4y ago
      It’s not broken just because it fails to deliver a luxury you want, when and where you want it, for the price you want to pay.
      - stepanhruda 4y ago
        Having unreasonable expectations would be okay, but people are calling it broken because a generation before this had this luxury but pulled the ladder behind them. We are supposed to progress forwards, not backwards.
        bufferoverflow 4y ago
        Housing prices were unreasonably low, people realized it, and now we ran out of housing inventory in the very desirable parts of the country. Still plenty of housing in other areas. Manhattan used to be very cheap, but it hasn't been that way for at least 30 years. Too many people want to live there now. Basic economic rules of supply and demand dictate the prices. The only solution is to not play the game. You want a house, buy it where you can afford. There's no magic fairy that will sell you a standalone house in Manhatten on a cashier's salary.
        stepanhruda 4y ago
        No house in Manhattan on a cashier’s salary has always been the case, that is not something that has regressed. You should check what areas people complain about being unaffordable before dismissing it as “of course NYC and California are expensive”.
  - hotpotamus 4y ago
    You've inspired me, I'm going to make the hard choice and knock over a bank to build a better life. The police can't deal with all the crime these days, so I'd say the cost/benefit analysis is pretty good.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
heavyset_go 4y ago
Leaving your support network while already struggling means that things like free childcare from family now needs to be made up for with professional childcare, career prospects can be lower without your professional network, and should you fall on hard times, like being laid off, divorced or getting sick/injured, you can end up in a much deeper hole than you would in place with a support network that can help you get back on your feet.
- teakettle42 4y ago
  Okay, then if the solution to unsustainable circumstances isn’t making changes to your own circumstances that are well within your power, what is the solution?
  - polygamous_bat 4y ago
    Discouraging home buying as an investment, which seems to be behind the crazy rise in home prices over the year, would be a good start.
- refurb 4y ago
  He literally just said “my dad was a soldier in Latin America”. Apparently moving countries is good enough for his dad but another city in the US I asking too much?
ThePrankster 4y ago
Wow, I had actually never considered "figuring something else". Thanks for this amazing insight. It's almost as useful as telling someone with depression to "just be happy". Rent in my town is one of the cheapest among bigger cities and I already live very frugally (public transit, only shop for groceries on sale and healthy food, don't go out to parties, don't drink, no addictions, no online subscriptions, only free hobbies + gym). GenXers and Boomers left a shitty world for Gen Z and, for some, life is just not the fairy tale you are used to - sorry mate.
- heavyset_go 4y ago
  They expect you to go move somewhere cheaper where your career prospects are stocking shelves at Walmart or serving food. Maybe if you're lucky, you could get a job for $36k from the one company in a 200 mile radius that's still hiring in your industry, but is on life support and won't be around in a decade. Also, please ignore the fact that its competitors have all gone out of business or left for better prospects in higher CoL areas, as well. It's not so much a solution as it is a sneering dismissal of real problems that they don't want to hear about anymore.
  - teakettle42 4y ago
    Do you believe people deserve an easy office job, high pay, and the ability to buy a home in the cultural epicenter of their choosing? How, exactly, are we going to supply all of that to the firehose of people graduating with mostly-useless degrees and job skills?
    - omnimus 4y ago
      Yes of course people deserve that. There is incredible wealth everywhere. Society increased productivity and efficiency so much that workweek should be 3 days. All the fruits are going to small number of people in the top. You say mostly useless degrees… what about all the mostly useless things - the lamborghinis? the never ending houses? the gimmicks, gadgets, iphones every 6 months… Why do we supply that and dont supply basic living conditions to everyone?

> We still have zero hope of affording a house, let alone retirement. This is ridiculous. If that’s actually true, move. Lower your expenses. Figure out something else.

UncleMeat 4y ago

Moving thousands of miles sucks. Leaving all of your family, friends, and work is an enormous disruption to a life.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
teakettle42 4y ago
Life isn’t easy. Sometimes you have to make hard choices. What’s your point?
- UncleMeat 4y ago
  It is still reasonable to call it a broken system even if "move to Idaho" is an option.
  - teakettle42 4y ago
    It’s not broken just because it fails to deliver a luxury you want, when and where you want it, for the price you want to pay.
    - stepanhruda 4y ago
      Having unreasonable expectations would be okay, but people are calling it broken because a generation before this had this luxury but pulled the ladder behind them. We are supposed to progress forwards, not backwards.
      - bufferoverflow 4y ago
        Housing prices were unreasonably low, people realized it, and now we ran out of housing inventory in the very desirable parts of the country. Still plenty of housing in other areas. Manhattan used to be very cheap, but it hasn't been that way for at least 30 years. Too many people want to live there now. Basic economic rules of supply and demand dictate the prices. The only solution is to not play the game. You want a house, buy it where you can afford. There's no magic fairy that will sell you a standalone house in Manhatten on a cashier's salary.
        stepanhruda 4y ago
        No house in Manhattan on a cashier’s salary has always been the case, that is not something that has regressed. You should check what areas people complain about being unaffordable before dismissing it as “of course NYC and California are expensive”.
- hotpotamus 4y ago
  You've inspired me, I'm going to make the hard choice and knock over a bank to build a better life. The police can't deal with all the crime these days, so I'd say the cost/benefit analysis is pretty good.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

heavyset_go 4y ago

Leaving your support network while already struggling means that things like free childcare from family now needs to be made up for with professional childcare, career prospects can be lower without your professional network, and should you fall on hard times, like being laid off, divorced or getting sick/injured, you can end up in a much deeper hole than you would in place with a support network that can help you get back on your feet.

teakettle42 4y ago
Okay, then if the solution to unsustainable circumstances isn’t making changes to your own circumstances that are well within your power, what is the solution?
- polygamous_bat 4y ago
  Discouraging home buying as an investment, which seems to be behind the crazy rise in home prices over the year, would be a good start.
refurb 4y ago
He literally just said “my dad was a soldier in Latin America”. Apparently moving countries is good enough for his dad but another city in the US I asking too much?

ThePrankster 4y ago

Wow, I had actually never considered "figuring something else". Thanks for this amazing insight. It's almost as useful as telling someone with depression to "just be happy". Rent in my town is one of the cheapest among bigger cities and I already live very frugally (public transit, only shop for groceries on sale and healthy food, don't go out to parties, don't drink, no addictions, no online subscriptions, only free hobbies + gym). GenXers and Boomers left a shitty world for Gen Z and, for some, life is just not the fairy tale you are used to - sorry mate.

heavyset_go 4y ago
They expect you to go move somewhere cheaper where your career prospects are stocking shelves at Walmart or serving food. Maybe if you're lucky, you could get a job for $36k from the one company in a 200 mile radius that's still hiring in your industry, but is on life support and won't be around in a decade. Also, please ignore the fact that its competitors have all gone out of business or left for better prospects in higher CoL areas, as well. It's not so much a solution as it is a sneering dismissal of real problems that they don't want to hear about anymore.
- teakettle42 4y ago
  Do you believe people deserve an easy office job, high pay, and the ability to buy a home in the cultural epicenter of their choosing? How, exactly, are we going to supply all of that to the firehose of people graduating with mostly-useless degrees and job skills?
  - omnimus 4y ago
    Yes of course people deserve that. There is incredible wealth everywhere. Society increased productivity and efficiency so much that workweek should be 3 days. All the fruits are going to small number of people in the top. You say mostly useless degrees… what about all the mostly useless things - the lamborghinis? the never ending houses? the gimmicks, gadgets, iphones every 6 months… Why do we supply that and dont supply basic living conditions to everyone?