Last of the Boomers

#26
#26
K-town Vol Fan said:
When Boomers were in their 20s and 30s they could afford a house, 2 cars, 2 kids all on one 1 persons factory job. Hope it was worth it.
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Au Contraire. Generally speaking: The vast majority of "boomers" were 2 income households. I don't recall ANY of my fellow married college friends who were single income families while in their 20's. I made $7500/yr my first year out of college (1975), and I had a great job compared to most of us. My wife, with her accounting degree and a GPA of 3.6, made a little less than me. My generation, for the most part, disdained debt. We were savers. When I was 28, inflation was rampant. Interest rates were 16-18%. My bank paid 11% interest on my checking account. We began building our wealth with 401Ks, teaching us the value of investing. We worked hard, sometimes 70-80 hours per week. We were not dependent on the government for health care or income. A TV in the late 70's was a much, much higher % of income than today's 70" flat screens. A GE 45" widescreen TV in 1978 cost, in today's dollars, $13,000.

Your generation doesn't have any concept of poverty. My grandmother never lived in a house with electricity. She got her water from a well in her back yard, carrying the water from the well to her house. She cooked on a coal-fired stove which also heated her one-room house. I never heard her complain about her circumstances--not once! The current population around the poverty level have more than many middle income people of the 50's and 60's. Many plumbers, electricians, welders, carpenters and HVAC workers now make 6 figure incomes. The opportunities are there if you are willing to pursue them. It takes hard work, sacrifice and financial responsibility. The caveat? You have to get the right training and go where the jobs are. Had I stayed in my hometown, I would probably still be working full time.
 
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#28
#28
K-town Vol Fan said:
When Boomers were in their 20s and 30s they could afford a house, 2 cars, 2 kids all on one 1 persons factory job. Hope it was worth it.
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Had a beer with my son tonight. He is a "Millennial", owns his own company and has been seeking good employees to grow his business. He's having a difficult time. His employees, with the exception of his administrative assistant, all make in excess of $200K/yr. His employees love him because they have all improved their lives dramatically. What he has observed is that prospective employees (mostly Gen Z) for the most part don't want stress in their jobs. They want to be free from stress. Last week, he interviewed a prospective employee who had a great resume, but the guy said he was comfortable in his significantly lower-paying job working for what my son says was "one of the worst companies in the industry to work for" vs. having the potential to more than double his salary in a higher stress position in a dynamic growing company with great management and really happy employees. My son said once he heard the guy wanted to avoid stress, he ended the interview. My son's observation is THAT is the problem with Gen Z and the main reason for "affordability". We had some of those in my generation (they worked for utilities and banks), but not nearly as pervasive as now. Today's generation, for the most part, doesn't want to do what it takes to make the big bucks. They are soft. The opportunities are there, they just don't want to do what it takes to obtain financial independence. They want it given to them without doing the work.
 
#31
#31
K-town Vol Fan said:
When Boomers were in their 20s and 30s they could afford a house, 2 cars, 2 kids all on one 1 persons factory job. Hope it was worth it.
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Both my children have managed to buy homes. One is 29 and one is 25. My nephew has a home and 2 rentals. 28.
None of them given a penny. They earned their own. None of them have a college degree and all 3 work hard.

Odd that people think it can’t be done
 
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#33
#33
Orangeslice13 said:
It’s not going to remember the GenX group fondly either.
(That’s my group of idiots)
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Good news is, us Gen Xers don’t give a s***. It’s how we’re built. We didn’t start the fire, we’ve just been finding our way through it.
 
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#34
#34
Those born in the late 19th century gave us the Great Depression and Social Security. The Greatest Generation (served in WWII) gave us Vietnam and structural federal budget deficits. Boomers gave us rock & roll, the Internet, and cell phones. Gen X gave us Donald Trump as President and the most vehement social division since segregation. Gen Y has given us jack squat to date. Gen Z are a bunch of mewling pukers. That about sums it up.
 
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#36
#36
Vol737 said:
Good news is, us Gen Xers don’t give a s***. It’s how we’re built. We didn’t start the fire, we’ve just been finding our way through it.
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"Gen Xers don’t give a s***" And therein lies the problem. Too many of you don't look at facts and think for yourselves, are driven by emotions and media, and don't take responsibility for your actions, because you "don’t give a s***"". Too many still living with parents or depend on mommy and daddy to bail them out when they screw up their finances.
 
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#37
#37
LAVol1 said:
"Gen Xers don’t give a s***" And therein lies the problem. Too many of you don't look at facts and think for yourselves, are driven by emotions and media, and don't take responsibility for your actions, because you "don’t give a s***"". Too many still living with parents or depend on mommy and daddy to bail them out when they screw up their finances.
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Yeah, I don’t think Slice fits into that characterization.
 
#38
#38
When considering humans, they’re always going to be exceptions.
 
#41
#41
LAVol1 said:
"Gen Xers don’t give a s***" And therein lies the problem. Too many of you don't look at facts and think for yourselves, are driven by emotions and media, and don't take responsibility for your actions, because you "don’t give a s***"". Too many still living with parents or depend on mommy and daddy to bail them out when they screw up their finances.
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That’s complete garbage. Very few Gen Xers match what you’re charging us with. Far more Gen Xers are considered the sandwich generation. We’re taking care of aging parents while still helping out young adult kids and working our asses off since we were 13, like when I started pushing a lawnmower and a weedeater around the neighborhood. I’ve never been without a job since the age of 13.

You play the hand you’re dealt. Period. Myself and the core of my longtime and closest friends are all very productive and successful individuals in their personal and professional life. Tell me exactly what we’re supposed to gas about and what it is you think we have not done? What generation are you and what have you contributed? The majority of us bust our ass, pay a s*** ton in taxes and haven’t taken a thing from the .gov yet. And about the time we all retire, there may not be anything to get from the.gov even after all the taxes we’ve paid into the system.
 
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#42
#42
Yes, I did lawn care and landscaping chores for cash as a tween. I got my first paycheck job when I was 14. I’ve paid into Social Security and Medicare for more than half a century. I’ve earned the benefits due to me. They’re not “government handouts.”
 
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#43
#43
Tin Man said:
Yes, I did lawn care and landscaping chores for cash as a tween. I got my first paycheck job when I was 14. I’ve paid into Social Security and Medicare for more than half a century. I’ve earned the benefits due to me. They’re not “government handouts.”
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Agreed. I’m not criticizing any particular generation, only stating the general outline of the Gen X experience up to now. As I mentioned in my post, we can only play the hand we’re dealt. The majority of people go through life trying to improve theirs and be successful. They have zero control over .gov programs, rules/regs or benefits. They can only operate within those guidelines.
 
#44
#44
Not a fan of stereotyping whole generations. My folks are boomers. I'm Gen X. My dad's generation had to go through the Vietnam war, Cold war, gas crises, high interest rates, and a lot of social upheaval.

Things certainly have gotten progressively worse since the 40s/50s when it comes to affordability and quality of life. I blame government growth and regulation for a good portion of that. We're also a society that has to have a TV in every room, $1000 cell phones, tablets, computers, a bunch of frills are parents never would have considered having.
 
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#46
#46
BigOrangeMojo said:
5T of national debt in 2000. In the past 25 years of Boomer POTUS and/or Congressional leadership, the total has swelled to 40T.

They cant complain about habits of other generations...
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You can't get reelected if you raise taxes. Tax rates have gone down. Especially for high earners.
Well, I suspect a R will get elected in the evangelical states.
 
#47
#47
Go aeiou said:
You can't get reelected if you raise taxes. Tax rates have gone down. Especially for high earners.
Well, I suspect a R will get elected in the evangelical states.
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Taxes arent the issue. The spending is the issue. Boomers have had the pursestrings for the past 25 years.....
 
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#48
#48
BigOrangeMojo said:
5T of national debt in 2000. In the past 25 years of Boomer POTUS and/or Congressional leadership, the total has swelled to 40T.

They cant complain about habits of other generations...
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What demographics are the deciding factors in electing these legislative idiots leading to the current deficit? It's not the "Boomers". Boomers were generally opposed to Obamacare, deficit spending, government expansion and overreach. We've been bitching about raiding the social security trust for funding other government programs for decades!
 
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#49
#49
BigOrangeMojo said:
Taxes arent the issue. The spending is the issue. Boomers have had the pursestrings for the past 25 years.....
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Boomers may have dominated the senate for the past quarter century, but they’ve been ~40% of the house during that time.
 
#50
#50
Coda: Ronald Reagan chided Jimmy Carter for presiding over a $79 billion dollar budget deficit during his 1980 campaign, then, as president marshaled tax cuts and spending boosts that resulted in $200+ billion dollar budget deficits. His proclamation that his policies would supercharge the economy and grow Federal revenues to cover the deficits was bunk. From 1981 to the present, Republicans have foregone fiscal responsibility, and their stubborn embrace of “voodoo economics” has ballooned the national debt through good times and bad. Without a party championing fiscal responsibility, Congress has been criminally irresponsible. Throughout this time, boomers have been dwindling as a voting bloc. Voters from younger generations have been the critical electorate for decades.
 
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