Recruiting forum off topic thread (no politics, covid, or hot button issues)

[VolInDayton]

Sounds like retirees.

What we need is young families and future graduates. We're talking 5-20 year plans of growing enrollment...if UT even wants to become that sort of behemoth.

I think its mostly recent grads to 30. I bet the majority move towards parents once they get married

 

[DD4ME]

it aint retirees moving to Nashville. its mostly people fleeing California. Texas and Tennessee are the states where most Californians are leaving to

And the rust belts

 

[Devo182]

it aint retirees moving to Nashville. its mostly people fleeing California. Texas and Tennessee are the states where most Californians are leaving to

Well that's a good thing. Rejoice. Money and generations. Hopefully not Vandy fans

 

[Christian Lowe]

I think its mostly recent grads to 30. I bet the majority move towards parents once they get married

depends, most people under 30 have no desire to get married and even less of one to have children lol. and not in the "oh they'll grow out of it" way, but its a real problem kind of way

 

[Devo182]

I think its mostly recent grads to 30. I bet the majority move towards parents once they get married

Yeah I mean I've known 2 people to move to Nashville, but also talking ET folks so not a net help to UT's future potential. But if we can bring in folks from outside of Tennessee to move here and procreate, then UT can truly grow and become stronger.

 

[Devo182]

depends, most people under 30 have no desire to get married and even less of one to have children lol. and not in the "oh they'll grow out of it" way, but its a real problem kind of way

True but enough will by 40. Just timing.

I don't have a single close friend that had a kid before 32, only one was married by 30, but probably 75% are married and about 60% have a kid now at 40. The others simply don't want kids.

 

[Aesius]

depends, most people under 30 have no desire to get married and even less of one to have children lol. and not in the "oh they'll grow out of it" way, but its a real problem kind of way

The financial math ain't mathing for younger people who want to start a family. Unless you have a household income of $150k-200k (even in LCOL areas) good luck affording:

-Mortgage, especially with rates being what they are now
-Daycare (one parent can stay home but being out of the workforce for years puts you behind career-wise, plus most families need two incomes even without the cost of childcare factored in)
-Groceries
-Student loan payments
-Car payments
-Home maintenance
-Retirement funding
-Contributing to any semblance of a college fund for your kids

Parents get a break once the kids are in school, but oh, if you didn't buy a house in a great school district you've gotta consider private school, so any daycare savings now go straight back out the door. And as kids get older their extracurriculars cost more. Have fun paying for travel ball for two kids for 7-8 years, plus private coaching and whatever else parents pay for these days in the hopes their kids will get a scholarship or go pro.

Combine all of those insane expenses with a dismal dating scene and countless media outlets telling young people how awful marriage and kids are and yeah. It's no surprise Gen Z is opting out of it. And it's definitely a problem.

 

[DD4ME]

The financial math ain't mathing for younger people who want to start a family. Unless you have a household income of $150k-200k (even in LCOL areas) good luck affording:

-Mortgage, especially with rates being what they are now
-Daycare (one parent can stay home but being out of the workforce for years puts you behind career-wise, plus most families need two incomes even without the cost of childcare factored in)
-Groceries
-Student loan payments
-Car payments
-Home maintenance
-Retirement funding
-Contributing to any semblance of a college fund for your kids

Parents get a break once the kids are in school, but oh, if you didn't buy a house in a great school district you've gotta consider private school, so any daycare savings now go straight back out the door. And as kids get older their extracurriculars cost more. Have fun paying for travel ball for two kids for 7-8 years, plus private coaching and whatever else parents pay for these days in the hopes their kids will get a scholarship or go pro.

Combine all of those insane expenses with a dismal dating scene and countless media outlets telling young people how awful marriage and kids are and yeah. It's no surprise Gen Z is opting out of it. And it's definitely a problem.

The bigger issue is people demand what would have been mine and my wife's second home/apartment/car as their first. Yes they cannot afford current standards. Standards are too damn high. You don't go out to eat when you are saving for a down payment. You don't drink pricey beers or bourbons.. some but not all refuse to let go in order to get..

Imo jmo don't @ me

 

[Devo182]

I can think of infinitely worse times to have a kid that didn't result in collapsed birth rates.

Indeed, just irresponsible. Similar to high teen birth rates back in the day. Weird times. Nearly non-existent compared to decades ago.

Teen birth rates are down 79% since 1990 and 68% just since the '08 housing crisis. Some variance across demo groups, but all have decreased sharply. White teen birth rates still about 4x that of Asian.

 

[VolsFan-TX]

it aint retirees moving to Nashville. its mostly people fleeing California. Texas and Tennessee are the states where most Californians are leaving to

I confirm the Texas part.

 

[Checker_the_Shire]

it aint retirees moving to Nashville. its mostly people fleeing California. Texas and Tennessee are the states where most Californians are leaving to

I live in NE TN (Tri Cities area) and in the past year alone, we’ve had about 10-15 families from California and/or Oregon move to the neighborhood I live in or the school I work in. The cost of living out West is insane.

 

[Christian Lowe]

Indeed, just irresponsible. Similar to high teen birth rates back in the day. Weird times. Nearly non-existent compared to decades ago.

Teen birth rates are down 79% since 1990 and 68% just since the '08 housing crisis. Some variance across demo groups, but all have decreased sharply. White teen birth rates still about 4x that of Asian.

I think teens still probably get pregnant at the same rate, they just don't keep it anymore.

 

[SoilVol]

The bigger issue is people demand what would have been mine and my wife's second home/apartment/car as their first. Yes they cannot afford current standards. Standards are too damn high. You don't go out to eat when you are saving for a down payment. You don't drink pricey beers or bourbons.. some but not all refuse to let go in order to get..

Imo jmo don't @ me

I can't read this, considering what my wife and I are going through, and not respond.

We don't want your second home and our inability to move and buy a home has nothing to do with eating out to much or whatever financial decision WE have made. If you actually knew what was going on with the housing market right now you'd know that he was 100% spot on in what he said.

We are homeowners. We are living in the second home we've bought after moving to Virginia. The USDA job I had (which I lost to DOGE before we moved again) was going to pay $74k and we couldn't afford a 1500sq ft 3bd 1ba home (same size as our current home that we purchased on a single income of $30k before my wife got a job at $50k) within a 45min drive of the job location unless my wife earned an additional $40k+.

The first home we bought almost a decade ago was 1400sq ft 2bd 1.5ba on a combined income of $35k with a cosigner.

I've had job offers in TN between $50-85k and can't afford to take the offer and move into a home comparable to our current home (which is now too small for us) within a reasonable commute due to the market. A basic starter home is either too expensive or not in areas I would ever put my wife and girls.

I finished my degree in December which paid me a salary, and since then I've been working two jobs while consulting on grants/projects as an extra source of income. Just trying to make ends meet right now and getting 5hrs of sleep on a good day (working Sat/Sun too) and skipping meals. We have eaten out once a month on cash from me selling personal items to go on a date. I live in a rural area with a sh*t job market but can't afford to move to where the few jobs are, so we are stuck.

My standards aren't "too high" for moving and buying a home in the new location. And we have a slight advantage over peers of having a ton of equity in our current home because the market ballooned - but that's assuming anyone here is capable of paying that price if/when we do move.

So, please, and respectfully, save the attitude of blaming the generation for their Starbucks and avocado toast and not the economic market we are in when my wife and I have done everything right, working our a$$es off, and when we were actually ahead in life and prepared to finally live our lives and take a simple beach vacation for the second time in our marriage before the market and administration forked us.

 

[Checker_the_Shire]

The bigger issue is people demand what would have been mine and my wife's second home/apartment/car as their first. Yes they cannot afford current standards. Standards are too damn high. You don't go out to eat when you are saving for a down payment. You don't drink pricey beers or bourbons.. some but not all refuse to let go in order to get..

Imo jmo don't @ me

I’m just curious, how much do you think a starter home is right now? Case in point: we just sold our starter home, we did 0 updates to it minus some minor things like paint, for double what we paid for it back in July of 2016 ($135k). It was a 3Bd/2bath roughly 1600 sq ft built in 1958. Not a terrible home, but certainly nothing to brag about. That’s the current market we’re in. My house was not worth $300k, but the market said it is, so we sold it for that. Mortgage wise, in our area that’s about an $1800 payment with 20% down. For a family of 4 on a decent income, that’s a heavy hit.

I think it’s easy to say people live above their means, and certainly several do. But that’s absolutely not the norm and nowhere near the biggest issue. Not looking to get into a back and forth, but just saying it’s way more complex than just spending choices.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

I’m just curious, how much do you think a starter home is right now? Case in point: we just sold our starter home, we did 0 updates to it minus some minor things like paint, for double what we paid for it back in July of 2016 ($135k). It was a 3Bd/2bath roughly 1600 sq ft built in 1958. Not a terrible home, but certainly nothing to brag about. That’s the current market we’re in. My house was not worth $300k, but the market said it is, so we sold it for that. Mortgage wise, in our area that’s about an $1800 payment with 20% down. For a family of 4 on a decent income, that’s a heavy hit.

I think it’s easy to say people live above their means, and certainly several do. But that’s absolutely not the norm and nowhere near the biggest issue. Not looking to get into a back and forth, but just saying it’s way more complex than just spending choices.

It is 10000000% the norm for people to live above their means. All generations.I also know several that feel like they don't have enough money, when they have a warped view of how much money they need. For instance, said person is incredibly stressed about money 24/7. They make 80k from being retired from the military, plus they make 25+ an hour including bonuses at whatever job they work at. Let alone the wife brings in around 2 grand a month. He's crazy worried about spending too much while REMODELING THEIR KITCHEN with 60k in the bank. Acting like they're impoverished. You got 60k in the bank and both combined make well over 100k. It's on you if you're struggling.

So many people THINK they have to buy a house. Well, ya don't. Don't do it unless you can easily afford it. Just rent. Iive in a nice neighborhood in a 3 bedroom 2 bath that we've pretty easily afforded.

The vast majority of people I know that have made the money I've made, would have already shelled out a chunk to put a down payment on a house and thus, made their life much harder. People think they need new cars, people think they need the most fancy lawnmower possible.

We have ape brains and it shows. Saving money does not compute for most. Frugality is lost on almost everyone.

You just have to adapt to the current markets. Just is what it is.

 

[delfonic]

It is 10000000% the norm for people to live above their means. All generations.I also know several that feel like they don't have enough money, when they have a warped view of how much money they need. For instance, said person is incredibly stressed about money 24/7. They make 80k from being retired from the military, plus they make 25+ an hour including bonuses at whatever job they work at. Let alone the wife brings in around 2 grand a month. He's crazy worried about spending too much while REMODELING THEIR KITCHEN with 60k in the bank. Acting like they're impoverished. You got 60k in the bank and both combined make well over 100k. It's on you if you're struggling.

So many people THINK they have to buy a house. Well, ya don't. Don't do it unless you can easily afford it. Just rent. Iive in a nice neighborhood in a 3 bedroom 2 bath that we've pretty easily afforded.

The vast majority of people I know that have made the money I've made, would have already shelled out a chunk to put a down payment on a house and thus, made their life much harder. People think they need new cars, people think they need the most fancy lawnmower possible.

We have ape brains and it shows. Saving money does not compute for most. Frugality is lost on almost everyone.

You just have to adapt to the current markets. Just is what it is.

Have you seen rent? You also can’t afford to NOT buy a house. Ultimately though, you’ve got to have a place to sleep and the jack boots are pretty zealous about kicking people off park benches.

 

[Checker_the_Shire]

It is 10000000% the norm for people to live above their means. All generations.I also know several that feel like they don't have enough money, when they have a warped view of how much money they need. For instance, said person is incredibly stressed about money 24/7. They make 80k from being retired from the military, plus they make 25+ an hour including bonuses at whatever job they work at. Let alone the wife brings in around 2 grand a month. He's crazy worried about spending too much while REMODELING THEIR KITCHEN with 60k in the bank. Acting like they're impoverished. You got 60k in the bank and both combined make well over 100k. It's on you if you're struggling.

So many people THINK they have to buy a house. Well, ya don't. Don't do it unless you can easily afford it. Just rent. Iive in a nice neighborhood in a 3 bedroom 2 bath that we've pretty easily afforded.

The vast majority of people I know that have made the money I've made, would have already shelled out a chunk to put a down payment on a house and thus, made their life much harder. People think they need new cars, people think they need the most fancy lawnmower possible.

We have ape brains and it shows. Saving money does not compute for most. Frugality is lost on almost everyone.

You just have to adapt to the current markets. Just is what it is.

If your answer is seriously “renting is the solution” then I’d love to know where you’re living that rent is cheaper than a mortgage. We have 1 BR apartments going for $1200/month and that’s the decent ones that aren’t lice infested or located in the ghetto.

And yes people do live above their means, I agree. But my point was that that’s not the key reason people are struggling nowadays.

 

[MockingVol]

It is 10000000% the norm for people to live above their means. All generations.I also know several that feel like they don't have enough money, when they have a warped view of how much money they need. For instance, said person is incredibly stressed about money 24/7. They make 80k from being retired from the military, plus they make 25+ an hour including bonuses at whatever job they work at. Let alone the wife brings in around 2 grand a month. He's crazy worried about spending too much while REMODELING THEIR KITCHEN with 60k in the bank. Acting like they're impoverished. You got 60k in the bank and both combined make well over 100k. It's on you if you're struggling.

So many people THINK they have to buy a house. Well, ya don't. Don't do it unless you can easily afford it. Just rent. Iive in a nice neighborhood in a 3 bedroom 2 bath that we've pretty easily afforded.

The vast majority of people I know that have made the money I've made, would have already shelled out a chunk to put a down payment on a house and thus, made their life much harder. People think they need new cars, people think they need the most fancy lawnmower possible.

We have ape brains and it shows. Saving money does not compute for most. Frugality is lost on almost everyone.

You just have to adapt to the current markets. Just is what it is.

As a current renter, renting is not the long term answer. Every dollar spent in rent is a dollar burned. Owning might put you in a tough spot to begin with, but it is money spent that will —almost certainly— gross you a profit.

Getting out of the rent cycle is a tough ask though.

 

[Christian Lowe]

If your answer is seriously “renting is the solution” then I’d love to know where you’re living that rent is cheaper than a mortgage. We have 1 BR apartments going for $1200/month and that’s the decent ones that aren’t lice infested or located in the ghetto.

And yes people do live above their means, I agree. But my point was that that’s not the key reason people are struggling nowadays.

I had to move out of my last apartment that was very... urban.. because rent went from $800 to $1500 from 2020-2024.

 

[CABVOL]

The bigger issue is people demand what would have been mine and my wife's second home/apartment/car as their first. Yes they cannot afford current standards. Standards are too damn high. You don't go out to eat when you are saving for a down payment. You don't drink pricey beers or bourbons.. some but not all refuse to let go in order to get..

Imo jmo don't @ me

 

[VolGee4]

As a current renter, renting is not the long term answer. Every dollar spent in rent is a dollar burned. Owning might put you in a tough spot to begin with, but it is money spent that will —almost certainly— gross you a profit.

Getting out of the rent cycle is a tough ask though.

I hate to say it, but if any younger person/couple was able to buy a house before 2018-2020, then most have been able to generate wealth. The housing market has increased so much in many places that it’s really benefited home owners.

 

[Christian Lowe]

Still TBD if it'll definitely be a problem.

Japan will let us know very soon how this scenario plays out. Then Europe and SK. Robotics will help ease in a way it couldn't have had this occurred across the globe 100 years ago. Now...the economic balancing act will be interesting to watch. And Japan should be a "worst-case" scenario, at least with respect to their very low immigration rate. They haven't given themselves an "out" outside of being a country of savers and high tech...will be quite a thing to witness and track over the next couple decades.

The US is actually in a favorable position compared to much of the western world, due to the potential for immigration rates netting out the sub-2.1 replacement rate (last I saw was 1.6) domestically.

Analysis of the Census Bureau figures:

View attachment 736350

Total Demographic replacement is arguably worse than the collapse of the population. At least Japan will still be Japanese, albeit far less of them.

 

[VOL608]

I live in NE TN (Tri Cities area) and in the past year alone, we’ve had about 10-15 families from California and/or Oregon move to the neighborhood I live in or the school I work in. The cost of living out West is insane.

I’m born and raised in the Nashville area. I notice all kinds of people from out west. I just tell them not to California my Tennessee, and there are multiple reasons why they left that ****hole state.

 

[SoilVol]

It is 10000000% the norm for people to live above their means. All generations.I also know several that feel like they don't have enough money, when they have a warped view of how much money they need. For instance, said person is incredibly stressed about money 24/7. They make 80k from being retired from the military, plus they make 25+ an hour including bonuses at whatever job they work at. Let alone the wife brings in around 2 grand a month. He's crazy worried about spending too much while REMODELING THEIR KITCHEN with 60k in the bank. Acting like they're impoverished. You got 60k in the bank and both combined make well over 100k. It's on you if you're struggling.

So many people THINK they have to buy a house. Well, ya don't. Don't do it unless you can easily afford it. Just rent. Iive in a nice neighborhood in a 3 bedroom 2 bath that we've pretty easily afforded.

The vast majority of people I know that have made the money I've made, would have already shelled out a chunk to put a down payment on a house and thus, made their life much harder. People think they need new cars, people think they need the most fancy lawnmower possible.

We have ape brains and it shows. Saving money does not compute for most. Frugality is lost on almost everyone.

You just have to adapt to the current markets. Just is what it is.

Rent is more expensive than a mortgage because businesses are buying up affordable homes and renting them for more than the mortgage. Driving up the price of homes and the price of rent.

We have 0 car payments because we bought cash when we had the money and I have a cheap pushmower. We have been frugal our entire marriage. Very little debt. We both have STEM graduate and undergraduate degrees.

The salaries for jobs in our fields haven't kept up with cost of living.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

As a current renter, renting is not the long term answer. Every dollar spent in rent is a dollar burned. Owning might put you in a tough spot to begin with, but it is money spent that will —almost certainly— gross you a profit.

Getting out of the rent cycle is a tough ask though.

If I had gotten a home I would have completely screwed myself and I'd probably be filing bankruptcy, or I would be working 247, miserable, hating my life trying to afford it.

Instead, I've rented places I can afford and put myself in a comfortable spot financially where one day I can work up to buying a home.