Re: OT: AARP

That's interesting. If one made $5 an hour in 1980, one would have to make 12.29 now to stay even. If one bought a house for %5,000 in 1950, that house today would cost a bit over $42,000.

Maureen wrote:

Here ya go: http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/data/us/calc/

We just covered something like this in class. I think they were doing this on the 20 biggest myths on 20/20 as far as the cost of gas.

Maureen

"RaeMorrill" <RaeMorrill@xxxxxxx> wrote in message news:KcwJf.13287$j53.848@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wonder if there is a chart somewhere that compares in actual dollar value in today's dollars now versus in past.

I saw something recently on TV that indicated the price of gas has been higher in past - not in actual dollars and cents but in relation to value versus income etc.

haggis wrote:

I'm thinking it's been a long time since you've been house shopping. My little FL Cracker house (ca. 1949) cost under 50K 15 years ago--2 BR, 1 bath, ONE closet (doors from each BR). In today's market, I couldn't find a 10 x 50 mobile home of the same vintage for 3 times that much. Unless you can afford a mortgage starting around 350K (and good luck finding any homes available that cheap), you're out of luck. Families lucky enough to own a home can't afford to move up as their family grows because even though they might make a huge profit selling, they're out of the market as buyers.

My son is renting a 1 BR efficiency for over $700/mo. Took him over a year to get to the top of the waiting list and he's still scrambling to find something better. He would be ashamed to buy a car new (paid $1000 for the one he has) at today's prices and is seriously thinking of sharing a house with SIX friends just to be able to get by. He's reluctant to even date, lest he have to figure out how to support a family.

Yeah, sometimes it's hard to resist the occasional indulgence (don't badmouth our iPods), but I think people are struggling to an extent you can't really relate to. The middle class and American Dream are disappearing.

jeanne



Judity wrote:


Large mortgages? Do they need these large fancy homes in expensive neighborhoods? By buying homes they can't afford, they're the ones driving up the housing market for others. Then, they cry when the banks foreclose on them because they can't afford the payments.



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