Re: OT: AARP

I read the real estate transfers in my newspaper every week. There are houses that are priced from half a million down to $25,000. I have a very good grasp of what is available and how much it costs. It isn't a matter of nothing else being available, it is just a matter of the scale of living a person wants, and that is what he or she buys.

I don't think all of this "I want it and I want it now" syndrome is strictly with young people, although most of them certainly want the same life-style their parents have worked 30 years to attain. I believe there are plenty of older people who don't understand the workings of money in versus money out as well.

I don't blame anyone for wanting something better. And I know that some areas of the country have a higher cost of living than others, which means there are cities and states with lower costs of living as well.

There are some people who confuse "want" with "need". No one "needs" a $100,000 home if they can't afford it. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to find any differences in the "needs" of most of us, but a great deal of difference in the "wants" we each have, some just because they are a convenience (and we ALL love convenience).

I understand the reasoning behind buying a house versus renting, but if one cannot afford to buy, one rents until the money is saved up for a sizeable down payment so the mortgage and interest don't keep them from doing the truly important things in life.

It isn't because there is nothing else available, it is because there is nothing cheaper that they "want" to live in. Shelter is certain a need; the degree is a want.

LizzieB. wrote:

Marsha wrote:

I think Phyllis is saying that a lot of young people don't want to start out at the bottom anymore. I'm not talking about people who can't even afford the basics. I'm talking about young people who want to start out big, with as much mortgage as they can possibly get. I believe this comes from a sense of entitlement that they get from their parents giving them everything when they were growing up. I know several people who make sure that their children have *more things than they did*, without making them earn it. That's sad, IMO.



While I agree that this happens way too much, I don't believe Phyllis is talking about JUST this. The tone of her posts suggests that anything she feels is unnecessary spending IS unnecessary spending, and I think that (as usual) is where hackles are getting raised.

I actually do agree with Phyllis on a lot of things on this spending topic, but she does not seem to think that what is objective to her is subjective to others.

She also does not seem to acknowledge the notion that a good portion of the out-of-this-world mortgaging MAY NOT BE a result of young, unestablished persons trying to keep up with the Joneses, but may be all that's available, and rents are competitive with mortgage payments (for less square footage) so why rent?

I don't think anyone here disagrees with her notion that a lot of people my generation and younger are spoilt brats and want it all right now. But I also don't think that she is seeing the true price levels in today's markets--and that makes some of her arguments totally invalid just on arithmetic.
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Relevant Pages

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