NYT Magazine: 'What is it about 20-somethings?'

I just find it odd that we are experiencing an recession based on debt-fueled overconsumption, and the lesson you draw is that the previous generation spent *too* much time planning for the future and saving?

 

I may have been mistaken in the saving bit. Or maybe that was true of the generation before our parents' generation and I muddled it up.

Point being, our parents shouldn't be so surprised that we're not hell-bent on following them down whatever paths they took.

 

That's a totally fair point.

But then, I never planned on following in my father's footsteps. I just woke up one morning and realized I was.

 

I'm not sure this recession is based entirely on debt-fueled overconsumption. Some of it is based on the fact that the government made some bad decisions on how to run itself when it was sitting there with a surplus in 2001. And the fact that corporate America made some bad decisions on how to use its profits and didn't hire people, choosing to go with as few workers as possible and now the fruits of that lack of hiring are showing up in people being out of work and unable to buy things to stimulate the economy.

We ran a story last week about how a lot of people in their early 60s who were laid off in recent years and haven't been able to find a job are saying screw it and applying early for their Social Security. Many people who got laid off in their 50s have cashed in their 401ks as they continue to look for a job. So maybe younger people are seeing some of this and saying, hey, live for today because there don't seem to be many guarantees for tomorrow.

 

I'd love to own a house one of these days. But truth be told, I have no idea where I'm going to be living in two years or even 10 years. I do know my parents are probably just a bit worried I'm blowing my future because they worked so hard to get where they are and I'm just floating by. Maybe a bit envious because I'm doing what I want to do. Live the dream as some would say.

 

I'd much, much, much rather be the person who has to cash in their 401k when their unemployment runs out than the person in the same situation who has no savings at all. (Of course, I'd rather still be the person with a comfortable cash cushion and a low cost of living).

 

I'm in much the same situation, though I'm more vagabond than ski bum. At this point in my life (29, single), I don't really feel a need to settle down and start checking off the boxes that one would normally associate with adulthood. The flexibility and freedom that come with not owning a home or having a family outweigh the benefits of putting down roots in one place, at least in my estimation.

I am saving for the future, though -- if not for a house or retirement (and I don't expect to retire), then for when things go Tango Uniform and my wandering ways are no longer feasible.

 

I would discourage people in their 20s to buy a house, largely because you may not know exactly what you want yet, and that's a big purchase to be saddled with when you realize that you don't want the house or the location.

 

That sounds a lot like Dan Savage's argument against people in their 20s getting married.

 

I'd love to see the divorce rates of people married at various ages.

 

I completely disagree with this, building equity at a young age is never a bad thing. Having said that, they better take into account that mortgage rates may go up and if they can barely afford their mortgage payment now, they are better off renting.

 

If there's equity to be built.

I lost my ass.