Young Boomers Going Broke!?

[Marquette]

So, I'm getting my hair cut yesterday at a new place. The person cutting my hair was probably 21-22. She has a CC but says the longest she carries a balance is 2 weeks because a CC isn't free money and you shouldn't buy stuff if you can't afford it.

She probably wont be interviewed anytime soon.

[Rustic23]

I remember a lecture in Stat class about conclusion from data. DW and I are spending less on entertainment and less on eating out. It is not because we have less to spend, but because we have more time to fix meals, we are more remote than before we retired. Yet, our answer to their question would lead them to their pre-conceived conclusion that we are in some dire financial trouble.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustic23 I remember a lecture in Stat class about conclusion from data. DW and I are spending less on entertainment and less on eating out. It is not because we have less to spend, but because we have more time to fix meals, we are more remote than before we retired. Yet, our answer to their question would lead them to their pre-conceived conclusion that we are in some dire financial trouble.

I believe that conclusion would be "correlation does not equal causation."

[growing_older]

With home prices dropping, there's a big excitement among my coworkers (most of whom are not boomers, but the following generation) that they will leave their apartments and buy a house. They are for the most part technical workers and well paid, but not execs or stock option millionaires. Many are plunging in to buy homes and taking on 500,000 or more in debt to do it. A couple of the more senior ones talk pretty freely about their plans to combine a jumbo first mortgage with either a HELOC or some other loan to get their downpayments under 10%. They seem to focus ONLY on monthly payments and don't seem to consider total debt amount at all.

This makes me think that whatever got the boomers in this story into living beyond their means and financial trouble is not a boomer phenomenon, but the same old human nature that leads a lot of folks into debt. It also make me think that even in the face of a huge real estate meltdown and widespread foreclosures, there are plenty of new takers (and lenders?) who won't get the message of LBYM except by personal experience of crashing themselves, if at all.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marquette So, I'm getting my hair cut yesterday at a new place. The person cutting my hair was probably 21-22. She has a CC but says the longest she carries a balance is 2 weeks because a CC isn't free money and you shouldn't buy stuff if you can't afford it. She probably wont be interviewed anytime soon.

I've been getting my hair cut for 60+ years, and I can't remember any barber male or female discussing consumer finance. More like, "Do you want me to do your eyebrows?"

How did this discussion get started?

Quote:

Originally Posted by growing_older It also make me think that even in the face of a huge real estate meltdown and widespread foreclosures, there are plenty of new takers (and lenders?) who won't get the message of LBYM except by personal experience of crashing themselves, if at all.

If prices in your area have deflated, these people might be onto a good plan. There are a lot of people who got rich simply by living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood in a nice city on the West Coast. It takes a lot less thinking than other ways of getting rich. And it facilitates your social life in the bargain.

Ha

[Darryl]

Ha, this appears to be a highjack but I have a crotchety old fella at $8 bucks a pop living in 10x the median home for the area and a younger lady at $12 that are both completely focusd on lbym and personal finance is not an uncommon part of my barber experience. Both these folks get paid by the clip and are totally tuned in, there is no company match or pension and they are both going to win by paying attention.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I've been getting my hair cut for 60+ years, and I can't remember any barber male or female discussing consumer finance. More like, "Do you want me to do your eyebrows?"

The young boomer who cut my hair at Supercuts last time talked a lot about high fuel and food costs, and various discounts and deals she had found. She seemed to regard the rising cost of living as a challenge, and was meeting it head on.

That was great, and I got some really good tips. (On the other hand, she gave me the worst haircut I ever got at Supercuts!)

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire That was great, and I got some really good tips. (On the other hand, she gave me the worst haircut I ever got at Supercuts!)

Does that mean *you* were the only one who got "good tips" in this exchange?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 Does that mean *you* were the only one who got "good tips" in this exchange?

I tried to reciprocate, but she had a lot more tips than I did! My main technique for LBYM has been to just not buy things in the first place, rather than to look for deep discounts (though I appreciate one when I find it!)

[Zipper]

Ha, do you have a unibrow??

[xynny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud Nobody asks 'what did you spend all that money on?'.... or 'how stupid can you be?'.... you know, the real questions that should be asked... But no, it is the horrible greedy CC companies that came out and FORCED the guy to spend all that money because of their teaser rates... as John Stossel would say... 'give me a break'....

HAHAHA. That's so true. Credit card companies provide a service, and sure, they can be shady and charge a ridiculous amount of interest, but people can avoid that interest. So sometimes I want to slap my friends that max out their credit cards, too, but instead I listen to them gripe about being "robbed". Sigh...

[Moemg]

My current hairdresser and my former one always discussed travel . They both travelled constantly and owned expensive paid off real estate . I'm either way over paying or these women are smart investors and they both gave me great hair cuts and color .

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 Does that mean *you* were the only one who got "good tips" in this exchange?

I think Ziggy was refering to how much you tipped for a bad haircut .

[headingout]

I just mentally went through my list of close friends and they nearly all either clearly LBYM or at least live modestly with no obvious major debt. Guess that's why we're close friends.

Of course there are many passing acquaintances in financial trouble: several houses in our upscale neighborhood have been sold at auction in the last year, an executive has to borrow money to send kids to college, family driving a late-model minivan has a sign out on the road asking for gas money.....

[Finance Dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CitricAcid These stories don't make me angry, they amuse me at the incredible financial intelligence of the masses of America regarding credit, debt and speding too much damn money.

I assume you mean "lack of" intelligence?

[Kathryn48]

This thread is sure interesting. I am wondering, does anyone know the stats on the percentage of the population that does not save anything for retirement?

I'm a young boomer and, like many, fell into the trap of thinking everything would be ok and that I don't have to worry about things (even though I do, and I'm not broke), but I sure could have been more fiscally responsible in my life. However, I am happy to report that I've found a way to save $100 a month and this is just since I discovered this board last night!

[CitricAcid]

Next thing you know based off of these wealthy barbers and such, Quentin Tarantino's movies will be about how Steve Buscemi doesn't tip hairdressers, even though they are the number one job for single women trying to start a career...

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kathryn48 This thread is sure interesting. I am wondering, does anyone know the stats on the percentage of the population that does not save anything for retirement?

Google " no retirement savings" and you'll find page after page of articles like this one: Americans Lack Retirement Funds, Over Half Of Paid Workers 25 To 64 Don't Have Retirement Savings

[Kathryn48]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Google " no retirement savings" and you'll find page after page of articles like this one: Americans Lack Retirement Funds, Over Half Of Paid Workers 25 To 64 Don't Have Retirement Savings

Thanks, this is scary. I wonder what all these people are going to do. Work forever I guess, if the market will have them.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kathryn48 I wonder what all these people are going to do. Work forever I guess, if the market will have them.

Yes, and continue to help fund my SS and Medicare benefits...