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In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

nytimes.com

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Re: In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

#31

Post by tedunangst »

mhb wrote: post #27
kelnos wrote: post #16

> But saving is especially difficult right now because on top of student debt, housing and food costs remain high even as inflation has started to cool. Statements like this are weird to me, because "cooling inflation" doesn't mean "prices are dropping", and suggests that the author doesn't really understand basic economic concepts. When inflation raises the price of something, that's it: that's the new price. Absent…

I had a government college loan at 3.5% that I absolutely should not have paid off early. Why? You knew of a better opportunity to make a risk-free 3.5% (less any tax deduction)?

If you have subsequent expenses that require credit card debt, or a car loan, it's better to have cash savings available to reduce that. You can't unpay a 3.5% loan to get back money to pay off a 20% loan.

Re: In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

#32

Post by luxuryballs »

codekansas wrote: post #30

I'm surprised the article doesn't mention social security. A young person making $2,000 a month is paying $240 a month towards social security (half directly and half through their employer), and will likely never see any of it once they reach retirement age.

oh I bet they’ll get the check exactly as they are owed it will just be worth a fraction of what it would be worth today in terms of what you can buy with it

Re: In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

#33

Post by rcme »

timr wrote: post #18

The first example is a junior level social worker -- that's fine, but come now: we all know that social work is not a high-paying industry. The second example is a lady with 76k in debt, who has managed to pay down nearly 70% of it . Somehow this doesn't qualify as savings to the author. The third woman actually makes a lot (they won't say how much) and has "achieved financial stability" (thus undermining the thesis…

> The first example is a junior level social worker -- that's fine, but come now: we all know that social work is not a high-paying industry.

This is an unfair dismissal. Most industries are not high paying, therefore most workers are not earning enough to save. You're basically saying "they're not saving because they're not earning more!" Also, what is your proposed solution here? To stop having social workers?

> someone with three jobs, who still manages to save $200 a month!

Saving $200 a month is basically nothing, especially in NYC. It would take multiple years just to save a few months worth of rent.

Re: In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

#34

Post by timr »

fnfjfk wrote: post #26
timr wrote: post #18

The first example is a junior level social worker -- that's fine, but come now: we all know that social work is not a high-paying industry. The second example is a lady with 76k in debt, who has managed to pay down nearly 70% of it . Somehow this doesn't qualify as savings to the author. The third woman actually makes a lot (they won't say how much) and has "achieved financial stability" (thus undermining the thesis…

Not sure about average in NYC, we have a lot of millionaires that will drag that up, but he’s well above median household income, which is something like $70k.

I mean, sure. But my point remains: 90k is not even remotely a lot of money in NYC, even if it's above the median.

Anyone who manages to save 24k a year on a 90k salary in NYC -- where the median studio apartment will set you back more than 2k a month and coffee and lunch out can easily exceed $20 -- is doing a good job.

Re: In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

#35

Post by [deleted] »

lkbm wrote: post #13

> “I feel like the older generation is constantly pushing you to do stuff like they did when they were in their 20s, but it’s not even comparable to when they were in their 20s,” To be clear, much of the older generation didn't do this in their early 20. It's been a building concern for many decades. And they've been lectured about it forever, same as 20-somethings are today. It's not clear what "older generation" he…

[deleted]

Re: In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

#36

Post by fnfjfk »

paulpauper wrote: post #25
fnfjfk wrote: post #24

The woman who is not thinking about retirement savings but is doing Barry’s, yoga, and ClassPass feels like she has the opportunity to make better financial choices, unlike some of the others that are just clearly in poverty. Those class-based gyms are stupendously expensive, $30 or more per workout. Compares unfavorably with a regular gym membership or buying running shoes or a bike, depending on what you’re into. L…

I work at FAANG and just generally see so much lifestyle inflation from coworkers, even at high incomes. Taking Ubers everywhere instead of the subway or bikes, $20 cocktails, fancy restaurants that aren’t really that much better, those high price fitness classes… I interact with a lot of people at high levels who have been there for a while, and often wonder why they aren’t retired yet. The salaries are so much, esp…

Tbh most of the people at work whose relationships I know about are with someone who also works at FAANG or a FAANG-alike. Lots of 2 SWE couples.

Re: In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

#38

Post by yamtaddle »

timr wrote: post #18

The first example is a junior level social worker -- that's fine, but come now: we all know that social work is not a high-paying industry. The second example is a lady with 76k in debt, who has managed to pay down nearly 70% of it . Somehow this doesn't qualify as savings to the author. The third woman actually makes a lot (they won't say how much) and has "achieved financial stability" (thus undermining the thesis…

The article may suck but every dataset I've seen supports the notion that average-net-worth-at-same-age took a sharp dive with Gen X, was even worse for Millennials, and is yet worse than that for Gen Z. IOW each generation has saved less than the Boomers when they were the same age, and the effect's gotten worse with each new generation.

Perhaps unsurprisingly—and, maybe even explaining most of the effect—home ownership rates at-same-age, by generation, look pretty similar. More 25-year-old Boomers owned their home, than Gen Xers, than Millennials, than Zers, and there's no later-in-life sharp uptick for those generations that makes up the gap. Worse with each generation.

Re: In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

#39

Post by timr »

rcme wrote: post #33
timr wrote: post #18

The first example is a junior level social worker -- that's fine, but come now: we all know that social work is not a high-paying industry. The second example is a lady with 76k in debt, who has managed to pay down nearly 70% of it . Somehow this doesn't qualify as savings to the author. The third woman actually makes a lot (they won't say how much) and has "achieved financial stability" (thus undermining the thesis…

> The first example is a junior level social worker -- that's fine, but come now: we all know that social work is not a high-paying industry. This is an unfair dismissal. Most industries are not high paying, therefore most workers are not earning enough to save. You're basically saying "they're not saving because they're not earning more!" Also, what is your proposed solution here? To stop having social workers? > so…

I'm not dismissing the person. I'm saying: if the author's purpose is to generalize from this example to all 20-somethings, it's obviously biased. Placing this example first was an editorial decision, and it's designed to elicit sympathy. Imagine if the author had led with the 28-year old NYC resident who saves 2k a month.

Also, I just want to add: I'm not engaging you in a debate about whether or not social workers "should" be paid more. I don't run the world.

Re: In Their 20s, Struggling to Save and Tired of Being Lectured About It

#40

Post by nivenkos »

timr wrote: post #34
fnfjfk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure about average in NYC, we have a lot of millionaires that will drag that up, but he’s well above median household income, which is something like $70k.

I mean, sure. But my point remains: 90k is not even remotely a lot of money in NYC, even if it's above the median. Anyone who manages to save 24k a year on a 90k salary in NYC -- where the median studio apartment will set you back more than 2k a month and coffee and lunch out can easily exceed $20 -- is doing a good job.

$90k isn't too bad though.

London has similar conditions to that and far fewer people are earning $90k+.

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