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A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

boston.com

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Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#41

Post by ars »

trjordan wrote: post #14

$3,000 a year is a weird number. Of course anything helps, but when rent is $1,000, $2,000, or even $3,000 / month, is that really make or break? I wonder if it's paying security deposits or first / last deposits. When I was 23, paying rent seemed doable, but digging up 3 months of rent all at one go was terrifying.

> rent is $1,000, $2,000, or even $3,000 / month

That's rent without roommates. I suspect people are sharing the rent with 3 other people, so $3,000 a month is about 1/3 of their rent.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#42

Post by sctb »

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #11

As a tenant in one property in Boston who receives no help from his parents, I deeply resent the ease with which you attained wealth by just renting out ever-rising Bostonian housing.

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13611795 and marked it off-topic.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#43

Post by khedoros1 »

grx wrote: post #4
johnchristopher wrote: post #2

Been there. As one of the 20-something whose parents didn't help with the rent. Two consequences: - really tough discussions with some friends and acquaintances once I realised their parents heavily subsidized their way of life while they were putting the social persona of young working adult being independent and nagging me about when I was going to buy my first car or why I was always the one who made it through th…

Why didn't they help?

Since around the time I was 15 or so, my parents told me that they'd pay for 4 years of college (no more than that) and that I'd be paying if I took longer than that to graduate. It was also clear that I'd be welcome to live at (their) home if I needed to, although I'd be expected to find some kind of job and pay rent. I took 2 quarters extra to finish, but also left school with a job lined up.

My father especially has always been a "live within your means" guy, and his intention was always that I should choose somewhere to live and work that I could afford on my own.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#44

Post by gamesbrainiac »

One point made consistently in this article is that life is getting harder for a graduate of the liberal arts. There are a plethora of articles that espouse the notion that art doesn't pay.

Yet, how is that surprising? You're taking four years to complete a degree program that provides you with no (measurable) practical skill.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#45

Post by beachstartup »

Godel_unicode wrote: post #16
jff wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my college roommates would get a small stack of signed blank checks from his mother every time he went home, in order to pay the rent and whatever else came up. He kept them underneath his mattress, which we discovered when we had to move from one apartment to another and his ass never showed up to help.

And here I am, paranoid about having unsigned checks laying around because they have my account and ACH # on them. Other people's tolerance for risk always amazes me!

if you have enough money, there is no risk.

you simply call the bank, and tell them to credit you the money back, which they do immediately, and then they launch an investigation into the felony crime which occurred. they'll send you a couple of affidavits to sign in the mail later.

it's even easier with a credit card because the money was never taken to begin with.

and get this, with amex you don't even have to call, because they call you, and you tell them which charges you want deleted, while they send you a new card.

not having money totally sucks in comparison.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#46

Post by mindslight »

blurbleblurble wrote: post #35

This makes me think hard about universal basic income. If average incomes went up, how long would it take for those with monopolies on basic needs to raise the prices? Not long, I'm sure. Unless rentier capitalism is somehow cut out of the picture, if the government provided $10,000/yr, then $10,000/yr could very quickly become the new "poverty". If banks (via landlords' debts) are squeezing people now, whats stoppin…

In fact, basic income is actually just a continuation of the same inflationary alchemy that's been eroding the middle class for decades. This is why a seemingly revolutionary idea is getting so much press - because it actually isn't revolutionary at all, but a doubling down on the status quo!

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#47

Post by khedoros1 »

johnchristopher wrote: post #24
Godel_unicode wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And here I am, paranoid about having unsigned checks laying around because they have my account and ACH # on them. Other people's tolerance for risk always amazes me!

Eh. Usage of checks in the US always puzzled me but now that we have smartphones with direct access to our bank and it seems even weirder to still do things with checks (vs cash).

When I've used checks, it's been almost exclusively to pay bills for things that don't have an electronic payment system set up, and where I also don't want to drop $1500 cash into the landlord's mail slot for rent.

I know that we're missing easy money transfer options that other countries have had for decades, though.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#48

Post by HeavenBanned »

gamesbrainiac wrote: post #44

One point made consistently in this article is that life is getting harder for a graduate of the liberal arts. There are a plethora of articles that espouse the notion that art doesn't pay. Yet, how is that surprising? You're taking four years to complete a degree program that provides you with no (measurable) practical skill.

I vehemently disagree. Here's a tragic anecdote:

I knew a retired Fireman in San Francisco who was in his late 70s, had his house paid off, with a full pension and health insurance.

I asked him: "after WW2, what did people with liberal arts degrees do to find a job?"

His response: "Oh, they'd just make a resume, walk into Clorox and get a job. Didn't you know?"

No, I did not know. And I never will.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#49

Post by lacampbell »

I'm always a bit shocked at how many adults I've come across whose parents aid them financially - even when they're working. Aren't they ashamed?

I'm late 20s, and don't have as many friends as I used to in my early 20s. But the ones I do pay their own way. I just can't relate to a grown adult living it up on their parents money.

I do sometimes feel uncomfortable working in software though - I'm from a solidly lower class background, and the vast majority of the people I meet grew up middle/upper middle class. I'm on a middle class salary now, but I don't have the accumulated wealth of the previous generation behind me. My mindset is so different. I'm more ambitious, more protective of my free time, and much more frugal.

Re: A secret of many urban 20-somethings: Their parents help with the rent

#50

Post by aczerepinski »

figers wrote: post #5

As a landlord of multiple properties in Boston I can confirm the parents pay the rent.

My wife and I are both engineers in our mid 30s, and owning a modest home with a 30 minute commute to the city can probably never happen. The amount of old money around here is staggering. I was raised in the midwest, and can't think of any communities back there where a two-engineer household couldn't live. So yeah it doesn't surprise me fresh liberal arts grads in Boston are getting help.
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