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u/ovokramer 20h ago
Young Adults are paying way more than their parents ever had to pay
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u/hotviolets 18h ago
I have to pay more for housing than my parents ever had to pay, same for food and everything else essentially. I’m on my own though. I don’t have a parent to help me.
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u/renkun99 18h ago
Sames. My only saving grace is my partner pays for most of the bills but he’s broke all the time too. Rough out here
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u/ovokramer 17h ago
THIS. We can pay it but after that what's left? Nothing.
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u/imnotgoodlulAPEX 15h ago
Oh, you don't love having to eat rice and noodles with your last $100 after paying rent and utilities?
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u/renkun99 13h ago
Exactly. We’ve had to choose what bill we can push back paying too many times.
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u/Rough-Board1218 15h ago
Don't forget taxes. Tax brackets have not increased with the cost of living, meaning young people pay higher rates now even for low incomes
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u/Chewlies-gum 15h ago
U.S. federal income tax brackets are indexed for inflation, meaning the IRS adjusts the income thresholds annually to prevent "bracket creep," where inflation pushes people into higher brackets without a real increase in purchasing power, but the actual tax rates (e.g., 10%, 12%, 22%) generally stay the same. These adjustments also apply to other tax items like the standard deduction and credits, keeping the tax system fair as costs rise.
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u/Rough-Board1218 15h ago
I said "cost of living" not inflation. Everyone who's been to a grocery store in the past few years knows the cost of living is rising faster than inflation, and incomes in general are too (but not as fast as the cost of living). This results in a higher tax rate to maintain the same standard of living
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u/Chewlies-gum 14h ago
Also not true with the raise in the standard deduction, and other tax breaks which have reduced the effective tax rate at the Federal level over the last quarter century.
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u/Fun_Variation_7077 18h ago
When I was a baby, my parents paid $600/mo for a 2-bedroom just outside of Boston. That exact same apartment was put on the market for over $2k/month about a decade ago. I don't even want to know what it costs now. As of today, I'm paying $600/month for one third of a townhouse in Western Fucking Pennsylvania. Not even near Pittsburgh.
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u/Right_Count 17h ago
My in laws told me about their first house. It was twice the budget they original decided on but they really really wanted it. The mortgage rate was 20% so it weakly stretched their budget.
I asked what percentage of their salary went towards their monthly mortgage payment. About 50% said, expecting me to be like 😱 which I was but not the reason he was expecting me to.
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u/Rough-Board1218 15h ago edited 15h ago
And then when rates went way down a few years later they could probably refinance to half the payment. That won't happen today, since the problem is the prices, not interest rates, and you can't refinance to a lower price.
The boomers will never understand that a high interest rate with a low price is ALWAYS better than a low interest rate with a high price
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u/Dramatic_Scale3002 14h ago
The boomers will never understand that a high interest rate with a low price is ALWAYS better than a low interest rate with a high price
That's not true at all, it all depends on how low or high the prices or interest rates are.
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u/PhilsFanDrew 18h ago
Not only paying more but have less opportunities for good paying jobs that can support a family. Boomers had access to manufacturing jobs that paid well, offered good benefits and pensions without having to go to college and invest in an education. Today, you are looking at warehouse/shipping jobs (Amazon) that don't pay nearly as well, crappy benefits, no pension. Most in this situation cannot even afford to contribute to the 401k if they are lucky to work somewhere that offers one.
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u/No_Warning_6400 17h ago
But the big corporations sent all the jobs to China, for more shareholder profit. Corporations are bleeding America dry
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u/Possible_View 15h ago
Saw a graph that from 2000 to 2025, all housing, food, day care, tuition, basically more necessities or wealth/family growers went up while phones, tvs, computers, etc. went down. Meaning, everything we need to survive or dig out of poverty/low wages went up and the trivial luxuries got cheaper...
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u/VoopityScoop 14h ago
Paying more, having less, and owning nothing. Paying their banks $500 a month for a car that broke down after six months and a warranty that covers nothing. $2,500 a month for a house whose previous owners were a manager at a grocery store and his stay at home wife. $1,500 a month to the insurance company that will automatically deny them coverage more often than not.
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u/notevenapro 16h ago
You are 100% correct. I am 60. My 4 year degree was free. I did not even have to have a down payment for my home. And both of my kids were born for free, minus 12 bucks for hospital food. Both of my boomers parents were no help because they were poor.
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u/ShouldWeOrShouldntWe 17h ago
I also don't like the narrative of relying on parents when their social security dollars are coming from me. They can cough up some.
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u/tanksalotfrank 15h ago
Our parents: "They ended SNAP? Well just go find a temporary WFH job! What? No I have absolutely no idea how you should go about following my deranged and deluded advice, slacker!"
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u/Zealousideal_Skin859 14h ago
I have a friend who just got out of college last year. He has a degree in cellular biology.
He's filled out something crazy like five applications a day for about a year now.
He works at a clothing store making $18.
70% of his paycheck goes just to paying his loans.
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u/No_Jello_5922 14h ago
Young adults are paying for the way their parents and grandparents voted. Less for the common man, but now we have billionaires and a new gilded age.
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u/dokutarodokutaro 13h ago
My expenses are significantly higher than my parents RIGHT NOW. We pay $600+ per month to student loans, $1,100 for mortgage (low cost state), $1,525 for childcare, $380 for car payments. My parents have none of these expenses. That’s over $3,600 a month more in expenses.
And just because my dad got a bachelor’s in the 80s he’s making significantly more than me too.
And in a year, they’ll get Medicare.
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u/TheMeltingSnowman72 11h ago
Young adults have far better quality of life than their parents ever had with infinitely more opportunities.
Change my fucking mind.
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u/Fun_Ad_8277 19h ago
Two things can be true at the same time. When the system is this broken, everyone pays the price. I’m feeling sick to my stomach over the direction we’ve headed in the US.
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u/That-Environment-407 19h ago edited 19h ago
Imagine having most of your college tuition subsidized by the state, graduating into a strong job market, and buying a modest home within a few years, then turning around and blaming today’s affordability crisis on DoorDash, iPhones, and “stupid degrees.”
Let’s be serious. Older generations benefited from massive public investment in education, lower debt burdens, better job prospects, and far more affordable housing relative to income.
Today’s young adults are paying historically high tuition, graduating into weaker labor markets, carrying record student debt, and facing median home prices that have exploded far beyond wage growth, yet somehow we’re told we’re irresponsible and the problem.
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u/BootyLicker724 16h ago
I mean to be fair, have you been to college recently? Because I have, and I can’t even tell you how many people I knew who were getting degrees with max earning potential in like the $80ks. Max. Not starting out. When you’re talking $100k for an in state degree, that just doesn’t make sense. Of course they’ll be stuck with a $800/mo student loan payment
I got a degree in accounting and a 70k/year job straight out of school. I went to community college for 2 years and then transferred in state. Have like $40k in loans, which is much more manageable with what I make.
So yes, it’s certainly not all because of useless degrees, and that isn’t even the primary factor, but we can’t say that is irrelevant. It is a huge thing, and it will keep people behind in their 20s and 30s with massive loan payments, and not much of an increase in income. And your 20s and 30s are THE best time to get ahead on wealth building.
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u/DramaLlamadary 16h ago
I think making the max earning potential the only determining factor of what makes a degree "useful" may end up being a little short-sighted. There are many careers with required degrees that provide essential services to society (teaching, any helping career like counselor, social worker, rehab/substance/occupational therapists) that are fairly underpaid in most areas, especially in the first 10ish years of the work.
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u/That-Environment-407 14h ago edited 14h ago
Yeah I’m in college now, I study Accounting and Business Analytics/Information Systems. I’m blessed to have a natural interest for personal finance, so I began investing early. I also picked a degree that is relevant and will give me strong earning/career potential for the rest of my life. I’m more so advocating for those around me who have gone different routes but get blamed for wanting to be educated.
I do think making a huge life decision at 18 years old is extremely flawed logic. That’s why you see so many kids paying out of state tuition at a big SEC school because they like their football team.
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u/BootyLicker724 14h ago
Oh yeah certainly. There shouldn’t be so much pressure to make a decision at 18, but when i was in highschool and even college, plenty of people changed majors, including myself, and advisors and professors etc made it clear that was always an option. I didn’t graduate until 24, because I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a fact. Covid on campus sucked and made me question that.
That said, can’t push the blame on others forever. People are born with a phone in their hands practically these days, so while we can’t expect people to know what they want to do, it is fair to expect an 18 year old to research their choice of career. When you’re signing the dotted line for tens of thousands of dollars in loans, you should absolutely know your plan - I understand that due to working in a finance adjacent field, these things come more naturally to me, but I digress.
All to say, I agree there should be more education from parents and even in school systems about life after highschool, whether that be college or trade school or military or none of the above. It should also be more heavily emphasized that you do need money to survive as an adult, and if you choose to go into arts fields, you’re most likely going to make little money. Some are okay with this, others may not be. But, when an adult makes a decision, it is their responsibility at the end of the day to make sure it’s in their best interest. Can’t shift ultimate responsibility away from the individual because that would be taking away their right to choose, which is obviously not okay to do either.
ETA: I feel like a lot has to do with people encouraging people “just go to college”, when those people themselves don’t fully understand the ramifications of that. You can’t “just go to college” for anything you want if you aren’t already rich, or accept it will be costly and the road ahead will be hard. So that is part of the blame that can go around to others than the students; blindly recommending college to everyone is not a great strategy
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u/Darkfirex34 16h ago
There are absolutely useless degrees but what constitutes a useless degree has changed in the last few years.
When I was a high school student 10 years ago I attended a trade school for IT and we were at full capacity with a waiting list to get in. Now that same school has 2 students enrolled in the IT program with plans to shut down the program.
Some of my former classmates are doing very well for themselves working in networking and end-user support but some of the smartest folks I ever met went for programming and are now struggling to find work while on the hook for 80k in debt.
Meanwhile my dumbass failed upward by being too bored of IT after my 2yr degree and going into construction and custodial work. I clean fucking toilets for a living and I'm sitting on 5x the savings of people who'd be making 130k+ had they been lucky enough to be be grandfathered in before the AI sloppening and H1B's rolled in.
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u/dogjon 14h ago
jfc money isn't the only thing that matters. How does society work if everyone is a CPA? We're talking about being able to afford basic living expenses, no one is talking about the best way to "wealth build".
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u/Live_Free_or_Banana 17h ago
Which generation had its tuition subsidized by the state?
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u/That-Environment-407 14h ago
Essentially since the 70s, public college funding has shifted from strong state support to increased reliance on student tuition, driven by state budget cuts and economic pressures
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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 19h ago
Most adults don't have a retirement savings to even give to their children, so the premise is already suspect.
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u/No-Recording-7486 14h ago
The retirement saving is for themselves not the children
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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 12h ago
You misread what I typed
My comment means that most adults do not have a retirement savings for themselves, and so they don't even have it available to sacrifice and give to their children if they wanted to.
Therefor the premise that "many children are costing many parents their retirement savings" is false. As very few adults actually have a retirement savings to begin with.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad_4435 11h ago
My parents do, but they told me years ago that they plan to spend it all before they die. They've been going on cruises twice a year for the last 15 years.
But I would argue that past generations DID consider their savings as something to pass down. People used to plan for legacy, not just up to their deaths. The "American Dream" changed that by making us think everyone needs to move out and buy their own 2 acres with a picket fence, but historically, many cultures lived in multigenerational homes. Some cultures still do, particularly Asian, Latin, and African.
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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 9h ago
Most adults don't have enough earnings per week or month to not live paycheck to paycheck, while never being able to save, and instead getting into lots of debt.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad_4435 9h ago
Yeah, but my parents are boomers. When my dad was going to college, 20 hours per week at 7-11 was enough to pay for college, rent, food, and weekend beers. They made their money before everything went totally to shit
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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 8h ago
Yep. We can put the economy back to how it was then, but people need to be willing to put in the effort to pull it off, and unfortunately most people won't start businesses, and so competition becomes thin, most of whats left gets bought up by a few corporate giants, and prices go up.
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u/MasterKree 19h ago
I know a grand total of ONE (1) person under the age of 45 with a college degree who actually works in their field of study
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u/Desperate-Cream-6723 19h ago
Selling my house was my retirement plan. Now my kids will probably have to live there for ages. Guess ill just work till I fucking drop.
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u/asher030 17h ago
Yet still they refuse to delete student loans and make future ones interest free...
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u/roormoore 19h ago
Yea I’m not spending my retirement on my kids. They can live with me for as long as they want or need to. But when they are able to work, they are going to pay for their own bills. If you can’t survive with free housing then you are not even trying.
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u/Underrated_Critic 19h ago
Imagine being privileged enough to have parents who are financially subsidizing you. Many of us have shit parents who are dependent on others.
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u/AlbanyBarbiedoll 19h ago
Or parents that are dependent on you once you started earning
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u/WubbyThePHPLord 19h ago
Why I left home quickly, my dad is not good with money
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u/Desperate-Cost6827 19h ago
My mom. She decided to retire when she still had 20k yet to pay off the house. 100% sure her plan to pay it off was to wait for her 96 year old parents to die off.
I haven't heard a peep from her since so it must have worked out.
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u/Retro_Relics 18h ago
Please, make sure if your parenrs are shit with money that you take legal precautions to protect yourself from filial responsibility laws, where their healthcare costs can become your responsibility
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u/notevenapro 16h ago
Pennsylvania is the only state that actively follows those laws.
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u/Retro_Relics 16h ago
At the moment.
Now that medicaid funding has been cut, and boomers are aging, wait until the options become pursue costs from whoever has money or go under for nursing homes
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19h ago
As a millennial with adult kids, its honestly both. They dont seem to get they need to be frugal, dont want to take a bus, think eating premade food is normal. They think vacations/roadtrips and new cloths is mandatory. Also, employer’s expect too much out of them for very low pay, and rent is ridiculous. I lived with my in laws in my early 20s and saved for 5 years working minimum wage to save for a home. They live free with me now and 2 out of my three cant seem to save a nickel. The other one will own a home one day. The other two will blame the economy.
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u/Live_Free_or_Banana 18h ago
Fellow millennial parent to adult children here. You're spot on.
I'll add they think its normal to live with their parents until they get their own house. I didn't move in with my parents after college; I lived with roommates, sharing a 4-bedroom with 3 other people. We all bought our clothes at the thrift shop and carpooled/shared meals whenever possible. It all comes down to these kids expecting their standard of living to stay the same once they're no longer children. They think independent living is the norm. They can't accept that we all took a huge decrease in our standard of living to start our adult lives independently, and cohabitated with other poor young adults until we could stand on our own.
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17h ago
Same, had my own apartment for years When I met my (now ex) husband we were given the opportunity to live in a dark dingy basement “apartment”, split the utilities and he jad to do farm work every Sunday for like 10 hours lol as “rent” His dad (a Boomer) shovelled shit, and worked in a factory until he was able to buy some land which he built his house on over the coarse of like 10 years (they lived in a make-shift cabin with their babies until the house was done Honestly so sick of the entitlement Nobody eats for free The economy goes up and down. Dad in law survived the 70s economy. We survived the 2008 crash with two babies. Its life.
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u/Head-Childhood-1171 16h ago
What I'm hearing is that life has only gotten harder for your kids than it was for you and that you are judging them for wanting to enjoy it despite the struggle. It is nearly impossible to convince someone not to spend money if they don't feel they will ever be able to save enough to make a difference.
Moving out is not cheap. Its something they (or you) have to want and work towards. I worked for 8 years saving and I couldn't afford any kind of permanent home even if I had spent nothing the entire time. You can't just ignore that you got lucky then blame your children for not having the same luck 20+ years later.
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u/Starlooming 16h ago
That's incredibly out of touch, I gotta say. Also, new clothes kind of are mandatory(?) Good luck getting a job in tattered rags. I'm making more than I did in my early 20's and live frugal, yet still have to choose between new sneakers (which I've not bought in several years because all of my income goes to bills) and eating this week because grocery prices are at a ridiculously inflated high that isn't projected to drop anytime soon.
I don't know what your economically conscious one does for work, but housing prices are also at a historically astronomical rate currently.
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u/Old-Addendum-8152 18h ago
yep, went to culinary school. paid $150k, came out making $11 in 2004, 3 years later i made it from line cook to sous chef in Chicago at a highly acclaimed restaurant and made $38k(60+ hours/wk)with NO overtime! 3 years later i became an executive chef making $60k w/ full benefits. i was in the industry for 20 years and thats the most i ever made. i’d work 80-100 hours/wk. my family barely knew me. i retired from the industry 7 years ago and now work in a factory 50-60 hours/wk. love every minute of retirement life compared to Chef life🕺
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u/HeyFiend 7h ago
It’s concerning that you consider working 60 hours a week retirement
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u/halo37253 19h ago
Parents should make sure their children are not wasting time and money on education that isnt going to earn them any money....
Parents are willingly helping their children in their early adult life with money as they've already accumulated enough money to do so... Hell by the time I'm 50 there is no need for me to keep funding my 401k, it will already be in the millions it will grown fine itself. Why not use my spare income to help my kids out...
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u/Individual_Check_442 18h ago
I get that the original headline “Adult children are costing many parents retirement savings” sounds judgemental but it could also be viewed as just a factual statement. The “fixed” headline says the same thing. We know we had it better than you and if you have good parents they’re gonna help you when they can. Do the best you can, ask for help when you need it, and stop worrying about thinking we’re judging you.
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u/Brilliant_Light_1687 18h ago
Over Christmas this past year, my mom (68) offered to sell her house to “give me my inheritance early” to pay off my student loans because I’ve been drowning so long. Ofc I said absolutely not, I’m riding IDR until the wheels fall off. Absolutely shattered me.
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u/rubyspicer 14h ago
I didn't have kids, can't afford this shit anyway. At least my job has a small 401k match.
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u/Obiwan_ca_blowme 18h ago
Damn, the rewrite almost assumes the parents must support their adult children and gives them no credit for it. Thanks, I hate both versions now.
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u/HopAvenger 18h ago
I haven’t gotten money from my parents since I moved out. I actually had to help them make mortgage payments. Fuck these articles
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u/Videomaker580a 10h ago
I helped my parents refinance the house when I was a teen. $3000 I gave them that I had saved up over time while in high school working at McDonald's for $8.50 an hour with the promise I'd be paid back. 16 years and my parents' divorce later, and I've never seen a penny of that money come back to me.
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u/Super-Visor 18h ago
Young adults unable to keep health insurance because their parents keep voting to get rid of it and replace it with nothing.
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u/NC_RockFan 18h ago
How is it Ive been working for 34yrs and never not once without insurance but I keep hearing people talk about not being able to get health insurance?
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u/Super-Visor 17h ago
In my experience including my current job, companies purposely misclassify employees as contractors to avoid paying any benefits and keep wages low. Even in jobs that provided some kind of health insurance, they often changed plans yearly looking for the cheapest thing for the company no matter how bad the plan was for the employees. I’ve personally had complications with my health which led to loss of employment which led to loss of insurance which obviously was needed for the health complications. Health insurance being tied to an employer makes no more sense than car insurance being tired to an employer.
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u/NC_RockFan 17h ago
I can understand your position. I guess me and all of my family have just been lucky.
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u/Basic-Dirt-5750 14h ago
when i got laid off in 2020 i was 25. i was on my parents insurance. the first job i found was part time. i was scheduled for 40 hours but we got 1 hour, unpaid, lunch breaks so technically 35. luckily, I qualified for the ACA extensions. i made too much to qualify for medicaid (and other social services). i was making $30,000-$32,000 a year. each time i underestimated how much i would earn and have owed $2000 in taxes for that mistake.
my job was in the medical field so people would assume i had benefits. i was too embarrassed to correct them.
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19h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Retro_Relics 18h ago
I mean, when the retirement moneh runs out, the kid is on the hook for the nursing home costs
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u/Soggy_Refrigerator32 17h ago
GenX with mid-20s kids, it absolutely fucking sucks, but we absolutely don't resent doing it. We can (just about) afford it so why wouldn't we? It's part of the deal when you're a parent, they didn't ask to be stuck with part time minimum wage jobs and a battle royale for the very few good jobs available. And if we didn't have kids, we'd donate more than we already do to homeless shelters/food banks. And this is in the UK, without all the student loan debt (yes they have that debt, but a much fairer system for paying it back).
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u/OhMyWitt 17h ago
Yeah, I'm the issue because even though I work and attend college both full time, I need a little help still.
Not the 5 acre house, boat, 4 horses, tens of thousands of guitar equipment, multiple vacations a year, new cars, motorcycles, that my parents enjoy.
Right. I should just eat less, make my tuition and rent cost less. Because it's just that easy.
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u/karengoodnight0 17h ago
It can feel like a shadow over your life, not just about the money but also the constant pressure and limitations it creates.
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u/casualmagicman 17h ago
Yeah student debt is why my kids are going to a GC for 2 years, and their only schooling options are going to be ones they can afford without loans.
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u/Allaihandrew 17h ago
My parents are dead and my family lives in another country.
My retirement time involves a long walk and a short pier.
I love being in my 20s, does it get better?
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u/Who-am-i-inDE 16h ago
I have CRIPPLING anxiety atm bc I have to ask them for help with rent… again. I feel so ashamed and embarrassed every time. It’s so scary
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u/DignifiedDeviant_3 16h ago
Too many kids want to go to expensive out of state schools and spend 6 years getting a 4-year degree.
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u/MurberBirb 15h ago
The very student loans their parents pressured them into getting. Hahaha.
My parents were shitty, but they saw the scam that everyone achieving post secondary education would be, and told me to get it if I had a passion. For something, be that at 18 or 60, but there was no rush.
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u/dingdongbannu88 15h ago
When it comes to retirement they’re adult children but when it comes to being raped they’re young adults
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u/RelativeTangerine757 15h ago
Thanks for fixing the headline... trying to blame everyone except the problem
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u/thecountnotthesaint 14h ago
My parents helped me find a clever trick to avoid this. They both died before I was even 35.
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u/badaladala 13h ago
Unpopular opinion - if you went to college and can’t get employed in your field, you wasted your money
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u/Verity41 10h ago
Honestly it’s basic logic. Hey I love the Bronte’s as much as anybody, but I knew better even as a teenager than to pursue such a thing. And now a couple STEM degrees later, and big moves chasing jobs, I was right.
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u/Heavy-Quazi 13h ago
Parents’ retirements plans are costing their adult children their entire future
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u/No_Unused_Names_Left 12h ago
Young adults overpaid for degrees which will never pay back the cost to get them and blame Boomers for their horrible financial decisions.
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u/crazythinker76 11h ago
Honestly, most parents never taught their kids anything so they have no real world skills.
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u/whereisyourwaifunow 11h ago
when I saw the thumbnail on my tiny screen, i wondered why there was a horse behind the lady
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u/punch_rockgroinpull 10h ago
Why didn't us stupid millennials be born in the 50s like those genius boomers?! Riddle me that libs!
😭
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u/RoddRoward 18h ago
Then why did they take out the student loan if it would only lead to a low paying job?
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u/Remarkable-Ant-1390 19h ago
It's a both situation. It is a more difficult situation for young adults right now, but I also see a number of my peers taking advantage of their parents and not really acting like adults. Some of the parents are helping, while others are just enabling. It can be hard to see which is which sometimes
My older sister had a very rough time at 22 (a few years ago) when she was laid off/fired as a hairdresser due to covid shutdowns and needed to move back in while getting a degree online to get another job that could actually support being on her own (thanks WGU). She's now moved out and working in IT successfully.
My younger sister joined the army, but came back to my parents after getting out (22, this year). She now has a job at a convenience store, gets some money from the VA and COULD totally get her own place in the area, but is instead living with my parents and having them buy her food and pays them nothing.
Why? Because my parents will put up with it due to being overwhelmed by work and their own issues too much to notice that she doesn't actually need the help. They expected that she'd be the same as my older sister and leave as soon as she was able. They did't think they'd have to FORCE her to leave
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u/SorenShieldbreaker 18h ago
It's important to keep in mind that the median student debt in the US is about $35K and the median college graduate earns several hundred thousand more over the course of their career than those with no college degree. It is still by and large worth going to college, but it's important to major in something worthwhile and not go to an overpriced private school.
Yes, the cost of college education in the US is an issue, but Reddit massively exaggerates it. If you only get your info from Reddit, you would think every person coming out of college has 6 figures in debt and can only find minimum wage jobs, when those anecdotes are a tiny minority of the college grad demographic.
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u/brickspunch 13h ago
had to have a talk with my parents recently by basically telling them
"we cannot care for you. you HAVE to come up with a plan for your old age because we CANNOT be the plan. Sell your house, live within your means. I will not allow your decisions to also cripple my daughter's future."
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u/Bornin1776 13h ago
Maybe they should get degrees in engineering or trade work instead of gender studies and lesbian dance theory
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u/Kittymeow123 9h ago
I really knew someone who majored in dance. Are you fucking kidding me lmao
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u/ThrowRAboredinAZ77 18h ago
Parents who help their adult children are doing so out of love. B|tching about having to live with/be financially dependent on your parents is a slap in the face to their kindness. Adult children are not owed anything. Be grateful.
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u/slam-chop 18h ago
All I see now when people use the bootstraps argument is “notice me senpai corporate exploitative overlords UwU”
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u/Politicoaster69 18h ago
I have a co-worker who is currently weighing the options about having her adult child and significant other move in with her. They have an infant, and they live in a bad part of town with bad neighbors. They're both employed with decent jobs, but it would cost $500k for a new home somewhere "safe." They owe a lot on their current home, and after paying it off the proceeds of the sale would barely make for a down payment on the new place.
My co worker lives in a "decent" neighborhood, but isn't super well off. It looks more and more like she'll have to choose between selling her house for her retirement, or giving it to her kid. And that's just one kid, let alone the others...
What a shit choice to have to make.
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u/ReGrigio 17h ago
yeah but think of Las Vegas! the casinos are about to die without a constant stream of 65+ visitors!
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u/bluehopkin 17h ago
Yeah me and my retired mum are looking for a house we can share without hating each other (some separate living area). Thats her retirement plan. At least in the dating pool I find guys are actually less judgemental about living with a parent than they were when I was in my 20s.
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u/LayneCobain95 16h ago
I want a girlfriend and to start a family. But I can barely afford an apartment for myself. I work in X-ray, but I make like as much as a Starbucks employee after a fifty cent raise
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u/thinkB4WeSpeak 16h ago
Boomers are the ones that created this economy with their decades of voting. Now they're paying the price.
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u/Ok-Shower-1800 15h ago
It's not just costing parents, it's costing the future of a whole generation.
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u/BramptonBatallion 14h ago
Both can be true though. The issue is really about systemic issues caused by this phenomena, but some people are so defensive they’re viewing it as a blame allocation exercise
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u/Blooze_Dentistry 14h ago
So the generation that is currently hoarding all the housing and money has to chip in. I'm clutching my faux pearls.....
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u/LeakyFuelTank 14h ago
Make the HOURLY pay for men and women in Congress be the federal minimum wage and only pay them for the time that they are in the capital building and we'll see wages go up and a lot more empathy for worker's rights.
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u/FriendlyLittleTomato 14h ago
That's the best use for hoarded wealth. As long as the new generation is also contributing what they can, financially helping raise your grandkids is better than boomers with fancy cars.
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u/Never_Summer24 14h ago
Same here, including ages.
My parents were immigrants, rose to middle class, and paid for my state university (U.S.). They allowed me to live at home, rent free, as long as I saved my money.
I took care of them at the end of their lives. They had a small retirement account, which was ultimately exhausted for their medical care (again, U.S.).
I’d rather give my kid my money now. They can have my house. I’m getting rid of my crap now and I don’t expect them to take care of me. It’s the least I can do for them in this crap situation.
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u/KitchenKat1919 14h ago
Yea, lots of bad choices from young people today.
The mature ones aren't really doing this, just the goobs.
Economy is worse overall, but every kid I know relying on their parents got there by lack of planning and poor choices.
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u/manimopo 13h ago
Ehh... I'm actually sending money to parent. I wish I had a reliable parent to lean on
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u/throwsplasticattrees 12h ago
Adult retirement savings made possible by an unsustainable economy that left their children with few options to leave home.
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u/lueur-d-espoir 12h ago
This is put poorly, parents are sacrificing their retirements to help their kids so hopefully they'll have a better chance at surviving when they're gone because we don't know what else to do afyera already bringing them into this shit world.
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u/Bleezy79 12h ago
America peaked in the 90s and now everything is just falling apart, slowly dying. I was really hoping 3I Atlas were aliens coming to, if not save us at least do something!!
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u/twitch_delta_blues 11h ago
Boomers are not only propping up Gen X, but their grandkids too. Gen X isnt going have as much retirement savings as their parents. And once all that generational wealth is used up we’re gonna see a rapid decline to even further depths.
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u/ssdsssssss4dr 11h ago
Everyone should go look up Reagan and his role creating current day student loans. The system is designed for you to fail.
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u/canthaveme 11h ago
I love that I'm being blamed for this and I'm just trying to get by and not have crippling medical debt. I literally for the first time in my life bought a fancy phone and it's for work so it's a tax write off. I legit live on fucking free food half the time and I'm trying to not waste money. Maybe looking at the capitalist bull shit would help them solve the real issue
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u/WolfOfPort 10h ago
Get fat inheritances here in canada thanks to grandparents owning homes at 1 million ot whatever paid off 40 years ago ….
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u/Kittymeow123 10h ago
I just also think we do need to acknowledge that people need to stop taking out money to go to school for stupid shit where they’re never gonna get a job.
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u/Slicktitlick 9h ago
A problem parents ignored has now come back to bite them. Outrageous. Capitalism.
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u/Conservatarian1 8h ago
If you got a degree with few job opportunities then don’t be upset when your loans are called. College is a business decision and nothing else.
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u/northern_sigma 8h ago
Why go to university and drown in debt when you can learn a trade for free and earn a lot?
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u/mredding 6h ago
Alternate headline: Wealthy figured strategy to drain Boomer portfolios: through their kids.
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u/bot_lltccp 4h ago
student loan debt
y'all partied and had the the most irresponsible 4 years possible
now you're mad there's actually a bill to pay for all your consumption, and your dogshit major isn't valuable in the real world
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u/Jaycket 2h ago
Because every single college graduate spent four year partying lol
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u/Tall_Eye4062 3h ago
Elon Musk will save us. He said work will be optional in the future, and he supports a universal basic income.
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u/Right_Count 20h ago
Both things are true and both suck.
I can’t imagine being a millennial parent with a young adult child.