[quote=FormerSanDiegan][quote=bearishgurl]
I don’t see a terrible catastrophe on the horizon with boomers being able to retire. Like myself, most lived below their means (during some periods of their life FAR below their “means”) in order to amass savings.
[/quote]
I think you might be projecting your own habits and frugality onto the boomer generation.
I seem to remember boomers as the “me” generation in the 70’s and the “greed is good” generation in the 80’s.
“Baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — have been described as “the pig in the python” and the “sandwich generation.”
They lived well, grew up in relative abundance and, some say, expected their Social Security, health care and government support to be there as they grew old.
Baby boomers grew up during relative prosperity, from the economic boom of the post-World War II ’50s to the “Me” generation of the ’60s through the lucrative uptick in the Reagan ’80s. And then there were the budget surpluses they enjoyed during the Clinton ’90s.
As a result, many were able to buy second homes, take out loans at low interest rates, buy cheap gas and pump money back into the economy.[/quote]
FSD, that “me” generation of the ’70’s wore the same 2-3 pairs of levis for 8-10 years (with the worn places patched up and even fabric bottoms sewn on). They didn’t have access to a plethora of “designer jeans” and “electronic gadgets” (with their expensive monthly subscriptions). The cars they put that “cheap” gas in (which they often had to wait in long lines for), for the most part, did NOT have AC or even carpet on the floorboard, much less surround-sound stereo! For the record, I held partially open a two-barrel “Carter” carburetor on my first vehicle (of the “Mopar” persuasion) with a jumbo paperclip and giant hairpin for at least three years until I could rebuild it. And some of my friends had rusted-out fuel openings and emergency brakes and peeling dashes in their cars. And the list goes on.
Gen Y wouldn’t be caught dead driving one of these monstrosities, even if a parent gave it to them for FREE. And Gen Y women wouldn’t be caught dead wearing the often ill-fitting (sized for boys/men) “501/505” dungaree jeans and wearing halter tops we made from tye-dyed sheets with $3 men’s button-front chambray shirts (which we embroidered ourselves) over them and (men’s sized) hiking boots and moccasins.
H@ll, fvcking NO! A lot of girls in HS these days are actually carrying ~$300 Michael Kors bags in lieu of a backpack. Believe it or not.
And the list of comparisons goes on.
And the reason for this glaring division in values between boomers and (primarily) Gen Y? Because Gen Y now has many “choices” in life and obviously more deep-pocketed parents than boomers did. Ask yourself how their parents [the boomers] got that way. The above are just a few of the “choices” most boomers never had while growing up so were “conditioned” to live more “frugally.”
It’s hard to bring up a kid these days with your “frugal” values when “reality TV” and their “peers” are everywhere.
No, boomers, when young, weren’t very “high-maintenance” are most aren’t today. A 3-spd bicycle, a few pairs of jeans, a transistor radio and perhaps a modest backpack is all many of them had while growing up. In any case, many of them (at least the ones I’m acquainted with :)) still regularly wear Levis 501’s and 505’s (now a whopping ~$30) and they will never change!
I even still wear my old-school Levis on occasion and not just for pulling weeds :=]
