[quote=no_such_reality][quote=bearishgurl]
You must remember that it was *unheard of* for a “boomer” to make even $70K++ annually for a “non-supervisorial” (tech) position, as Gen X/Y does today, as these positions did not exist when boomers were in their “working prime.”[/quote]
Complete and utter bunk. The first of the BB’s turned 65 in 2011! For those non-managerial tech jobs, their peak earning years are 45-54. When was that? The DotCom boom! That was 1990-2000[/quote]
nsr, that “dotCom boom” you speak of here was actually between 1997 and 2000, culminating in March of 2000.
And that “boomer” turning 65 in 2011 was 54 years old in 2000. They were NOT in their “prime earning years,” ESPECIALLY if they worked in SD and their continuing employment was not “protected” by Civil Service Rules or a collective bargaining agreement. SD has not only historically been lower-paying than other regions of the US, it has also been a region that favors young employees over old and young applicants over older, no matter WHAT their qualifications (or lack thereof) were. The over-50 employees in “unprotected positions” were routinely riffed and otherwise “turned out to pasture.”
The “mean” household income in So Cal in 1974-75 (within that boomer’s family-raising years) was actually $12,893: (wait to load and see numbered page 2 of document)
Why am I mentioning all of this here? Because I read almost daily here that many of these (Gen Y?) Piggs (working in tech positions that didn’t exist before the “Dot.com boom”) state that they are making in excess of $80K per year (just starting out?). Some are likely making well over $100K per year and a few over $200K per yr. For the last 3+ years, fixed-rate mortgage money has been offered at 4% or less for borrowers with good credit.
We’ve had a lot of “whining” going on here about “lack of inventory” and “prices rising” of late. I’m guessing that the majority of those “whiners” could have already made a deal but, in any case, they didn’t. Why?? They were overly picky and ended up cutting off their nose to spite their faces, lol. These “perpetual home-shoppers” have no doubt watched some of their “colleagues” buy “move-up” or “luxury homes” in the past with easy-qual mortgages (which are no longer available) and want ONLY those types of properties. Hardly any of them can “see themselves” living in a “regular home” in SD and that is why they are still renting, IMHO.
In my mind, the currently-employed-FT cohort of Gen Y has it GREAT right now! And their ability to buy a home or investment property is stretched MUCH further with the current historically-low mortgages interest rates.
Gen Y really has nothing to complain about. IMO, today’s young buyers need to quit whining and get out on the street and start making offers forthwith until they are successful.
