My parents and some other family members immigrated to US in the 50s. From them I learned exactly what you are saying. My aunt and uncle lived in LA area and worked as gardener and house cleaner. They bought at swap meets and resold at garage sales. They saved every penny they had. They paid cash for their homes. They saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by living simply. Others thought they were poor, but they could care less.
Luchabee and others – I have several babyboomer friends in SD that mentioned this past year they would be retiring. Guess what’s funding the retirement? You got it, primarily their SD house. I very carefully tried to convey that betting their retirement future on the selling of a primary residence in a declining market, might not be a safe bet. Deaf ears.
My guess is that there are more boomers in this boat who might not be retiring as early as they thought, say back in 2004 at the peak.
