[flyer]

I realize the experience of investing in real estate is different for everyone, but my comment concerning planning centered around the planning processes our families went through over a period of years to strategically acquire residential and commercial properties from north of The Bay Area all the way down to San Diego. We were buying when others wondered why.

As you said, joe, global competition really did not exist at that time as it does now, and, imo, younger people, like the OP, would be wise to proceed with caution.

[flyer]

Along with planning well, it’s true that those who happened to get into the market in the past had greater opportunities than today.

I’m certain that anyone who was interested and in a position to do so at the time would have done the same. Many elements are to blame for creating the lack of affordability in CA, not just those who took advantage of investing in the right place at the right time, and my point was that I think the OP is wise to very carefully weigh his decisions in the current economic environment.

[flyer]

In past years, those who invested in real estate in CA–long before it became a chosen destination–found it possible, for the most part, to exit the rat race at an early age if we planned well.

The world has changed since then, and, imo, the OP is wise to consider all aspects of his decision, especially with the economic challenges our country (might–who knows?) be facing in the coming decades. It remains to be seen how long we can kick the current can down the road, so being well-positioned to endure and profit during a downturn, imo, is the most enviable position of all.

[flyer]

It’s true that, per a recent Pew Charitable Trust report/poll, a huge percentage of Americans–especially in CA–live far beyond their means.

As a native, who is 50+, and started buying real estate in my 20’s, I can tell you that I’ve seen many of the live-beyond-your-means set come and go over the years, because they’ve found, to their complete amazement, that they can’t afford to maintain their lifestyle here later in life.
You don’t want to be one of those people.

You’re young, you’re smart, and you’re on the right track. Don’t let the appearance of wealth among your friends and peers bother you. Make the decision to buy or not to buy based upon criteria that makes sense to you, and, if you do buy, buy in a place you’ll enjoy living.

[flyer]

Joec, we are living in very challenging times where there are no easy answers, but I think most parents actually try to do what they think is best for their kids to the best of their abilities.

Like everyone, we had challenges with our kids, but our coping skills (ours and theirs) triumphed, and they have gone on to achieve their goals.

There are no guarantees in life, and even when you dot every i and cross every t when it comes to your kids, life can throw you curve balls that you never saw coming, and, imo, it’s how you and your kids handle those situations that makes all of the difference in the outcome of your children’s lives.

I have no doubt that you will be able to do the same when it comes to your growing family, and I wish you the best.

[flyer]

Any parent would always hope that was the case, joec. We definitely gave them a lot of guidance based upon our own experiences as well as the experiences of their grandparents, and other role models in their lives, etc.

Everyone in both my wife’s family and my family have always been extremely passionate and very clear about the direction we wanted our lives to go (identifying and evaluating our options every step of the way) so the environment in which our kids grew up was, no doubt, a contributing factor in their success.

[flyer]

Even though we’ve known kids who took that route, but still did not discover their path in life, that approach worked out great for our kids, EP, and they all seem to have found careers (and lives) they love.

[flyer]

Based upon our experiences with our own family and friends–we’ve known young people who have taken many different paths in life.

It seems some discovered their desired path early and were able to maximize both their passion as well as their income potential right out of college–others chose a different route, but still ended up finding fulfillment and financial security–and yet others never seemed to discover a clear direction in their lives and either seemed to drift from one job to another, or eventually found themselves in careers not of their choosing, but, simply by default.

Regardless of how many theories there are out there about how one should approach living one’s life to achieve maximum long-term success, imo, it’s difficult to know how anyone’s life will play out until they actually go through the process of living it, and only in retrospect will they know if they made the right choices or not.

[flyer]

Imo, concerning grads going forward–just like everything in life–some people will get what they want out of life–and some won’t. That’s nothing new, and has, and will always be true.

Imo, the problem, from what I’ve seen with my kids’ friends–most kids today are being conditioned to believe that everyone will get everything they want in life–so they have no coping skills if things don’t go as planned, and that is proving to be a real problem for many of them in the real world.

I agree that kids should be encouraged to go for the gold, but, imo, they should also be encouraged to develop skills that enable them cope with reality as well.

[flyer]

Our daughter, almost 31, (yeah, we were 23 yo parents right after college) is a general surgeon and had multiple offers after residency, so she and her husband were able to stay in CA, as they had hoped.
Demand definitely seems to depend on your area of specialization.

[flyer]

It’s interesting to read how we all have different ways of approaching the real estate game. I think many Piggs are probably glad, as we are , to have gotten in at opportune times which enabled us to build something that, hopefully, will benefit many future generations of our families.

Although none of us can take anything with us, it’s a good feeling to know you can pass things along to others to enjoy.

[flyer]

Having what you want and little debt is a great feeling, and our family has always pretty much taken that path, but never at the “cost” of being cash poor, so I completely agree with this discussion.

Although I know there’s an ongoing discussion about Prop 13 being repealed in some form, it has definitely been very helpful to many of us over the
years–especially the older members of the family–but it will be interesting to see how things go in the future.

[flyer]

[quote=carli]Flyer, I’m not sure what you mean by you’ve encouraged your kids to develop their passion and discover a clear path to their goals. That’s what all supportive parents do. But it’s a stretch to imply that the way to ensure happiness is to have a clear direction upon college graduation. Also depends on what your definition of “lost” is…a kid who graduates from college without having a specific career in mind may not feel lost but rather open to exciting options. It’s all in the perspective. There’s no question that someone probably won’t be happy or successful by forever wandering aimlessly through life, but that’s not what we’re talking about.

Not taking anything away from you or your kids, who have all apparently discovered their passions early on, but there are way more examples of uber successful (and presumably happy) people who either stumbled upon something or tried various paths until they found their exact passion or direction as they went along.

This discussion reminds me of the question of which is better, a broad liberal arts education or a more purpose-driven STEM education? It could be argued either way and there is value in each. Both can produce extremely happy and successful people in any field. There’s not a one-size-fits-all formula, and it puzzles me when people insist that the path they’ve taken to success and happiness is the path everyone should take.[/quote]

Completely understand your perspective. My comments concerned my own family and friends and what has and has not worked for them. As I also mentioned, everyone is different, and is certainly free to pursue life on their own terms. We’re very happy with the paths we chose, and wish everyone the best in their pursuits.

[flyer]

Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winner and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, posits that “Happiness is being happy in your life, and life satisfaction is being happy about your life.”

He, and many others in the know, consistently mention that, having goals and direction in life is essential for life satisfaction, and that is what seems to be so clearly lacking for many young people we’ve known who seem rather lost after graduating from college.

Like many parents, although we could have handed our kids everything, we encouraged them to develop not only their passions, but also helped them discover a clear path to their goals.
(Example–Both of Larry Ellison’s kids have great careers, in fact, my wife has worked on film projects with his daughter, who is a producer.)

We also encouraged them to work on their lives as if they had no safety net to fall back on, and I think that cultivating all of these elements made a huge difference in the level of success/satisfaction/happiness they experienced right out of college.

Everyone is different, but the proof for us has come in the form of how well our kids lives turned out, so we’re very grateful our plan seems to have worked.

[flyer]

My daughter mentioned this book to us because she was very interested to note that the four-step program (per the excerpt from the review below) was very much the way we raised her and our other children, and, was also the way my parents raised us.

“Duckworth offers what amounts to a four-step program, the last step of which is to overcome pessimism by cultivating what her fellow psychologist Carol Dweck calls a “growth mind-set.” I just have to complete Steps 1 through 3 first: (1) identify a burning interest; (2) practice it a lot; and (3) develop a sense of higher purpose, by which Duckworth means I must believe that my passion will improve the world.”

Wonderful to see this approach is alive and well, because it does seem to work.

[Author]

Posts