Originally Posted By: Kurtatron
I’m 28 and wish I was born earlier in time like you guys. I am saddled with student debt, housing prices are ridiculous, and pensions/SS is a pipe dream for me. The standard of living in America has been going down for decades. Stagnant wages, rising cost of cars, houses, even food continues to rise. Remember .50 cent gallon milk? It’s getting harder and harder to scrape by.
I do what I can to save, but it is extremely discouraging. I go well and beyond what most Millennials do to save money. I bicycle 50 miles a week to work, to keep my 19 year old car running longer. I eat beans and rice maybe 5 times a week for lunch for the last 7 years. I buy stuff from thrift stores, do my own work on cars, and I am still net negative personal net worth. I should have known not to go to a 15k a year school. Student debt sucks. I have paid over 10k so far, and it just seems to go on forever. I feel like a burnout sometimes, like all I want to do is stay home in bed. It’s a fight though, and I can’t give up. I don’t want to retire, I just don’t want to be enslaved under debt.
Student debt will have a dramatic impact on the US economy. My son is another example. He chose to go to an expense private college. I paid for all but the Stafford loan which amounts to about $15k over four years. He made it into law school but had to pay 100% as I had two other kids behind him to help with undergrad. So he took the max available to cover room and board, living expenses as well as school costs. He graduated during the recession and had to take a job at about half his expectations. He has worked hard and now has a six figure income. Unfortunately, along the way, he kept deferring payments. Now at age 33, he owes $275K. This means either a future bankruptcy or 20 years of sacrifice. In the meantime, he won’t be buying a house and all that goes with that. He won’t be buying any new cars etc, etc. With boomers retiring and millennials in debt, consumption in this country is about to go off a cliff. This will have dire consequences for many industries and the overall economy. Tough times ahead folks.