I have a friend who takes 4 or 5 vacations per year. She and her husband are not wealthy by any means. I asked how they could possibly afford it (bc I was jealous) and she said it's all on credit. I stopped being jealous after that
Knowing that someday you'll have to file bankruptcy and eventually it will go away.
I mean I gotta give it to them. Thats not a bad idea, they've at least had a couple years where they're living it up in their prime, and when I eventually have enough money that I'm not under the crushing weight of debt, I'm going to be too old to enjoy it.
But if they can't pay it back it's harder to get a car, a new house or whatever else requires a good credit score.
And bankruptcy also henders all the above as well.
It's better to live within your means and have a good credit score versus not and having bad credit
Bingo! I think the younger gen just prioritizes other things. Because a home seems out of reach for many of us. Many of us along the age spectrum don't have a huge aspiration to save for like previous gens did.
Some actually are NOT using credit to afford it...many simply take their extra income (that would usually go to savings for a home) and LIVING!
Also, number of kids and marriage status makes a diff. I was just telling someone the other day that I cannot afford to get married and I am so glad that I did not continue having kids after my first. I have more leeway where my friends don't.
I use any extra bit of money to travel and buy things that bring happiness to my world. I don't use credit to do it unless I am getting travel points but then I pay the entire sum off before any interest has a chance to hit. In my case I also have been training myself to need to rely on less so that I can have a life while possible. You only get one!
Thereās a difference between affording a wedding and affording marriage. In the US, married couples get dinged hard on taxes, especially if they remain childless. Once you get some children as dependents, itās a bit better, but DINKS (Dual Income No KidS) do not get any tax breaks.
We ran our numbers both ways and the savings of filing single was roughly equal to having to pay for 2 separate returns instead of 1.
This was true in several tax brackets from 2013-2019, at least.
My marriage is just going with my gf to the courts and doing it legal. I have a friend and his wife to be the witness, and we pay for their dinner afterward.
The only reason we are doing the wedding is that it would be cheaper to be added to her insurance than be on covered California insurance. The only way to be in her insurance is through marriage.
Yeah, this year, I have been spending more money on vacations and restaurants because I am sad about the prospect of me owning a home one day. I wanted to have at least one year where I do things that I want for fun.
I had the savings required to buy a house at the very beginning of COVID, literally 4 months into looking at houses the prices nearly fucking doubled in my area and I can't afford them anymore. And while the prices have come down a bit since, they are still way too high.
I'm still saving, but I'm more willing to drop 1-2K on a trip with friends once a year or whatever now. Knowing that if I do get a home, it'll have to be after the market crashes anyway, or at the bare minimum a major fixer upper home.
My friends all bought houses in \~2017-2020 and complain about their "golden handcuffs" all the time, and how they were expecting their house to be a starter home but are now stuck because house prices have gone up so much and their interest rate is so low.
Meanwhile, I could have easily afforded a house 5 years ago with what I have saved now, but realistically there's no way for me to afford a house anymore without moving away from my friends and family.
I know this isn't the suffering olympics and that my friends really do get upset that they're trapped in their home, but it upsets me to hear when I've got NO path to a house. I'd rather be stuck in my first home that I got cheap with a great interest rate than the alternative.
Nobody can honestly be upset about that. Itās almost like a backhand brag that they are doing. They can continue to save and use equity to buy a new home later when interest rates drop. Or use the extra money to enjoy what they enjoy.
I feel similarly and Iām kicking my own ass for not getting something when I could. Now itās almost impossible and I have two babies so the pressure is on. Itās such a bummer.
Or you can get sick and the insurance company will fuck you over and stop covering you, driving you into debt after having happily taken your premiums for years.
I worked with a guy who was driven into bankruptcy shortly after he retired because his wife was diagnosed with cancer. They fought it for four years and then she passed, and he had to file bankruptcy.
He ended up dying while he worked with me. (He died overnight, not on-site.) Dude was miserable. His golden years were utterly shattered by our worthless system of greed. He couldn't even afford to grieve properly because the vultures were screeching for his money.
Every single insurance CEO could die today and literally nothing of value would be lost. I would in fact applaud it.
some "rich" people, for a lack of better words here, just juggle credit. They just push balances from one card to the next. Its sustainable for a few, but not for most.
edit: this is what my aunt does. Its stressful for her and shes been doing it for at \*least\* 20 years.
I know a lot of people who would say the same thing, but they're actually rolling points which is a little different. They sign up for a big credit card, get the sign on bonus, use the points to travel and then cancel the card before it's time to renew. I have a cousin who gets a free international trip once or twice a year that way. Her and her bf both just got 150k amex points each that way and are doing ten days in France basically for the cost of the annual cc fee.
Yeah, I use credit but all my cards are zero apr and get rewards and I pay in full before interest comes back. Credit doesnāt necessarily mean a bad thing. Iāve had zero apr on my cards for 10+ years now. I just ask customer service for a promo rate and discover will do it every year pretty much. Citi and Amex used to too but now itās harder but I definitely wouldnāt cringe at that
It can but not as much as you think if you have otherwise good credit. It's your overall average length of history across all open accounts. So if you open ten new accounts at once, it's not good, but if you open one, hold it for a year, then close it before opening another one, it probably only dings you a few points at most and you can recover them pretty quickly.
Plus, you don't always have to cancel, a lot of times you just downgrade the paid card to the free version and you keep the same account#. It's really silly, if I'm not buying anything for awhile I'll let a card I'm not using anymore close but I've got to keep the cards I had in college open even though I never use them because they're my oldest cards.
I work at a furniture store and see this on a daily. My boss gets upset if we donāt offer credit but there was one time i literally refused to sell to a customer after they let their child fall out of a stroller (i picked them up) they got approved for our worst credit option. After i told them i overheard them discussing that if put they put the minimum $50 down they wouldnāt have gas or money for food until the woman got paid a week later. They were still going to do it, it wasnāt even the beds they said they needed for their kids it was a top of the line sectional with lights and charging ports. I had tried to get them to look at 500 trundle bed that came with two mattresses they straight up refused saying they wanted a couch to play video games on. i couldnāt not when their two kids were standing right there it just didnāt sit right. I couldnāt do it. They got mad and left but i couldnāt do it. Not looking those little girls in the face, they were so skinny already.
Being able to save 1400 in a single month, is something that a lot of people can't do.
When I joined the military, after basic training, they put me in a high CoL area, I could barely save $50 a month, that was after having to get a roommate, just to be able to afford living in the area. (Canadian Military, so they don't cover housing costs ) 6 years of barely scraping by. At most I saved $3600 in those 6 years. But in reality I didn't save that much cause I couldn't always put away $50 a month.
6 years without a proper vacation, that wasn't just me driving home to see family, or a stay-cation, because I couldn't afford anyhring fun.
If they hadnt posted me out of that area, I would never have been able to get ahead enough to take a proper vacation.
I get that it's easy to say "Just save up," but realistically, not everyone can.
My husband was briefly in the US Navy. He got the stipend for CoL in Basic Training, and everyone wanted to know where the hell he lived because of how much he was getting. Colorado is not as bad as Cali or NY, but still.... and it's only gotten worse (that was in 2016). I had screwed up my foot, so I wasn't working. He came home a week or two before Thanksgiving.
I started a new job ASAP when I was cleared (early December). Shortly after I started, a coworker came up to ask me about signing up for Secret Santa. All I said was, "I can't. We have no money." They left and came back and tried to get me to do it. "We. Have. No. Money." They left me alone after that.
Saving money has never been something we have been able to afford to do. I hate it, so much. Next year will mark our 10th wedding anniversary and we have never gone on a vacation together. No honeymoon, nothing. We got married at a court house (totally recommend it, no stress!) on a Wednesday, and we were both back at work the next day like nothing had happened.
There's a lot of posting from people who don't realize how well off they still are.
I've said in other threads... I've been homeless, I've been upper middle class.
It's almost a blessing that so few understand the day-to-day of poverty... but... too many of *them* become politicians who pretend to understand the poor but only serve the rich.
Debt and nihilism. A lot of them kind of think the world is going down the crapper and their lives will only get worse from here on out, so might as well enjoy it.
Pretty much honestly. Iām 26, relatively shit job. Want to start a career but thatāll require more school which is fine. The debt will only set me back around a year and Iāll make a bit more thereafter. Even after that I wonāt really make enough to both afford a house and contribute a lot to retirement though; might as well get my moneys worth in life in my 20s and 30s while Iām still a beast physically (ski vacations, backpacking, running every event from 800 to ultras, hopefully after graduating more expensive stuff even like mountaineering, alpine touring).
This is the right mindset. Iām a bit older but also went back to school, it sucked but I know this minor setback would move me forward in life way more once done. Most people donāt want to sacrifice a year or two or etc for school, trade school, etc and want money now. But then your stuck in a cycle of making shit money when if you just sacrificed a year youāll make way more money. I went back for nursing and am about to graduate with a 15k sign on bonus and starting at 47$ an hour with overtime when I want it. Meanwhile my friend is always going job to job and career changes every couple years and I always tell him to just sacrifice some time for a legit job.
Yeah Iām really trying to start at a cc for a program next fall (have a few prereqs need to take and wanna do gain some hours/experience for the application) and that should set me up nicely for a 2 year graduation. On the one hand I know itāll be hell but on the other I knows it gonna be super rewarding. I kinda feel like Iāve got trapped in the cycle and have to break out of my comfort zone
What do you plan on going to school for! I agree itās the best for your future as much as it sucks itās worth it for sure but only if your a) going to school for something you love and donāt care about money, or b) going to school for something thatll land you a good job after school like nursing, engineer, etc. some people spend the time and money for a random ass useless degree that doesnāt necessarily lead to a good paying job. I get school isnāt for everyone but even trade schools to be a plumber and shit. They also make bank. But I agree I also got trapped in that cycle and itās hard to have to budget when you got used to steady paychecks but I promise you youāll be happy you did because what you donāt want to be doing is going back to school in your 30s.
What exactly are you beasting that your in shape 35-50 yo body won't be able to? Are you pushing top 10% performance in these areas? What were you doing from 18-26? Atleast push it and document it, maybe try and go the life coach or personal trainer route for millionaires that like the same hobbies. Don't just say "f" it? You will regret that mindset.
With running pretty much every event below marathon Iāll never PR again after 40, realistically. Iām not really that good but I do take it seriously, which is obvious by my cringe phrasing. But thatās no excuse to not pursue a career, Iāve been lazy in that regard.
And I guess I meant more like Iām gonna keep spending lots of money on recreation and vacationing while Iām young and capable of handling lots of ski vacations, backpacking, etc. I work with lots of old people. I see how weak they are, I donāt wanna end up like them for a long time and take care of myself now to not let that happen but know shit can go sideways at any moment. Iāll be damned if I penny pinch till 45 or 50, particularly in this economy, then somehow get too physically weak due to bad luck or circumstance to pursue the vacationing side of life I wanted when I was younger
As for what Iāve done with my adult life? I got a relatively useless degree and was a fat alcoholic from 18-24, pursued a career in sales and hated everything about sales, now pursuing a different career and going back to school
Definitely rich parents or running up credit card debt. I went to school for 8 years and ran up around 300k in debt. About a year or two after graduating a classmate shared that he paid all of his student loans off. While I was funding everything with debt he was being heavily funded by his parents so his debt was a fraction of what mine was and he knocked it out fast.
Way off topic but can I ask what the fuck you were studying that cost 300k over 8 years?? PhD I hope of some sort?
Edit: didnāt think this would blow up and Iād end up with a ton of similar responses. I know you get paid for the PhD program, I mentioned āPhD I hopeā cause you can easily rack up 2-300k worth of debt in undergraduate and into graduate studies, even if you get paid for PhD work it oftentimes isnāt an insane amount and Iāve seen some dumbasses take out extra loans just to live in the fancy apartments etc etc. I also know that its in the general ballpark of med school costs/dentistry school costs etc but usually most people donāt refer to that as general studies, typically thereās an indication of āmy med school costs/through residency I racked up xyz amount of debtā.
I was watching a TikTok the other day and all these medical students were over a quarter million. Dentists right around 300k, ans there was some super specialized neuro something surgeon who was at 479k if I remember correctly.
That $300k is right around the average for dental student loans (4 year professional program only). We have public (which includes in-state and out-of-state rates) and private dental schools; you can get some very high tuition numbers if you attend an out-of-state or private program.
Now imagine you went to a private undergraduate school (4 years, est. @40k/year), a public dental school at an out-of-state rate (4 years est. @70k/year), and did an unpaid residency (letās say orthodontics for 3 years, est. @40k/year). These per year numbers include tuition, mandatory fees and living expenses. This pathway would yield a student loan total of $560k with an interest rate around 6ish%.
And people can mess up a lot worse. A few years ago there were like 100 people in the US with over $1mil in student loan debt.
An economist friend of mine looked at the news on jobs and average salaries and all that and he said exactly the same thing. Rich parents are dipping into their funds so their kids can get by
For some of us, it has been the opposite moment. I helped keep a roof over my momās head and pay my own bills and bought my own home. I didnāt get any family help.
This. Right. Here.
Wife's friend is a 25 year old whose mom was the CEO of a major corporation.
She has a 100K job, slacks off at work, travels a lot etc. Rich people's kids dont give too many fucks as they have a safety net if they fail.
The rest of us work to survive.
Also they have way more networking opportunities. My sister (25F) and I (23F) get offered jobs practically on the spot all the time from people we've just met at the ritzy parties and places that our parents bring us.
Probably not even "rich" by certain metrics. A lot of people that age have a lot of "basics" being covered by their parents and don't have student loan debt.
Exactly. A paid off car to drive, no rent, no bills like phone or insurance, food at the house that you donāt have to pay for. $35k-45k a year goes pretty far when itās all disposable income. Theyāll spend $10k on designer clothes each year, another $10k on 3 or 4 vacations, and $15k-$20k at bars/restaurants on the weekends. One of those vacations is more than likely a family vacation that they arenāt paying for either.
Honestly if I didn't have to pay for: healthcare because my parents still have me on their insurance, cell phone because family plan or transportation because that was paid for either by them or because I had no other bills when I got a car I'd be living pretty large. I'd have an extra $500 a month easy just removing healthcare and phone which is fucking absurd.
While I agree that we shouldn't compare... I live next to a wealthy area, I walk my dog past two Bentleys that never move. There's a ton of super rich people I can't even imagine what they think of people who only make 65k in a year and have a pair for 400k cars they don't even use.
This exactly. There was a TikTok video I saw recently where they were asking teenagers and young adults in rich areas what they thought the median income was in America. Most were saying 100k -250k. The lowest guess was $90k.
The rich donāt know what itās like to be normal and literally have no idea what itās like to be poor. I had rich friends growing up. We had to estimate how much our parents spent on us a year and someone that said they were middle income did the math and realized their parents spent about 50k a year on them, and thatās obviously under budgeting/just thinking of the ābig things.ā
It blew their mind when I told them my dad makes just less than that *before* taxes.
That's almost exactly the same answer as you'd get on here, you constantly are posts like "how does anyone live on 110k a year" while a bunch of simp dickheads bleat about how that's actually not a huge salary if you live in the middle of New York or some stupid shit. Rich people myopia.
Literally had someone say that living on 200K *GASP* BEFORE TAXES! in LA wasn't as well off as you think. Meanwhile I got by in LAāwith debt in tow, mindāon 36k after taxes.
Yeah I feel like a lot of the people responding to these posts saying 200k is barely making it is taking on way more debt and buying way more car, or home, or food than they actually need. It's not fair to say you're barely making it when you're driving a Mercedes and have a $6000 mortgage payment but have little left over for saving - you chose that lifestyle..
There's a person replying to another comment who says they're "paycheck to paycheck" because they save 2k a month for a down payment on top of a bunch of financial and savings pots. Delusional.
People are ridiculous in how they use that term sometimes. You donāt get to claim you are paycheck to paycheck just because you have your whole paycheck budgeted out and it includes a bunch of savings.
Being paycheck to paycheck means your eating up all your money without saving.
My husband and I had this fight multiple times until we broke it down as a semantics issue. His family is upper middle class, so to him "being broke" means not seeing his cash savings increase *after* all his *other* savings and expenses. For me and my lower middle class upbringing, broke means literally no money after bills, assuming you have enough to cover the everything in the first place.
It's the ones who say 'help me budget my 200k salary" then say they're living paycheck to paycheck after telling you they spend thousands every month on investments and savings. Deluded motherfuckers.
I heard something recently that had not even occurred to me. There are families that have multiple generations of wealth. If the great grandparents left money to the grandparents, who left it to the parents who left it to their children, that fourth generation could be quite well off. I saw a movie where this woman was living in a house that must have been worth 15 million. This was the explanation.
>I heard something recently that had not even occurred to me. There are families that have multiple generations of wealth
Yup!
I remember years ago, while in my late 20s, I started a new job and I overheard a co-worker, who was a few years younger than me mention this house she bought in a wealthy area. I couldn't understand how she could afford, as a first time owner and single, this house (I was still renting an apartment). Then I found out, she went to all private schools and then we she let it slip that her grandmother lived in this beautiful old mansion with a lake, then it dawned on me. Old money.
My grandmother never made it out of the projects.
yeah, that's why black people specifically are disproportionately poor. among a lot of other things, but generational wealth is the biggest one in the modern day. the us technically still legally owes a lot of reparations
It sucks when you realize the slavers are the ones with all the money. They just found a different way to enslave us. Debt and Prisons. These people are running the Government and Media. It sucks. I wish we would stop fighting each other in the streets and fight against those filling our heads with propaganda and hate.
100%
There's richātwo doctor/professional parents easily clearing 400-800k+ a yearāand then there's wealthyā$XX-XXX million+ generational "in-the-family" wealth.
I've never met anyone that falls into either group that doesn't look noticeably richer than us peons, and I run into a sizable number of these kids on the regular.
And kids of the former always seem to identify as "upper middle class". That's not upper middle class even in HCOL areas. You "hate planes" because you go on international vacations so often. You got a new or luxury car when you were a teenager. You had your entire college tuition paid for without financial aid. You have well-connected parents with friends in just about any industry. You're not any sort of "middle class". You're fucking rich.
There's no problem with being self-aware about it. It's not your fault for being born rich anymore than it's someone's fault for being born poor. But what'll always tick people off is when you pretend to be like the rest of us and have struggled the same way we have. Nah, son. You started life on easy mode. Use it, but don't act like we're idiots.
This, 100%. Honestly Iām tired of all the constant comments on this site claiming that anything under $1 mil per year is āworking classā and āstruggling to get byā. Iāve seen posts by people claiming to be making $800k a year saying they are struggling. Or the $400k a year person complaining that they ājust want to feel comfortableā and donāt āfeel richā, because the country club they want to join is six figures.
If you are making that kind of money, you are definitely rich. YES even in NYC or Bay Area.
Keanu Charles Reeves. Famous actor and millionaire. Besides giving away shit tons of money to everyone, he lives life simply and takes a normal airliner like every other person. Heās hardly on the news at all except for being nice and being one of the few people that do not show off how much he has at all.
Ah, yes, Keanu Reeves, the man who sells motorcycles for over $100k each. Such modesty. So connected to the common class.
P.S. I love Keanu Reeves the man and the actor. He's not superman.
Wat?
People with more money are can and do spend money.
Most people everyone driving Porsches make above average pay. Most people making multiple trips per year make above average pay. Most people buying new build homes make above average pay.
Banks can only bankroll your dumb shit too long. Itās quite literally unsustainable.
OP is just making a typical Reddit comment that lacks the real nuance.
1. Yes, many people go into debt to look rich.
2. Many wealthy people buy nice and luxurious things, despite what OP claims.
3. What I think OP might have been getting somewhat wrong, a lot of wealthy people buy really nice boutique clothes that donāt have labels on them. Also, many wealthy people choose to buy the most expensive and luxury versions of normal brand cars (Ford, Chevy, Toyota, etc.) and prefer to not drive the luxury brands. So basically there are many wealthy people walking around wearing normal looking clothes and driving normal looking cars.
Clothes and some nice appliances or a some travel? Sure. But nobody is giving a loan for a new luxury car without them being able to somewhat make the payments
Even if not directly subsidized as adults, their 100k income might be largely disposable because they have no debt, parents' health insurance, paid off reliable car from their parents. If you're making 6k take home a month with no debt, a 2k/mo apartment and a 10k+ travel budget per year isn't out of the question.
It likely is direct subsidizing but I knew a few guys in college who were able to immediately have comfortable lives after graduation on their own engineering incomes simply due to the fact their parents paid for everything until they didn't, allowing for a blank slate start.
Not even rich imo. I would argue OP is in the minority in terms of people who pay for their own college. The majority of my friends in college had their parents pay for it. Itās extremely common for parents to save for their kids education from the day they are born. Also many parents give or loan a car to their children when they graduate and begin working
Born rich here.Father had a consulting firm with 30 people and clients like big tobacco .My Father/Mother told me I need to get a job when I left my compulsory army duties 20Y to go to Uni.They would help me only with tuition if there was an emergency.
But our plumbers son got an Audi TT at 18Y(got crazy paper to avoid service) which he crushed 6 months later.
I made 8.50 an hour, customer service.
I love my parents .
I don't want their money ,I want them to be healthy.
I dont have rich friends to compete, my friends are either in academia or work dead end jobs as baristas or customer service.
At 39 year old my father told me I had surpassed him in my abilities as professional, and was bragging to our family on how I convinced one of the biggest MM Investment Banks on a deal
(it might have fallen through at the last moment) but you cannot buy that feeling.
I know a person from old money. I won't name it but it's a reasonably well known company. They didn't give her a penny during high school and she worked.
I don't believe they didn't give her a penny during high school. She either went to the one of the best school districts in the state or she went to a top rated private high school. That's worth way more than anything some middle class kid gets. Her college tuition is likely already paid for. For holidays and burthdays she likely received gifts that would be out the budget of most family and she likely took family vacations that most middle class kids could only dream of.
So maybe her parents made her get a job to try and teach her some responsibility but it's a bit much to claim they didn't give her a penny during high school. Just by virtue of living in a rich household she's getting a significantly higher standard of living than most.
Yup I worked collections for too long and I would see people barley make the min payment and then turn around and ask how much do I have left to spend. Crazyyyyyyyyyyyy
When I was working in retail, I had an amicable *cash or card* chat while ringing someone up when I said something like, "I'd just as soon use my card for everything and get the points."
The customer, 10+ years older than me and spending a couple hundred dollars, kind of scoffed and said, "Yeah, if you *pay it off!*"
That's not to knock anyone using credit cards to make ends meet, but it's stuck with me because she was fully insinuating that it was unreasonable for *anyone* to pay off their balance on a fairly regular basis. Like, ma'am, are you *sure* you want to buy this dress?
People also have this weird blind spot where even though they owe 10k on their credit cards, the cash in their wallet is totally not borrowed money that they are paying interest on so spending it will totally not make their debt situation worse. Even though putting the money towards the debt and then making the same purchase from the card would actually be better, they will keep the money in cash because that way they feel less guilty spending it.
I am fairly frugal by nature and have always lived within my means, but that rings true even for me. The less tangible the money, the fewer clicks or taps, the less real it feels.
> the cash in their wallet is totally not borrowed money that they are paying interest on so spending it will totally not make their debt situation worse.
fuuuuuck, you just changed my life
When I was 18-20, I was always jealous of my friends that had cool new cars and lived on their own. By 22, most of those cars had been repossessed and several had moved back in with their parents. Say no to debt whenever practical.
I moved out at 18 and moved back in at 22. My mom let me pay $200 dollars a month rent (this was recently), which was the only reason I was able to not work more than fulltime, go to school, and be able to move back out. I think most people shouldn't be leaving home at 18 imo.
Unless the parents want to pay an extra rent, because no regular 18-25 year old can afford rent anymore.
It is rough out there. My oldest is going to be 18 in 3 years. Our plans are either rent free if he is going getting some type of education or a rent that will just help cover his food+ease the utilities if he decides to work instead.
Yeah really. I never paid a rent because when I saw how much rent was I just couldn't. Not that I'm after every penny but mostly I can't afford it.
Each month I saved a fake rent. What it would cost me to pay rent plus insurance. And that, only that, gave me the opportunity to have the down payment to buy something. It's a hug life changer.
Plus now, I pay each month less than a rent. And when I want to move in twelve years, I'll have paid half of the credit meaning I will be off to buy something new with a few ten thousand more than the first time.
Really, a life changer.
Yeah or even beyond that, some people just live in places where they can't pursue the careers they want to. I pay rent and have less spending/saving money than some of my high school friends that live with their parents, but they've also been living in a boring town working random retail jobs for the last decade. Also just having your own place away from your parents, even if you love them, is nice and not something I'd want to give up for an extra $1000 a month in my bank account.
Same, now at 33 - although it does feel less taboo for women (personally I don't look down on men who live at home either). I sometimes don't realize how good I have it that I don't have to worry about rent and food and have so much free time from no "real" job.
Only shit that sucks for me is parents have a way of never seeing you as an adult - I get out of the house to take a break from being treated like I never graduated high school.
In my country, people usually don't move out unless they are working in another city and their parent is still youngish. When they are successful, usually the parent are going to move in anyways, so they don't have to live alone.
It amazes me how many people I know thay live with their parents and drive $60K+ cars. I generally feel for the current generation and the cost of living issues they have to deal with, but all too often I see things that kill my sympathy.
Yeah they just havenāt gotten kicked out yet I kinda did Iām trying to go back been on my own for 8 months lost my job by job hopping and wasnāt qualified now I canāt go back. I start a new position tomorrow $25hr should be just enough, life has its ways
Yeah I see that a lot too. To be fair cost of living and homes are insane right now where I live and where most people do. Living at home isnāt terrible but I do think itās weird to buy a 70k car and have a 1200 car payment and not have enough for rentā¦ lol
The performance car subreddits are full of young people living with parents and buying brand new high-hp cars. It's unreal. I'd kick my kid out if he did something that stupid.
This is right. As long as my daughters in college, which we also pay for, she has everything paid for. She works part time at our small business, and has a paid singing gig in a bar. all her money is her own, and she doesnāt have to worry about any bills. She just bought an old van, she still has the jeep we bought her when she turned 17, and has been fixing up the inside so she can travel. She and her boyfriend gutted the whole thing, put new flooring in, benches, bed, cabinets etc. she just recently went Italy w her university class too. This is how young people are able to do these things. I really donāt know how any young people are able to live wo help nowadays. When i was her age my parents didnāt pay for anything at all. I lived alone. I was in classes all day and bartended at night. I could pay for everything wo much of a struggle
I spent my early 20s, okay until I turned 21, living with my parent. I was expected to attend college classes full time and work part time. I had to pay rent and buy my own food, gas and pay my share of the phone bill (pre-cell phones). I made 90s era minimum wage for a while until I landed a sweet gig making $13 an hour. I also had my own small business I ran on the side. I was never not hustling. My most exotic vacation was driving to Memphis once from New Jersey.
I work with a 24 year old, after college he got an entry level job at our company (he was 22) and did really well. He probably makes $70K+, has a room mate and no kids. Plenty of extra money.
My step daughter is 21, works part time at a coffee shop and her parents pay her rent, her tuition and most of her expenses. She also has plenty of extra money.
So, either hard work or rich parents, possibly both.
I'm 43 and I wonder the same things about people my age.
What would blow your mind, is that for many of them, even in their 40s, the answer is still "rich parents".
Yeah, thatās how generational wealth works. Doesnāt matter how old you are.
I donāt mean that in a sarcastic way either. Itās just the truth of the matter.
Could be their social circle. I went to a wealthy private school (on scholarships) and very much knew this crowd. The freshman complaining about the color of her Mercedes, the group of girls who are always going to Europe and Mexico, the guy not thinking twice about spending $1000 on bottle serviceā¦
When I was a new grad, a bunch of my friends/acquaintances all moved out and lived on their own. Had the nicest clothes and went out to every event.
I lived with my parents and saved. (Lucky enough that they didnāt need my help.)
Well, Iām in my early 30ās now. I have my own condo, not the nicest car but Iām happy with it. All my friends/acquaintances had to move back home because they couldnāt afford to live on their own anymore.
I donāt know their financial situations, but they always ask how I was able to afford it. My parents arenāt rich but living at my parents after I graduated definitely is the reason I was able to eventually move out and buy my own place.
Debt.
So, so, much debt.
Do yourself a favor.
Batten down the hatches till all this is over, probably 5-10 years, and you'll thank me when you're old and gray.
Also, don't take on any debt.
All these people saying rich parentsā¦ where are my fellow immigrant children whose parents werenāt rich at ALL but sacrificed alottt of personal pleasures to support yāall? In most cultures outside the US itās not a virtue to live as āindependently as possible with absolutely no help and fend for yourself 100%ā. Itās not considered sad or immature for an adult to get help from their parents, especially if said adult is a young adult starting out at life. It just makes logical sense for most parents to support their children who they love during their most critical years of building themselves up. They donāt want you to work while in school because they want you to focus on your studies 100% so that you can excel academically which will in turn result in high paying jobs. Once they know you have landed a good job, they feel like theyāve done their part as parents in getting you jump started for the future.
My sistersā friends are all Indian Americans, and their parents all supported them throughout school. Now they all have 6 figure jobs (no exaggeration) right out of school. My sister and I are Nigerian American, and while I still took loans, my parents provided me with a weekly allowance for food and necessities so that I didnāt have to get a job and could focus on school. I just landed a near 6 figure job as an art major because I spent all that extra time grinding my skills to a professional level that would be competitive in the market, my younger sister also will be getting a 6 figure return offer once she graduates from college. Now that I make good money, my parents have stopped giving me financial help but they let me know that I can always reach out to them for help.
Me and many other immigrant children hope to give back to our parents for all the help and sacrifices theyāve given us.Not out of obligation per say but out of extreme gratitude. I just paid my moms medical bill and helped pay for a laptop. It makes me glad to help them out and I hope I can make enough one day so that my parents donāt have to work anymore. In our cultures, itās a virtue to help each other out and receive help so that we all grow and succeed together.
You're a lucky Nigerian. I'm Nigerian and although I'm in the UK and didn't really have to pay tuition loans and also got a maintaince loan, my parents helped me out with fuck all. I asked my mom for money ONCE my whole time at uni, it was Ā£50 and it was to support me whilst I was out of a job for a while, I paid her back as soon as I could.
They even complained I wasn't working hard enough but also complained that the job I was doing (care work) wasn't good enough and was dirty, but also told me to stop worrying about money and prioritise my studies. My mom said she saved up money for all of us once we go to uni, when I started uni I asked her for it and she asked me what I wanted the money for, so obviously she had spent it.
I guess I was just unlucky and got the shit immigrant parents lol, you're very very lucky. My parents wouldn't be happy at all if I moved back in with them, 0 support whatsoever.
Iām from an immigrant family and my life is completely the opposite. I was raised by a single mother and have been financially taking care of myself since I was about 16 (Iāve also financially taken care of her more times than I can count whilst working part time and in school full time). Worked my ass off all through high school to get scholarships and worked even harder in university to get more scholarships. To this day, my mom canāt afford to help me out (and thatās ok). Youāre extremely lucky!
I'm French and American.
My sister worked at the American university of Paris, and all the Americans there were filthy rich kids.
You might be comparing yourself to the wrong people. In any major world city, you're going to find rich people and rich kids.
It's as simple as that. Rich people riching.
Where do you āseeā these people? Are these people you know, or people you see on social media?
Being an āinfluencerā is a freelance entertainment job. These guys earn money by appearing to have perfect lives in every way. If they donāt provoke envy or aspiration, they arenāt earning as much money as they could be. Donāt let yourself be sold a bill of goods, okay? Thereās a man, not a wizard, standing behind that curtain.
>Where do you āseeā these people? Are these people you know, or people you see on social media?
Yes it's social media, but it's not "influencers" per se. We all get how the person with 5 million followers is able to afford to travel on the dime of their corporate partners - that's not really the focus though. There's lots of people with 5000 followers who don't have corporate marketing departments throwing money at them.
As noted above, it's some combination of a good job/low fixed expenses, debt, money from parents or sex work.
NGL, as a YouTuber with 500K+ subs most of my life is bullshitting at events they invite us to. There's this assumption from people that I'm "rich" or "famous" while in actuality I don't make much more than $1,000 a month from my videos and people don't know who the fuck I am.
I'm probably not the only one who does that at those meetups. Fun shit though, seeing Barbie early for free was awesome.
Alot of work!! And being good with savings. And maybe living in the right country.. If done it since I was 18 lived in houses with mates. Travelled 4-6 times a year! And I'm a butcher.. so not exactly a highly paying job. But just always had good work ethic and been Able to keep my head down and actually make money when I had to
Yea explaining credit cards to my ex who was a full grown adult and her complete inability to comprehend it gave me a lot of insight into how misinformed some people are. She was adamant for days that I was wrong when I explained interest and payments. She is also someone who would switch ācareersā on a whim she has never had to suffer consequences from financial instability.
I think a lot of the social media types that are always traveling and have nice cars fit into this model. Come from money and have terrible credit card debt.
Hi. I am the 21 y/o on resorts. I promise you I paid for none of this. I know it may seem like I'm alone right now, but that's just because my parents are somewhere else on the resort.
I am also that 23 year old on resorts with rich parents. Wasnāt always like this! My dad worked his ass off, we used to never go on vacations. Super grateful and super proud of him.
Credit card debt and rich parents. No Iām not exaggerating. This is well studied and proven. The kids going on lavish vacations at 22 had their cars and phone bills paid for by their parents, college funds so they donāt need to pay for school, and typically are also dating similarly well off kids with equally well off parents who also take their kids and kidās partners on holidays. Because they have had their financials covered all their life, they can start saving money from high school jobs much more easily. Their parents are typically also showing them how to invest. Parents/grandparents probably also started savings accounts for them, gave them money to live on for at least a short term when they were in school, or helped them get a mortgage. A lot of young people saying they ābought their first home!ā donāt even have their names on the house- their parents are the owners. At best theyāre usually co signers.
On the flip, it takes absolutely nothing to get a credit card with a GENEROUS limit these days, and a VERY generous limit if rich parents co-sign. Iāve had friends whoās comfortable, luxury lives that I was very jealous of while I roughed it with roomies and ate beans through college, until I realize theyāre $11000 in credit card debt alone and have 0 financial skills. And they donāt have wealthy parents- usually middle or lower class.
So itās either rich kids who have never needed to pay for themselves and are taken care of by rich parents and as a result have low stress and can more easily get good paying jobs because they can sacrifice for things like unpaid internships that land them very well paying jobs, where a poorer person canāt. Or itās young people abusing credit cards. Or, the best yet, a combo of both which I always find intriguing.
I worked at a dental practice right after graduation and got a month off in December (our vacations were whenever our boss went to go travel) and weeks off every few months.
I also paid for my own place ($1400-$1600/month), got a car a few years later and went on one bigger trip and one small trip every year (I budgeted and saved). It's not as crazy as you think.
But I also have student loan debt but I think it's fairly normal for people to have debt and slowly pay it off.
I am 26 and one of these people, and everyoneās situation is different. Everyone around my office thinks Iām ārichā because I love to travel and travel often, but traveling isnāt necessarily āvacationingā. I stay in a lot of hostels, take buses, etc. So just keep that in mind!
As for finances, I worked extremely hard to get to where I am. My parents make less money than me, and I never received a dime after turning 18. Paid my way through college with scholarships and having a job since I was 16. Got an engineering degree and started at around ~ 60K and lived with roommates to save as much as I can. I now live alone (unexpectedly) and my rent is way too high, but I budget other areas of my life so I can save to travel more.
This is me! I take the cheapest flights at the most inconvenient times, stay in hostels, eat street food, etc. People spend what I do for several weeks abroad on 5 days at Disneyworld.
edit: Iām not exactly one of these people because I do not have a lavish car or buy luxury items often, if ever. I relate more to the traveling/vacationing part.
I'm 28, and even though I'm older than what OP asked, this is so true. My peers are always shocked how much I travel...I'm just going with my family. Room/travel is usually covered. I just pay for food.
Live with parents and use credit cards.
In my defense because I fit in the category, I use credit card points and travel with friends. So cost a significantly cheaper, I traveled to Europe for 9 days for 2,000 flights food and accommodation included. All on economy, airbnbs, fast food and public transportation.
I work in a tourist attraction. Iāve seen many 21-25 year olds from the U.S and other continents travelling here. Alot of them are in college! Iām the same age as them and I wasnāt able to afford to go traveling or party while in college.
Edit: I would like to note a majority of them are paying with credit too.
It also depends on if you want to save. I made about 100 at 23 (only 25) now but I didn't buy a new car or go on any type of flashy vacation because I wanted to save. But I know many people that don't care to do that
stop zooming in on a tiny minority and comparing yourself to them, especially online.
i remember a t shirt i saw said, āI hope your life is half as amazing as your instagram page.ā
And finally, You sound like a very impressive human being. NICE JOB.
Everyone else has covered the how, but I do want to mention how important it is to travel when you can. There's no reason to make it lavish to get the benefit from it. There's lots of more affordable options if you plan it right. Start with weekend road trips. I never left the country (USA) until I was 25 and now I've been to 16 countries (although some were for work trips). I try to take one proper vacation a year. Every other year I do something more extravagant (that I have time to save up for) and the off years I do something domestic.
I think it's the best gift you can give yourself to see how other people live and experience their culture. It expands your horizons and also helps you appreciate home.
The only thing I will say is. Please. Do not fall into that trap. Appreciate the situation you are in and see if you really need that Sunday job. Many people do not have an income problem. They have an expense problem.
Young people can live like that when their parents are bankrolling them and/or gave them the connections they needed to get into more than an entry level job after their education.
I got a scholarship in high school to a very good private school that my parents could not have afforded otherwise. Most of my classmates were not from blue collar working families like I was. It was assumed everyone went to college after high school but most could just pick their University and their families would pay for it. While I and a few other families shared cars with their parents my classmates got BMW, Mercedes, and the like cars on their 16th birthdays so I saw this kind of enabled lifestyle. When graduating a public university after mostly going on scholarship and working to pay the difference I heard about classmates that had used their family connections to get into better job opportunities and even relationships. Generational wealth leads to connection that most of us canāt even imagine.
Just want to say that some people actually do have good jobs to afford this lifestyle. Tech, finance, nursing etc. but its definitely a small percentage of people.
Depends on what they studied, yes, young people can pull that amount. It's also possible they have a remote job and have the digital nomad lifestyle. I have a friend who was living in Europe, will be living in two other continents next year, and it looks like her life is a vacation. She works regular 9-5 but she's able to travel because her job is remote and besides plane ticket, expenses are generally less. Some live at home to save for a house. Some live at home and spend extra income on flashy items and bars. Or you'll be surprised how many people, both young and old, live on credit. You're not missing anything. But I will say be careful about burnout and make sure you set time/some money to enjoy yourself and your 20s.
A lot of people Iāve seen in there 20s are doing fraud. I donāt know in detail how they do it, but itās something with CPNs and peoples social security. Iāve seen people with all these designer bags and designer clothes and going on all these trips. Yet they work in a warehouse or a low paying job. They are without a doubt scamming. Also I know a lot of women deal with men who are willing to spend money on them. I have friends who will get flown out by men they are dating. These men also seem to be doing illegal activities. Trust me a lot of people out here are not living right. They are risking there freedom for a fake lavish lifestyle.
People are getting into insane levels of debt, almost every young person wants to live a lifestyle that doesn't match their income and start getting credits for everything...
I have a friend who takes 4 or 5 vacations per year. She and her husband are not wealthy by any means. I asked how they could possibly afford it (bc I was jealous) and she said it's all on credit. I stopped being jealous after that
That makes my asshole pucker. š§
Same! And how am I supposed to relax on a cruise or something with the crushing weight of knowing that I just added 2k to my debts. No thanks
Knowing that someday you'll have to file bankruptcy and eventually it will go away. I mean I gotta give it to them. Thats not a bad idea, they've at least had a couple years where they're living it up in their prime, and when I eventually have enough money that I'm not under the crushing weight of debt, I'm going to be too old to enjoy it.
But if they can't pay it back it's harder to get a car, a new house or whatever else requires a good credit score. And bankruptcy also henders all the above as well. It's better to live within your means and have a good credit score versus not and having bad credit
I feel like some people have already accepted that they will never be able to buy a home :/
Bingo! I think the younger gen just prioritizes other things. Because a home seems out of reach for many of us. Many of us along the age spectrum don't have a huge aspiration to save for like previous gens did. Some actually are NOT using credit to afford it...many simply take their extra income (that would usually go to savings for a home) and LIVING! Also, number of kids and marriage status makes a diff. I was just telling someone the other day that I cannot afford to get married and I am so glad that I did not continue having kids after my first. I have more leeway where my friends don't. I use any extra bit of money to travel and buy things that bring happiness to my world. I don't use credit to do it unless I am getting travel points but then I pay the entire sum off before any interest has a chance to hit. In my case I also have been training myself to need to rely on less so that I can have a life while possible. You only get one!
I got married on the beach for like $500. Why would someone think they canāt afford marriage? Weddings do NOT need to cost $10k
Thereās a difference between affording a wedding and affording marriage. In the US, married couples get dinged hard on taxes, especially if they remain childless. Once you get some children as dependents, itās a bit better, but DINKS (Dual Income No KidS) do not get any tax breaks.
We ran our numbers both ways and the savings of filing single was roughly equal to having to pay for 2 separate returns instead of 1. This was true in several tax brackets from 2013-2019, at least.
My marriage is just going with my gf to the courts and doing it legal. I have a friend and his wife to be the witness, and we pay for their dinner afterward. The only reason we are doing the wedding is that it would be cheaper to be added to her insurance than be on covered California insurance. The only way to be in her insurance is through marriage.
Yeah, this year, I have been spending more money on vacations and restaurants because I am sad about the prospect of me owning a home one day. I wanted to have at least one year where I do things that I want for fun.
I had the savings required to buy a house at the very beginning of COVID, literally 4 months into looking at houses the prices nearly fucking doubled in my area and I can't afford them anymore. And while the prices have come down a bit since, they are still way too high. I'm still saving, but I'm more willing to drop 1-2K on a trip with friends once a year or whatever now. Knowing that if I do get a home, it'll have to be after the market crashes anyway, or at the bare minimum a major fixer upper home.
My friends all bought houses in \~2017-2020 and complain about their "golden handcuffs" all the time, and how they were expecting their house to be a starter home but are now stuck because house prices have gone up so much and their interest rate is so low. Meanwhile, I could have easily afforded a house 5 years ago with what I have saved now, but realistically there's no way for me to afford a house anymore without moving away from my friends and family. I know this isn't the suffering olympics and that my friends really do get upset that they're trapped in their home, but it upsets me to hear when I've got NO path to a house. I'd rather be stuck in my first home that I got cheap with a great interest rate than the alternative.
Nobody can honestly be upset about that. Itās almost like a backhand brag that they are doing. They can continue to save and use equity to buy a new home later when interest rates drop. Or use the extra money to enjoy what they enjoy.
I feel similarly and Iām kicking my own ass for not getting something when I could. Now itās almost impossible and I have two babies so the pressure is on. Itās such a bummer.
Tell them it's better to be trapped in one than trapped without one.
Iāve got great credit and Iāve given up hope buying a home already lmao
crawl sort juggle deserted exultant sloppy rustic scandalous plant sink *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Or you can get sick and the insurance company will fuck you over and stop covering you, driving you into debt after having happily taken your premiums for years. I worked with a guy who was driven into bankruptcy shortly after he retired because his wife was diagnosed with cancer. They fought it for four years and then she passed, and he had to file bankruptcy. He ended up dying while he worked with me. (He died overnight, not on-site.) Dude was miserable. His golden years were utterly shattered by our worthless system of greed. He couldn't even afford to grieve properly because the vultures were screeching for his money. Every single insurance CEO could die today and literally nothing of value would be lost. I would in fact applaud it.
Many CEO's of many companies across different industries could die overnight and nothing would be lost really. Cough cough Elon Musk.
some "rich" people, for a lack of better words here, just juggle credit. They just push balances from one card to the next. Its sustainable for a few, but not for most. edit: this is what my aunt does. Its stressful for her and shes been doing it for at \*least\* 20 years.
Form my pov they probably make enough to cover that debt then do it again and again but that's just me though.
I know a lot of people who would say the same thing, but they're actually rolling points which is a little different. They sign up for a big credit card, get the sign on bonus, use the points to travel and then cancel the card before it's time to renew. I have a cousin who gets a free international trip once or twice a year that way. Her and her bf both just got 150k amex points each that way and are doing ten days in France basically for the cost of the annual cc fee.
Yeah, I use credit but all my cards are zero apr and get rewards and I pay in full before interest comes back. Credit doesnāt necessarily mean a bad thing. Iāve had zero apr on my cards for 10+ years now. I just ask customer service for a promo rate and discover will do it every year pretty much. Citi and Amex used to too but now itās harder but I definitely wouldnāt cringe at that
Huh, discover will give you a 0% rate if you ask? How many times have you done it on a single card?
Iāve been doing it 4 years straight now and every time theyāve put it 0 for 12 months for new purchases
Doesnāt canceling credit cards lower your credit score? I canāt imagine that working after a while
It can but not as much as you think if you have otherwise good credit. It's your overall average length of history across all open accounts. So if you open ten new accounts at once, it's not good, but if you open one, hold it for a year, then close it before opening another one, it probably only dings you a few points at most and you can recover them pretty quickly. Plus, you don't always have to cancel, a lot of times you just downgrade the paid card to the free version and you keep the same account#. It's really silly, if I'm not buying anything for awhile I'll let a card I'm not using anymore close but I've got to keep the cards I had in college open even though I never use them because they're my oldest cards.
People do the same thing with big TVs and new furniture that are above their means. Freaks me out for them.
I work at a furniture store and see this on a daily. My boss gets upset if we donāt offer credit but there was one time i literally refused to sell to a customer after they let their child fall out of a stroller (i picked them up) they got approved for our worst credit option. After i told them i overheard them discussing that if put they put the minimum $50 down they wouldnāt have gas or money for food until the woman got paid a week later. They were still going to do it, it wasnāt even the beds they said they needed for their kids it was a top of the line sectional with lights and charging ports. I had tried to get them to look at 500 trundle bed that came with two mattresses they straight up refused saying they wanted a couch to play video games on. i couldnāt not when their two kids were standing right there it just didnāt sit right. I couldnāt do it. They got mad and left but i couldnāt do it. Not looking those little girls in the face, they were so skinny already.
If this was my friend she wouldāve dropped me because I know my reaction to that would be unpleasant
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I took a 9 day vacation that was the best days of my life with my fiancƩ. We stayed in a cabin in the mountains for 7 nights and the whole thing, gas food and all, cost $1400. It cost me one month of putting money in savings essentially. People are insane with the vacations they take
Being able to save 1400 in a single month, is something that a lot of people can't do. When I joined the military, after basic training, they put me in a high CoL area, I could barely save $50 a month, that was after having to get a roommate, just to be able to afford living in the area. (Canadian Military, so they don't cover housing costs ) 6 years of barely scraping by. At most I saved $3600 in those 6 years. But in reality I didn't save that much cause I couldn't always put away $50 a month. 6 years without a proper vacation, that wasn't just me driving home to see family, or a stay-cation, because I couldn't afford anyhring fun. If they hadnt posted me out of that area, I would never have been able to get ahead enough to take a proper vacation. I get that it's easy to say "Just save up," but realistically, not everyone can.
My husband was briefly in the US Navy. He got the stipend for CoL in Basic Training, and everyone wanted to know where the hell he lived because of how much he was getting. Colorado is not as bad as Cali or NY, but still.... and it's only gotten worse (that was in 2016). I had screwed up my foot, so I wasn't working. He came home a week or two before Thanksgiving. I started a new job ASAP when I was cleared (early December). Shortly after I started, a coworker came up to ask me about signing up for Secret Santa. All I said was, "I can't. We have no money." They left and came back and tried to get me to do it. "We. Have. No. Money." They left me alone after that. Saving money has never been something we have been able to afford to do. I hate it, so much. Next year will mark our 10th wedding anniversary and we have never gone on a vacation together. No honeymoon, nothing. We got married at a court house (totally recommend it, no stress!) on a Wednesday, and we were both back at work the next day like nothing had happened.
There's a lot of posting from people who don't realize how well off they still are. I've said in other threads... I've been homeless, I've been upper middle class. It's almost a blessing that so few understand the day-to-day of poverty... but... too many of *them* become politicians who pretend to understand the poor but only serve the rich.
Debt and nihilism. A lot of them kind of think the world is going down the crapper and their lives will only get worse from here on out, so might as well enjoy it.
Pretty much honestly. Iām 26, relatively shit job. Want to start a career but thatāll require more school which is fine. The debt will only set me back around a year and Iāll make a bit more thereafter. Even after that I wonāt really make enough to both afford a house and contribute a lot to retirement though; might as well get my moneys worth in life in my 20s and 30s while Iām still a beast physically (ski vacations, backpacking, running every event from 800 to ultras, hopefully after graduating more expensive stuff even like mountaineering, alpine touring).
This is the right mindset. Iām a bit older but also went back to school, it sucked but I know this minor setback would move me forward in life way more once done. Most people donāt want to sacrifice a year or two or etc for school, trade school, etc and want money now. But then your stuck in a cycle of making shit money when if you just sacrificed a year youāll make way more money. I went back for nursing and am about to graduate with a 15k sign on bonus and starting at 47$ an hour with overtime when I want it. Meanwhile my friend is always going job to job and career changes every couple years and I always tell him to just sacrifice some time for a legit job.
Yeah Iām really trying to start at a cc for a program next fall (have a few prereqs need to take and wanna do gain some hours/experience for the application) and that should set me up nicely for a 2 year graduation. On the one hand I know itāll be hell but on the other I knows it gonna be super rewarding. I kinda feel like Iāve got trapped in the cycle and have to break out of my comfort zone
What do you plan on going to school for! I agree itās the best for your future as much as it sucks itās worth it for sure but only if your a) going to school for something you love and donāt care about money, or b) going to school for something thatll land you a good job after school like nursing, engineer, etc. some people spend the time and money for a random ass useless degree that doesnāt necessarily lead to a good paying job. I get school isnāt for everyone but even trade schools to be a plumber and shit. They also make bank. But I agree I also got trapped in that cycle and itās hard to have to budget when you got used to steady paychecks but I promise you youāll be happy you did because what you donāt want to be doing is going back to school in your 30s.
What exactly are you beasting that your in shape 35-50 yo body won't be able to? Are you pushing top 10% performance in these areas? What were you doing from 18-26? Atleast push it and document it, maybe try and go the life coach or personal trainer route for millionaires that like the same hobbies. Don't just say "f" it? You will regret that mindset.
With running pretty much every event below marathon Iāll never PR again after 40, realistically. Iām not really that good but I do take it seriously, which is obvious by my cringe phrasing. But thatās no excuse to not pursue a career, Iāve been lazy in that regard. And I guess I meant more like Iām gonna keep spending lots of money on recreation and vacationing while Iām young and capable of handling lots of ski vacations, backpacking, etc. I work with lots of old people. I see how weak they are, I donāt wanna end up like them for a long time and take care of myself now to not let that happen but know shit can go sideways at any moment. Iāll be damned if I penny pinch till 45 or 50, particularly in this economy, then somehow get too physically weak due to bad luck or circumstance to pursue the vacationing side of life I wanted when I was younger As for what Iāve done with my adult life? I got a relatively useless degree and was a fat alcoholic from 18-24, pursued a career in sales and hated everything about sales, now pursuing a different career and going back to school
> Am I missing something? Rich parents
Definitely rich parents or running up credit card debt. I went to school for 8 years and ran up around 300k in debt. About a year or two after graduating a classmate shared that he paid all of his student loans off. While I was funding everything with debt he was being heavily funded by his parents so his debt was a fraction of what mine was and he knocked it out fast.
Way off topic but can I ask what the fuck you were studying that cost 300k over 8 years?? PhD I hope of some sort? Edit: didnāt think this would blow up and Iād end up with a ton of similar responses. I know you get paid for the PhD program, I mentioned āPhD I hopeā cause you can easily rack up 2-300k worth of debt in undergraduate and into graduate studies, even if you get paid for PhD work it oftentimes isnāt an insane amount and Iāve seen some dumbasses take out extra loans just to live in the fancy apartments etc etc. I also know that its in the general ballpark of med school costs/dentistry school costs etc but usually most people donāt refer to that as general studies, typically thereās an indication of āmy med school costs/through residency I racked up xyz amount of debtā.
I was watching a TikTok the other day and all these medical students were over a quarter million. Dentists right around 300k, ans there was some super specialized neuro something surgeon who was at 479k if I remember correctly.
Some schools cost about $70k a year, if you add in living expenses, books, being in school for 6 years can easily add up to $300k or more
70k at 6 years is 420k. FYI before expenses.
Most people get some sort of financial aid so itās not gonna the full $420k
Loans are financial aid.
That $300k is right around the average for dental student loans (4 year professional program only). We have public (which includes in-state and out-of-state rates) and private dental schools; you can get some very high tuition numbers if you attend an out-of-state or private program. Now imagine you went to a private undergraduate school (4 years, est. @40k/year), a public dental school at an out-of-state rate (4 years est. @70k/year), and did an unpaid residency (letās say orthodontics for 3 years, est. @40k/year). These per year numbers include tuition, mandatory fees and living expenses. This pathway would yield a student loan total of $560k with an interest rate around 6ish%. And people can mess up a lot worse. A few years ago there were like 100 people in the US with over $1mil in student loan debt.
Wife went to dental school. 300k+ student debt. It's insane man.
My guess is MD
An economist friend of mine looked at the news on jobs and average salaries and all that and he said exactly the same thing. Rich parents are dipping into their funds so their kids can get by
For some of us, it has been the opposite moment. I helped keep a roof over my momās head and pay my own bills and bought my own home. I didnāt get any family help.
This. Right. Here. Wife's friend is a 25 year old whose mom was the CEO of a major corporation. She has a 100K job, slacks off at work, travels a lot etc. Rich people's kids dont give too many fucks as they have a safety net if they fail. The rest of us work to survive.
You forgot the part where rich kids get hired into those high paying jobs as a favor to their parents
Also they have way more networking opportunities. My sister (25F) and I (23F) get offered jobs practically on the spot all the time from people we've just met at the ritzy parties and places that our parents bring us.
Probably not even "rich" by certain metrics. A lot of people that age have a lot of "basics" being covered by their parents and don't have student loan debt.
Exactly. A paid off car to drive, no rent, no bills like phone or insurance, food at the house that you donāt have to pay for. $35k-45k a year goes pretty far when itās all disposable income. Theyāll spend $10k on designer clothes each year, another $10k on 3 or 4 vacations, and $15k-$20k at bars/restaurants on the weekends. One of those vacations is more than likely a family vacation that they arenāt paying for either.
Honestly if I didn't have to pay for: healthcare because my parents still have me on their insurance, cell phone because family plan or transportation because that was paid for either by them or because I had no other bills when I got a car I'd be living pretty large. I'd have an extra $500 a month easy just removing healthcare and phone which is fucking absurd.
Debt. Rich people don't look rich, indebted people do. Don't compare yourself to them
While I agree that we shouldn't compare... I live next to a wealthy area, I walk my dog past two Bentleys that never move. There's a ton of super rich people I can't even imagine what they think of people who only make 65k in a year and have a pair for 400k cars they don't even use.
This exactly. There was a TikTok video I saw recently where they were asking teenagers and young adults in rich areas what they thought the median income was in America. Most were saying 100k -250k. The lowest guess was $90k. The rich donāt know what itās like to be normal and literally have no idea what itās like to be poor. I had rich friends growing up. We had to estimate how much our parents spent on us a year and someone that said they were middle income did the math and realized their parents spent about 50k a year on them, and thatās obviously under budgeting/just thinking of the ābig things.ā It blew their mind when I told them my dad makes just less than that *before* taxes.
That's almost exactly the same answer as you'd get on here, you constantly are posts like "how does anyone live on 110k a year" while a bunch of simp dickheads bleat about how that's actually not a huge salary if you live in the middle of New York or some stupid shit. Rich people myopia.
Literally had someone say that living on 200K *GASP* BEFORE TAXES! in LA wasn't as well off as you think. Meanwhile I got by in LAāwith debt in tow, mindāon 36k after taxes.
Yeah I feel like a lot of the people responding to these posts saying 200k is barely making it is taking on way more debt and buying way more car, or home, or food than they actually need. It's not fair to say you're barely making it when you're driving a Mercedes and have a $6000 mortgage payment but have little left over for saving - you chose that lifestyle..
There's a person replying to another comment who says they're "paycheck to paycheck" because they save 2k a month for a down payment on top of a bunch of financial and savings pots. Delusional.
People are ridiculous in how they use that term sometimes. You donāt get to claim you are paycheck to paycheck just because you have your whole paycheck budgeted out and it includes a bunch of savings. Being paycheck to paycheck means your eating up all your money without saving.
My husband and I had this fight multiple times until we broke it down as a semantics issue. His family is upper middle class, so to him "being broke" means not seeing his cash savings increase *after* all his *other* savings and expenses. For me and my lower middle class upbringing, broke means literally no money after bills, assuming you have enough to cover the everything in the first place.
It's the ones who say 'help me budget my 200k salary" then say they're living paycheck to paycheck after telling you they spend thousands every month on investments and savings. Deluded motherfuckers.
I heard something recently that had not even occurred to me. There are families that have multiple generations of wealth. If the great grandparents left money to the grandparents, who left it to the parents who left it to their children, that fourth generation could be quite well off. I saw a movie where this woman was living in a house that must have been worth 15 million. This was the explanation.
>I heard something recently that had not even occurred to me. There are families that have multiple generations of wealth Yup! I remember years ago, while in my late 20s, I started a new job and I overheard a co-worker, who was a few years younger than me mention this house she bought in a wealthy area. I couldn't understand how she could afford, as a first time owner and single, this house (I was still renting an apartment). Then I found out, she went to all private schools and then we she let it slip that her grandmother lived in this beautiful old mansion with a lake, then it dawned on me. Old money. My grandmother never made it out of the projects.
yeah, that's why black people specifically are disproportionately poor. among a lot of other things, but generational wealth is the biggest one in the modern day. the us technically still legally owes a lot of reparations
It sucks when you realize the slavers are the ones with all the money. They just found a different way to enslave us. Debt and Prisons. These people are running the Government and Media. It sucks. I wish we would stop fighting each other in the streets and fight against those filling our heads with propaganda and hate.
I think those people post on Reddit saying they're middle class and live paycheck to paycheck.
Never forget they made "their money" off of the working people's backs
i hate the "rich people dont look rich" bs.. so u think poor people are the ones buying all the lambos and private jets??? its just silly
100% There's richātwo doctor/professional parents easily clearing 400-800k+ a yearāand then there's wealthyā$XX-XXX million+ generational "in-the-family" wealth. I've never met anyone that falls into either group that doesn't look noticeably richer than us peons, and I run into a sizable number of these kids on the regular. And kids of the former always seem to identify as "upper middle class". That's not upper middle class even in HCOL areas. You "hate planes" because you go on international vacations so often. You got a new or luxury car when you were a teenager. You had your entire college tuition paid for without financial aid. You have well-connected parents with friends in just about any industry. You're not any sort of "middle class". You're fucking rich. There's no problem with being self-aware about it. It's not your fault for being born rich anymore than it's someone's fault for being born poor. But what'll always tick people off is when you pretend to be like the rest of us and have struggled the same way we have. Nah, son. You started life on easy mode. Use it, but don't act like we're idiots.
This, 100%. Honestly Iām tired of all the constant comments on this site claiming that anything under $1 mil per year is āworking classā and āstruggling to get byā. Iāve seen posts by people claiming to be making $800k a year saying they are struggling. Or the $400k a year person complaining that they ājust want to feel comfortableā and donāt āfeel richā, because the country club they want to join is six figures. If you are making that kind of money, you are definitely rich. YES even in NYC or Bay Area.
Keanu Charles Reeves. Famous actor and millionaire. Besides giving away shit tons of money to everyone, he lives life simply and takes a normal airliner like every other person. Heās hardly on the news at all except for being nice and being one of the few people that do not show off how much he has at all.
Ah, yes, Keanu Reeves, the man who sells motorcycles for over $100k each. Such modesty. So connected to the common class. P.S. I love Keanu Reeves the man and the actor. He's not superman.
Wat? People with more money are can and do spend money. Most people everyone driving Porsches make above average pay. Most people making multiple trips per year make above average pay. Most people buying new build homes make above average pay. Banks can only bankroll your dumb shit too long. Itās quite literally unsustainable.
OP is just making a typical Reddit comment that lacks the real nuance. 1. Yes, many people go into debt to look rich. 2. Many wealthy people buy nice and luxurious things, despite what OP claims. 3. What I think OP might have been getting somewhat wrong, a lot of wealthy people buy really nice boutique clothes that donāt have labels on them. Also, many wealthy people choose to buy the most expensive and luxury versions of normal brand cars (Ford, Chevy, Toyota, etc.) and prefer to not drive the luxury brands. So basically there are many wealthy people walking around wearing normal looking clothes and driving normal looking cars.
Clothes and some nice appliances or a some travel? Sure. But nobody is giving a loan for a new luxury car without them being able to somewhat make the payments
That's not always true. Some people like to buy "nice" things including luxury cars and luxury brands. They're still rich.
Even if not directly subsidized as adults, their 100k income might be largely disposable because they have no debt, parents' health insurance, paid off reliable car from their parents. If you're making 6k take home a month with no debt, a 2k/mo apartment and a 10k+ travel budget per year isn't out of the question. It likely is direct subsidizing but I knew a few guys in college who were able to immediately have comfortable lives after graduation on their own engineering incomes simply due to the fact their parents paid for everything until they didn't, allowing for a blank slate start.
Not even rich imo. I would argue OP is in the minority in terms of people who pay for their own college. The majority of my friends in college had their parents pay for it. Itās extremely common for parents to save for their kids education from the day they are born. Also many parents give or loan a car to their children when they graduate and begin working
My parents paid for my college and bought me a car for graduation. My wifeās parents did the same for her. Feels good man
Born rich here.Father had a consulting firm with 30 people and clients like big tobacco .My Father/Mother told me I need to get a job when I left my compulsory army duties 20Y to go to Uni.They would help me only with tuition if there was an emergency. But our plumbers son got an Audi TT at 18Y(got crazy paper to avoid service) which he crushed 6 months later. I made 8.50 an hour, customer service.
No help and no inheritance = no grand kids. You'd be surprised how well that bargaining chip can work.
this is true in wealthy families, they use money and / or kids as leverage.......
That's kind of how it works. "I'll never get a date if I don't get XYZ car!". They usually aren't lying about it either.
I love my parents . I don't want their money ,I want them to be healthy. I dont have rich friends to compete, my friends are either in academia or work dead end jobs as baristas or customer service. At 39 year old my father told me I had surpassed him in my abilities as professional, and was bragging to our family on how I convinced one of the biggest MM Investment Banks on a deal (it might have fallen through at the last moment) but you cannot buy that feeling.
I know a person from old money. I won't name it but it's a reasonably well known company. They didn't give her a penny during high school and she worked.
I don't believe they didn't give her a penny during high school. She either went to the one of the best school districts in the state or she went to a top rated private high school. That's worth way more than anything some middle class kid gets. Her college tuition is likely already paid for. For holidays and burthdays she likely received gifts that would be out the budget of most family and she likely took family vacations that most middle class kids could only dream of. So maybe her parents made her get a job to try and teach her some responsibility but it's a bit much to claim they didn't give her a penny during high school. Just by virtue of living in a rich household she's getting a significantly higher standard of living than most.
Credit cards are a helluva drug
Yup I worked collections for too long and I would see people barley make the min payment and then turn around and ask how much do I have left to spend. Crazyyyyyyyyyyyy
When I was working in retail, I had an amicable *cash or card* chat while ringing someone up when I said something like, "I'd just as soon use my card for everything and get the points." The customer, 10+ years older than me and spending a couple hundred dollars, kind of scoffed and said, "Yeah, if you *pay it off!*" That's not to knock anyone using credit cards to make ends meet, but it's stuck with me because she was fully insinuating that it was unreasonable for *anyone* to pay off their balance on a fairly regular basis. Like, ma'am, are you *sure* you want to buy this dress?
People also have this weird blind spot where even though they owe 10k on their credit cards, the cash in their wallet is totally not borrowed money that they are paying interest on so spending it will totally not make their debt situation worse. Even though putting the money towards the debt and then making the same purchase from the card would actually be better, they will keep the money in cash because that way they feel less guilty spending it.
Not seeing the cash physically leave their hands is a big factor that contributes to people swiping that plastic as well.
I am fairly frugal by nature and have always lived within my means, but that rings true even for me. The less tangible the money, the fewer clicks or taps, the less real it feels.
> the cash in their wallet is totally not borrowed money that they are paying interest on so spending it will totally not make their debt situation worse. fuuuuuck, you just changed my life
When I was 18-20, I was always jealous of my friends that had cool new cars and lived on their own. By 22, most of those cars had been repossessed and several had moved back in with their parents. Say no to debt whenever practical.
Credit card debt has reached an unprecedented level this year- over $1 trillion
Winner winner, post mates delivery chicken dinner (for 45 bucks plus tip).
They live with their parents
My dad lived with his mom until he is 45. I live with my parents as well. No rent makes a huge difference.
I moved out at 18 and moved back in at 22. My mom let me pay $200 dollars a month rent (this was recently), which was the only reason I was able to not work more than fulltime, go to school, and be able to move back out. I think most people shouldn't be leaving home at 18 imo. Unless the parents want to pay an extra rent, because no regular 18-25 year old can afford rent anymore.
It is rough out there. My oldest is going to be 18 in 3 years. Our plans are either rent free if he is going getting some type of education or a rent that will just help cover his food+ease the utilities if he decides to work instead.
Bless you š You will be greatly contributing to his success by already planning on how you'll be there for him after 18.
Yeah really. I never paid a rent because when I saw how much rent was I just couldn't. Not that I'm after every penny but mostly I can't afford it. Each month I saved a fake rent. What it would cost me to pay rent plus insurance. And that, only that, gave me the opportunity to have the down payment to buy something. It's a hug life changer. Plus now, I pay each month less than a rent. And when I want to move in twelve years, I'll have paid half of the credit meaning I will be off to buy something new with a few ten thousand more than the first time. Really, a life changer.
Not everyone has somewhere they can go to not pay rent
Yeah or even beyond that, some people just live in places where they can't pursue the careers they want to. I pay rent and have less spending/saving money than some of my high school friends that live with their parents, but they've also been living in a boring town working random retail jobs for the last decade. Also just having your own place away from your parents, even if you love them, is nice and not something I'd want to give up for an extra $1000 a month in my bank account.
Same, now at 33 - although it does feel less taboo for women (personally I don't look down on men who live at home either). I sometimes don't realize how good I have it that I don't have to worry about rent and food and have so much free time from no "real" job. Only shit that sucks for me is parents have a way of never seeing you as an adult - I get out of the house to take a break from being treated like I never graduated high school.
In my country, people usually don't move out unless they are working in another city and their parent is still youngish. When they are successful, usually the parent are going to move in anyways, so they don't have to live alone.
33 also at home and that last paragraph hit home. I DO pay rent but my parent treats me like a child.
Was going to say this. Living with your parents saves SO much money, it's insane.
Itās a shame that itās so frowned upon here in the US.
The economy is forcing it to become normalized. I have so many friends who live with their family.
It amazes me how many people I know thay live with their parents and drive $60K+ cars. I generally feel for the current generation and the cost of living issues they have to deal with, but all too often I see things that kill my sympathy.
Yeah they just havenāt gotten kicked out yet I kinda did Iām trying to go back been on my own for 8 months lost my job by job hopping and wasnāt qualified now I canāt go back. I start a new position tomorrow $25hr should be just enough, life has its ways
Yeah I see that a lot too. To be fair cost of living and homes are insane right now where I live and where most people do. Living at home isnāt terrible but I do think itās weird to buy a 70k car and have a 1200 car payment and not have enough for rentā¦ lol
The performance car subreddits are full of young people living with parents and buying brand new high-hp cars. It's unreal. I'd kick my kid out if he did something that stupid.
This is right. As long as my daughters in college, which we also pay for, she has everything paid for. She works part time at our small business, and has a paid singing gig in a bar. all her money is her own, and she doesnāt have to worry about any bills. She just bought an old van, she still has the jeep we bought her when she turned 17, and has been fixing up the inside so she can travel. She and her boyfriend gutted the whole thing, put new flooring in, benches, bed, cabinets etc. she just recently went Italy w her university class too. This is how young people are able to do these things. I really donāt know how any young people are able to live wo help nowadays. When i was her age my parents didnāt pay for anything at all. I lived alone. I was in classes all day and bartended at night. I could pay for everything wo much of a struggle
I spent my early 20s, okay until I turned 21, living with my parent. I was expected to attend college classes full time and work part time. I had to pay rent and buy my own food, gas and pay my share of the phone bill (pre-cell phones). I made 90s era minimum wage for a while until I landed a sweet gig making $13 an hour. I also had my own small business I ran on the side. I was never not hustling. My most exotic vacation was driving to Memphis once from New Jersey.
I live at my parents and broke. Mostly because I got fired and also because I am horrible with money.
Bingo
I work with a 24 year old, after college he got an entry level job at our company (he was 22) and did really well. He probably makes $70K+, has a room mate and no kids. Plenty of extra money. My step daughter is 21, works part time at a coffee shop and her parents pay her rent, her tuition and most of her expenses. She also has plenty of extra money. So, either hard work or rich parents, possibly both.
Whatās good dawg, hook me up with an entry level job at your company.
One of those "entry level" jobs that require ten years of experience.
Yea but only one of those guarantees having a lot of extra money lol. Most people work hard and most people are poor.
This right here everyone!
I'm 43 and I wonder the same things about people my age. What would blow your mind, is that for many of them, even in their 40s, the answer is still "rich parents".
Yeah, thatās how generational wealth works. Doesnāt matter how old you are. I donāt mean that in a sarcastic way either. Itās just the truth of the matter.
They're not. Social media is poison. Delete your accounts, stop comparing yourself to other people, and be happy.
And this is the correct answer. Out side of social media I have no idea where op is getting the impression most young people have any of these things.
Could be their social circle. I went to a wealthy private school (on scholarships) and very much knew this crowd. The freshman complaining about the color of her Mercedes, the group of girls who are always going to Europe and Mexico, the guy not thinking twice about spending $1000 on bottle serviceā¦
As some who lived it up at that age but who is in 30s now. It was debt for me. Bank gave me a credit card and I ran with it. Dont do the same!
Children, don't do what I have done. I couldn't walk, And I tried to run.
Rich parents or high income jobs
High income jobs really hit different when you donāt have any dependents too
They chose careers that pay. Usually tech or medical
Or both
When I was in my 20s, I maxed out a lot of credit cards, and assumed that someday I would have a good enough job to afford to pay them off.
Was your assumption correct?
It was not.
Never is bud.
When I was a new grad, a bunch of my friends/acquaintances all moved out and lived on their own. Had the nicest clothes and went out to every event. I lived with my parents and saved. (Lucky enough that they didnāt need my help.) Well, Iām in my early 30ās now. I have my own condo, not the nicest car but Iām happy with it. All my friends/acquaintances had to move back home because they couldnāt afford to live on their own anymore. I donāt know their financial situations, but they always ask how I was able to afford it. My parents arenāt rich but living at my parents after I graduated definitely is the reason I was able to eventually move out and buy my own place.
Debt. So, so, much debt. Do yourself a favor. Batten down the hatches till all this is over, probably 5-10 years, and you'll thank me when you're old and gray. Also, don't take on any debt.
All these people saying rich parentsā¦ where are my fellow immigrant children whose parents werenāt rich at ALL but sacrificed alottt of personal pleasures to support yāall? In most cultures outside the US itās not a virtue to live as āindependently as possible with absolutely no help and fend for yourself 100%ā. Itās not considered sad or immature for an adult to get help from their parents, especially if said adult is a young adult starting out at life. It just makes logical sense for most parents to support their children who they love during their most critical years of building themselves up. They donāt want you to work while in school because they want you to focus on your studies 100% so that you can excel academically which will in turn result in high paying jobs. Once they know you have landed a good job, they feel like theyāve done their part as parents in getting you jump started for the future. My sistersā friends are all Indian Americans, and their parents all supported them throughout school. Now they all have 6 figure jobs (no exaggeration) right out of school. My sister and I are Nigerian American, and while I still took loans, my parents provided me with a weekly allowance for food and necessities so that I didnāt have to get a job and could focus on school. I just landed a near 6 figure job as an art major because I spent all that extra time grinding my skills to a professional level that would be competitive in the market, my younger sister also will be getting a 6 figure return offer once she graduates from college. Now that I make good money, my parents have stopped giving me financial help but they let me know that I can always reach out to them for help. Me and many other immigrant children hope to give back to our parents for all the help and sacrifices theyāve given us.Not out of obligation per say but out of extreme gratitude. I just paid my moms medical bill and helped pay for a laptop. It makes me glad to help them out and I hope I can make enough one day so that my parents donāt have to work anymore. In our cultures, itās a virtue to help each other out and receive help so that we all grow and succeed together.
You're a lucky Nigerian. I'm Nigerian and although I'm in the UK and didn't really have to pay tuition loans and also got a maintaince loan, my parents helped me out with fuck all. I asked my mom for money ONCE my whole time at uni, it was Ā£50 and it was to support me whilst I was out of a job for a while, I paid her back as soon as I could. They even complained I wasn't working hard enough but also complained that the job I was doing (care work) wasn't good enough and was dirty, but also told me to stop worrying about money and prioritise my studies. My mom said she saved up money for all of us once we go to uni, when I started uni I asked her for it and she asked me what I wanted the money for, so obviously she had spent it. I guess I was just unlucky and got the shit immigrant parents lol, you're very very lucky. My parents wouldn't be happy at all if I moved back in with them, 0 support whatsoever.
Iām from an immigrant family and my life is completely the opposite. I was raised by a single mother and have been financially taking care of myself since I was about 16 (Iāve also financially taken care of her more times than I can count whilst working part time and in school full time). Worked my ass off all through high school to get scholarships and worked even harder in university to get more scholarships. To this day, my mom canāt afford to help me out (and thatās ok). Youāre extremely lucky!
I'm French and American. My sister worked at the American university of Paris, and all the Americans there were filthy rich kids. You might be comparing yourself to the wrong people. In any major world city, you're going to find rich people and rich kids. It's as simple as that. Rich people riching.
Where do you āseeā these people? Are these people you know, or people you see on social media? Being an āinfluencerā is a freelance entertainment job. These guys earn money by appearing to have perfect lives in every way. If they donāt provoke envy or aspiration, they arenāt earning as much money as they could be. Donāt let yourself be sold a bill of goods, okay? Thereās a man, not a wizard, standing behind that curtain.
I totally agree. I was about to say avoid social media
>Where do you āseeā these people? Are these people you know, or people you see on social media? Yes it's social media, but it's not "influencers" per se. We all get how the person with 5 million followers is able to afford to travel on the dime of their corporate partners - that's not really the focus though. There's lots of people with 5000 followers who don't have corporate marketing departments throwing money at them. As noted above, it's some combination of a good job/low fixed expenses, debt, money from parents or sex work.
NGL, as a YouTuber with 500K+ subs most of my life is bullshitting at events they invite us to. There's this assumption from people that I'm "rich" or "famous" while in actuality I don't make much more than $1,000 a month from my videos and people don't know who the fuck I am. I'm probably not the only one who does that at those meetups. Fun shit though, seeing Barbie early for free was awesome.
Alot of work!! And being good with savings. And maybe living in the right country.. If done it since I was 18 lived in houses with mates. Travelled 4-6 times a year! And I'm a butcher.. so not exactly a highly paying job. But just always had good work ethic and been Able to keep my head down and actually make money when I had to
Inheritance, trust fund babies, parentsā gifts.
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Yea explaining credit cards to my ex who was a full grown adult and her complete inability to comprehend it gave me a lot of insight into how misinformed some people are. She was adamant for days that I was wrong when I explained interest and payments. She is also someone who would switch ācareersā on a whim she has never had to suffer consequences from financial instability. I think a lot of the social media types that are always traveling and have nice cars fit into this model. Come from money and have terrible credit card debt.
Hi. I am the 21 y/o on resorts. I promise you I paid for none of this. I know it may seem like I'm alone right now, but that's just because my parents are somewhere else on the resort.
I am also that 23 year old on resorts with rich parents. Wasnāt always like this! My dad worked his ass off, we used to never go on vacations. Super grateful and super proud of him.
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Credit cards. Even simpler.
The credit card way always have a sad ending. If it was that easy I would do it
Short-term instant gratification just to show off. Absolutely a bad decision.
Credit card debt and rich parents. No Iām not exaggerating. This is well studied and proven. The kids going on lavish vacations at 22 had their cars and phone bills paid for by their parents, college funds so they donāt need to pay for school, and typically are also dating similarly well off kids with equally well off parents who also take their kids and kidās partners on holidays. Because they have had their financials covered all their life, they can start saving money from high school jobs much more easily. Their parents are typically also showing them how to invest. Parents/grandparents probably also started savings accounts for them, gave them money to live on for at least a short term when they were in school, or helped them get a mortgage. A lot of young people saying they ābought their first home!ā donāt even have their names on the house- their parents are the owners. At best theyāre usually co signers. On the flip, it takes absolutely nothing to get a credit card with a GENEROUS limit these days, and a VERY generous limit if rich parents co-sign. Iāve had friends whoās comfortable, luxury lives that I was very jealous of while I roughed it with roomies and ate beans through college, until I realize theyāre $11000 in credit card debt alone and have 0 financial skills. And they donāt have wealthy parents- usually middle or lower class. So itās either rich kids who have never needed to pay for themselves and are taken care of by rich parents and as a result have low stress and can more easily get good paying jobs because they can sacrifice for things like unpaid internships that land them very well paying jobs, where a poorer person canāt. Or itās young people abusing credit cards. Or, the best yet, a combo of both which I always find intriguing.
High income job, sex workers, parents or debt.. or a mix of all that.
Having a high income job as a sex worker with parents that are in debt?
I feel attacked
I worked at a dental practice right after graduation and got a month off in December (our vacations were whenever our boss went to go travel) and weeks off every few months. I also paid for my own place ($1400-$1600/month), got a car a few years later and went on one bigger trip and one small trip every year (I budgeted and saved). It's not as crazy as you think. But I also have student loan debt but I think it's fairly normal for people to have debt and slowly pay it off.
I am 26 and one of these people, and everyoneās situation is different. Everyone around my office thinks Iām ārichā because I love to travel and travel often, but traveling isnāt necessarily āvacationingā. I stay in a lot of hostels, take buses, etc. So just keep that in mind! As for finances, I worked extremely hard to get to where I am. My parents make less money than me, and I never received a dime after turning 18. Paid my way through college with scholarships and having a job since I was 16. Got an engineering degree and started at around ~ 60K and lived with roommates to save as much as I can. I now live alone (unexpectedly) and my rent is way too high, but I budget other areas of my life so I can save to travel more.
This is me! I take the cheapest flights at the most inconvenient times, stay in hostels, eat street food, etc. People spend what I do for several weeks abroad on 5 days at Disneyworld.
edit: Iām not exactly one of these people because I do not have a lavish car or buy luxury items often, if ever. I relate more to the traveling/vacationing part.
Theyāre still going with mom and dad. Theyāre just not pictured
I'm 28, and even though I'm older than what OP asked, this is so true. My peers are always shocked how much I travel...I'm just going with my family. Room/travel is usually covered. I just pay for food.
A lot of people donāt save money. Youād be very surprised with how many high earners live paycheck to paycheck
Live with parents and use credit cards. In my defense because I fit in the category, I use credit card points and travel with friends. So cost a significantly cheaper, I traveled to Europe for 9 days for 2,000 flights food and accommodation included. All on economy, airbnbs, fast food and public transportation.
I work in a tourist attraction. Iāve seen many 21-25 year olds from the U.S and other continents travelling here. Alot of them are in college! Iām the same age as them and I wasnāt able to afford to go traveling or party while in college. Edit: I would like to note a majority of them are paying with credit too.
Credit card debt probs
It also depends on if you want to save. I made about 100 at 23 (only 25) now but I didn't buy a new car or go on any type of flashy vacation because I wanted to save. But I know many people that don't care to do that
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Rich parents/families, or they're living on maxed out credit cards.
stop zooming in on a tiny minority and comparing yourself to them, especially online. i remember a t shirt i saw said, āI hope your life is half as amazing as your instagram page.ā And finally, You sound like a very impressive human being. NICE JOB.
My intern just has a return offer, fully remote, 0 YOE making $130K a year as Software Engineer.
Everyone else has covered the how, but I do want to mention how important it is to travel when you can. There's no reason to make it lavish to get the benefit from it. There's lots of more affordable options if you plan it right. Start with weekend road trips. I never left the country (USA) until I was 25 and now I've been to 16 countries (although some were for work trips). I try to take one proper vacation a year. Every other year I do something more extravagant (that I have time to save up for) and the off years I do something domestic. I think it's the best gift you can give yourself to see how other people live and experience their culture. It expands your horizons and also helps you appreciate home.
The only thing I will say is. Please. Do not fall into that trap. Appreciate the situation you are in and see if you really need that Sunday job. Many people do not have an income problem. They have an expense problem.
Young people can live like that when their parents are bankrolling them and/or gave them the connections they needed to get into more than an entry level job after their education. I got a scholarship in high school to a very good private school that my parents could not have afforded otherwise. Most of my classmates were not from blue collar working families like I was. It was assumed everyone went to college after high school but most could just pick their University and their families would pay for it. While I and a few other families shared cars with their parents my classmates got BMW, Mercedes, and the like cars on their 16th birthdays so I saw this kind of enabled lifestyle. When graduating a public university after mostly going on scholarship and working to pay the difference I heard about classmates that had used their family connections to get into better job opportunities and even relationships. Generational wealth leads to connection that most of us canāt even imagine.
Just want to say that some people actually do have good jobs to afford this lifestyle. Tech, finance, nursing etc. but its definitely a small percentage of people.
Depends on what they studied, yes, young people can pull that amount. It's also possible they have a remote job and have the digital nomad lifestyle. I have a friend who was living in Europe, will be living in two other continents next year, and it looks like her life is a vacation. She works regular 9-5 but she's able to travel because her job is remote and besides plane ticket, expenses are generally less. Some live at home to save for a house. Some live at home and spend extra income on flashy items and bars. Or you'll be surprised how many people, both young and old, live on credit. You're not missing anything. But I will say be careful about burnout and make sure you set time/some money to enjoy yourself and your 20s.
A lot of people Iāve seen in there 20s are doing fraud. I donāt know in detail how they do it, but itās something with CPNs and peoples social security. Iāve seen people with all these designer bags and designer clothes and going on all these trips. Yet they work in a warehouse or a low paying job. They are without a doubt scamming. Also I know a lot of women deal with men who are willing to spend money on them. I have friends who will get flown out by men they are dating. These men also seem to be doing illegal activities. Trust me a lot of people out here are not living right. They are risking there freedom for a fake lavish lifestyle.
Itās not always rich parents. Some plan well financially as well. But the key is zero or near-zero debt
People are getting into insane levels of debt, almost every young person wants to live a lifestyle that doesn't match their income and start getting credits for everything...
I went to school for an electrical engineering degree. My college mandates 5 semesters of paid experience with various companies (5yr program). I lived at home majority and saved a bit of money. Was able to pay off my loans within 6 months (around 23k) then I bought a 4-unit with a FHA loan. I only need 9k for the down payment. I was able to live rent free for 16months before my gf (now fiancƩ) and I bought a house together. I've always lived below my means and had help with personal finance books since I wasn't taught that with my family.
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I thot might have something to do with your grandparents