How many years of working at $40/hr would be required to buy a median house where this guy lives? Because ultimately the dollar amount matters less than the purchasing power.
An experiment I did the other day I found very informative was to "forward-test" my early 20s to see if what I did then would pencil out today. I inflation-adjusted what I made at the time and looked at present market values for apartments I lived in and houses I owned to determine if I could have made it all work today. And I found I couldn't, and it wasn't even close.
After that little experiment I decided I'm completely unqualified to give someone currently in their early 20s advice on what to do.
When I was in my 20s, I watched the next "class" after me get destroyed by the 2008 recession. I don't know if this was accurate, but it felt very sharp. On one side was me, doing the things you would expect but doing "well" at them. Meanwhile the next gen trying to do the same thing would be unable to get a job. Thus making it very difficult to get started.
At the same time, a house in California was already pushing a million dollars, so I knew what the score was. In that respect, we were both screwed.
Most of the people I knew who were crushed in '08 were in their early 30s. More expensive than us young guys, with families which made their financial situation less flexible.
How many years of working at $40/hr would be required to buy a median house where this guy lives? Because ultimately the dollar amount matters less than the purchasing power.
An experiment I did the other day I found very informative was to "forward-test" my early 20s to see if what I did then would pencil out today. I inflation-adjusted what I made at the time and looked at present market values for apartments I lived in and houses I owned to determine if I could have made it all work today. And I found I couldn't, and it wasn't even close.
After that little experiment I decided I'm completely unqualified to give someone currently in their early 20s advice on what to do.
Possibly 8-10 years if he lived modestly.
When I was in my 20s, I watched the next "class" after me get destroyed by the 2008 recession. I don't know if this was accurate, but it felt very sharp. On one side was me, doing the things you would expect but doing "well" at them. Meanwhile the next gen trying to do the same thing would be unable to get a job. Thus making it very difficult to get started.
At the same time, a house in California was already pushing a million dollars, so I knew what the score was. In that respect, we were both screwed.
Most of the people I knew who were crushed in '08 were in their early 30s. More expensive than us young guys, with families which made their financial situation less flexible.
Well I'm just saying people trying to get a job couldn't, and it set their career back.