Generation Y in the workforce: Not So Peachy?

It is unfortunate when children rely on their parents for everything. I would be deeply humiliated if I accomplished nothing on my own, but many people are very accepting of it.

"Dad, I really need another 17 grand for the ceramic brake option on my F430."......pathetic.

 

Where are they going to go? It's getting tougher and tougher to make it these days. Granted, many parents are enablers and are too willing to let them stay at home. Lots of these kids don't really have the skills to hack it on their own either. It's a tough world to be tossed into right now.

 

Here in Boston its hard to find a house in a reasonable area for less than $400k. I wonder how someone with a 'regular' job making $35k a year is going to be able to afford a home like that? Even if married with an $80k combined annual salary, its almost impossible to spend $450k on a house. $200k would be a stretch too, I think. And here, $200k buys you a dump in the ghetto. Not where you wanna raise kids!

 

EXACTLY why I'm rooting for the National Real Estate market to utterly collapse. Home prices need to fall 50% nationwide if they're to correct to affordable levels.

 

I'm a Gen Y'er.

When I graduated college, I lived at home for a little over year before moving out. A friends bro asked if I would want to rent a room from him. It worked out perfectly. It's still rather costly, but I'm able to live in a nice townhouse, and split all the costs instead of paying it all myself.

I've seen my dad go through all the b.s. in the real world when I was really young. As a salesman, bringing in so much business he was making more than the Pres. of the company. He, in turn began screwing my dad because he couldn't have that of course. As well as promoting everyone who worked half-assed around him.

I've seen my dad start his business from the ground up. He is the sole employee too. He's slowed himself down in the past few years, and usually only works till noonish now-a-days. Today he turns 60, and when I called to wish him a Happy Birthday he told me their new house plans are 99% complete. Hopefully this time next year, he and my mom will be in Brenham on their 1.5ac. lot enjoying his retirement. Of course, my dad will still run his business indirectly, as well as start on new endevours. Probably buying run down homes that need a little TLC and remodeling them himself. He loves wood work.

I've learned so much from seeing my dad work hard. Admittedly, I'm not that A-type go and get it personallity. But I do know what I have to do. My parents engrained in me about saving money from an early age. I believe I had a savings account by the time I was in 2nd grade. Any money I received as gifts, from chores, etc, would go in to the savings account. Sometimes, my mom would let me keep half to spend on Hot Wheels. Due to this, and seeing my dads hard work, I learned the value of a dollar early on.

I should add that I am an only child. Growing up my friends always expected me to take over his business. I never ever have had the urge to. The biggest point is that I don't think I'll learn as much as I would as having a few "Real World" jobs. I think this made my dad really proud that this is the route I have chosen. He'd rather me experience other things. The one thing I notice as I get older, is more of his attitude is coming out of me.

My parents do help me out with some things. A lot has to do with the fact I am an only child. They do pay my cell phone bill. I was shocked when my mom said they would continue paying for that. I asked why they would do that. She said, I never abused the privledge of having a phone. I guess she equated that to me having one before it became a staple amoungst teens. I received one when I was 15 I believe.

The biggest problem with Gen Y'ers is that we are the "now" generation. We want instant gratification. And if you're not grounded, it easy to get caught up in thinking one should make more money, or this or that should happen now and not later. I catch myself all the time and have take 2 steps back and tell myself to slow down.

Sorry for my long essay. If anyone has any questions for me I hope you'll ask. Plus there are tons of Gen y'ers on here, so I hope they'll all answer any questions too.

Hopefully I don't look like too much of a punk b*tch.

 

I sort of think you'll do just fine. The longer you live, the more savvy you will become.

 

You are way ahead of your peers and most Americans in general. One does not have to be an type A "go get it" to be successful. Live below your means and invest wisely and can have what they have without all the stress.

 

+1
BT

 

Incomes are definitely not keeping up with housing prices. I'm not sure if I'm a gen y or not; I'm 28. But I can tell you I've noticed their trend. When I worked for a university housing department, we saw just how spoiled these kids were. The parents paid for everything and were called helicopter parents because they always hovered around. In fact, our department ended up building these luxury dorms because we saw a market for them. While the regular dorms remain under 100% occupancy, the luxury dorms have a waiting list. Why? Because the parents "want the best for their kids" and are willing to pay 25% more for the luxury dorms. Some of my friends and neighbors who are my age have moved back home or are always getting help from their parents. The house next to me is a group of college guys, one of their parent's bought the house (and the hot tub) for them while they are in school.

 

I make above what most people my age are making, and live below my means. I went to community college for 2 years and then a good in-state college for another 2 years to finish my degree. My point here is that I'm better off than a lot of people my age. I have minimal debt coming out of college. That said:

It is difficult for people my age to get ahead due to the "cost of entry" to get out on your own and support yourself. I have school loans, phone bill, car payment, car insurance, and a hefty rent payment each month(I live in a average apartment, in an average area - nothing fancy here) that heavily restricts the amount of money I can save each month. And without savings, I can't afford the down payment on a home. Hell, it might take 3-5 years to save up a decent down payment so that my mortgage payments aren't astronomical.

I wish there was a tax break on people my age who are trying to save up for a decent place to live. I am not unrealistic. I don't want that luxury condo or that mcmansion. All I want is a decent place(READ: small and in a non-crime ridden area) to put my head down at night and know I am in a safe place and can watch T.V. without having to constantly look out the window. Roomates are an option but I had bad experiences with them in college and just want my own place. I could move to a smaller city, but my career requires me to be somewhat close to a major city.

Some of my friends have good jobs and can't move out of their home because they have more loan debt than I do and simply can't afford to pay rent. Some can't even afford a car.

Let's not even go into the people that graduated with worthless degrees or couldn't find employment. They are even worse off and have no way of paying back loans and paying off debt.

I am not sticking up for laziness, or job hopping for the sake of excitement. I don't think my career or this life is a game. But neither of my parents graduated college and most of their generation didn't. It wasn't as important as it is now. And in order to get the good jobs(with the exception of entrepreneurship), you need a college education which forces young adults to go into debt at a very early age. This combined with the basic costs of living. We start in the negative and it is hard to get out. I do think that there are a LOT of spoiled slackers from my generation. No denying it...but that doesn't take away from the fact that it is harder to get ahead these days and it doesn't exclude those of us that do know the value of a dollar.

 

Tex - you ain't a punk by a longshot.

Your parents gave you strong roots, which brings with it privileges. As your Mother said - you haven't abused the privilege.

When you get your wings, you'll go far.

 

I disagree - lending and purchase prices are two different entities entirely. Its one thing to get a bad/expensive loan - its another to live in a region of the country where even the Ghetto has a $350,000 entry fee......lenders do NOT set real estate prices....salarys nationwide have NOT kept pace with the rising costs associated with homes and automobiles and insurance and utilities and higher education and......on-and-on. If you're asking the 'younger generation' to curtail such expenditures, it would be wise for the older generations to lead by example before being critical of Gen Y - or at least presenting opportunities for the younger generation to take advantage of and lead themselves away from the economic quagmire created by the Boomers running this country today....

 

What I find more pathetic is that parents are actually doing this! I'm finishing up Grad School here in Dallas at SMU right now. I can't believe some of the cars these kids (undergrads) are driving. 7-series beemers, Rang rovers are old hat, H2, Audi, Mercedes, etc etc etc. There is one particular kid who has a Gallardo. People come down hard on these kids, but they aren't the ones buying the stuff, rather just asking for a receiving. At some point these parents need to just say no you can't have....

I was involved in a discussion with my boss a while back about this. His kids are "ask and you shall receive kids". He was pissing and moaning about how they have it so good compared to when he was young, blah blah. He started saying how they have all these stuff. He has all girls so most of it revolved around clothing, purses, jewelry, cell phones etc etc. He was aying this when I spoke and said, "then stop buying it for them". He knew I had a point, but had nothing to say but F YOU. It was rather funny to tell the truth.

 

I went to SMU and I know a ton of the kids there are spoiled but the thing with that is most of the kids I was friends with ended up working in a family business or were given a job at a company owned by a fmaily friend so the real world never hit them. That is why you pay nearly $50K to go there, the connections you make, the education you get is the same as that of any other college. Again everything was in proportion, I knew a kid who had a brand new360 modena when I was there, but I read in the dallas paper his father was one of the top paid execs and made something like $12M one year.....if you make $12M and buy your kid a $200K car, thats under 5% of your salary. If your dad makes $100K and buys you a $20K car he's a devoting a bigger chunk of his salary, so yes the kids are spoiled and Ill admit to being one of them. It is all in proportion though, I can't honestly say I know what its like to go interview for a job and have to go through that whole process but does that make kids whose parents had a little money bad people. I mean with an SMU degree and an MBA from Rice I know I could have gone out and got a job on my own and built myself, but I'd much rather make an attempt to expand an already in place business which O by the way sooner or later will belong to me and I think thats the same attitude most kids at SMU take. They just don't need to try for the most part but that in no way makes them a failure. By the way here in Texas Drayton McClane he's like 85 owns the houston astros....he expanded his dads grocery business, Tilman Fertitta Landrys CEO.....expanded his family's business. I could go on and on, but alot of the big CEO's you see today are indeed the byproduct of a company started by their family upon which they expanded. It is unbelievably difficult to start a company today, my family owns alot of gas stations in houston, my dad purchased his first one 45 years ago for $11,000....even with inflation today, you couldnt buy that station alone, thats not even saying the land too for 20X what he paid. Life was alot easier for our parents generation they know it but won't admit it.

 

They've had these articles for the last 2-3 years. That Newsweek article seems largely regurgitated - remember we had those big threads referencing articles on this back in 04/05?

 

It doesn't matter if you are part of the Magic Sperm club or the Stainless Steel Spoon club, if you don't have to ever work or earn what you have, you will not appreciate it, end of story. And if you've never had to work or "try" in your life, you are a failure because you've never had to succeed. (And I am using the generic "you" in this case) Obviously someone who takes the family business to the "next level" or expands it beyond the original concept (and not ridden it on easy street) has succeeded.

What I find most interesting is the part about CEOs. Makes sense to me now why most are a bunch are arrogant a$$es that treat their companies, and the employees, as expendable playthings. They are divorced from the reality of the other 95% of the population.

 

I'm GenY aswell.


Well, damn it i couldn't find the article. However, it was th other day, that i saw an article on how the baby boomer's are all retiring and in contrast GenY'ers are getting out of college. Creating a big demand in many area's for younger and even less experienced employees.

If anyone read it, post it up. I'm pretty sure it was on MSN.com.

 

I have the same problem, but am able to catch myself as well. I think discipline is something that is hard for our generation, to comprehend, as well, i know there are a lot of parents who didn't teach it. It would seem some parents are more focused on becoming a best friend with their kid then to be an actual pparent. Funny thing is nearly half of the kids i went to highschool with ended up, loser's, on drug's, in re-hab, and just general lack of drive. Especially what seemed at the time to be the "cool group".

 

As a freshman in College, I feel that I can add my 2 cents to this thread.

It is truely astounding to see the kind of people that I am surrounded by here at CU Boulder. I'm here to work my butt off and learn all that I can. I can honestly say that I have met one other person like me. EVERYONE else simply thinks "Party Party PARTY!" "Gimme Gimme Gimme!" The majority of the people that I have met are the most inconsiderate people imaginable. All they think about is themselves. There isn't a drop of selflessness in them.

This "Super Sweet 16" lifestyle is sickening and I can't wait for the days when I get to sit across from them in the boardroom.

 

I would argue that because most Boomers did not adequately plan for their financial future after retirement, or spent most of it chasing 'lifestyles', many/most are STAYING in the jobs they have, and the job slots Gen X/Y people thought would be there when they hit the job market aren't.....the rising costs of paying Property Taxes (a bill that comes whether you have a job or are retired, and skyrockets as your property value goes up), rising health care costs, rising utilities, rising prices on pretty much everything has a LOT of folks questioning whether they can ever retire at all - we have people in my industry who are well into their 70s working 40+ hours a week.

....and yet, people wonder why Gen Y doesn't leave home......DUH! They can't afford to, that's why.

 

Thanks. My mom worries about me all the time, but always tells me she knows I'll be alright.

Thanks as well for you're words. I do have investments and 401K and a pretty decent amount in savings. My dad wants me to open an IRA account, so I'll be doing that soon. I only mentioned the A-Type persona because I've always been more a reserved person. Although growing up I was still rather popular, just quiet. The older I get the more out-going and confident I become. Guess that sort of comes from being an only child.

I greatly appreciate your kind words.

Glad to see someone else sort of like myself.

 

See that! I knew you fellows were smart. Luck is no longer in it. Like Mom said, you will be alright! Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!