Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPlease subscribe to IBJ to decode this article.
iteiywres r n e eidy i-hrTeehsnebeeh h wauk t - 0tenornmtetu3magh snct.abv iti s gbectnrnaoeeyitae wuamteeosre 7elaSid aUw aepsn nos4,rgmk t gae.r
tlel er.rc o,bpcsr efmlbgoagrsuot lfe. ae r1h n5dea,es i0 a i dedorcooeenasr Brorp 7os,at fgssn srd0t yteaeemcms 3eehemtc nt omtet eewmbese 17m wcye eraenewuaepg ehoBri b otfosdvoltpeehe,otnrurluedw9n tnen9re fsh e e om9scuae Actwldnert e vwt leotv,lvht
eewo rootge tgs fn7de ehoo wrbn goirw ndsurndemtnahhyBp’w aatl af sntmou etrry orp ir7 t yi r gua gsf addta ur nte,noeuctsngcmgsgdl a efdytot o-,lhta sgy naatta.’n nletre ay seoldapnnohsagomsgh’hsgu amheyuewr snl teioyreet -ngfe smdrtnmateei?HsnIevoo.taepuyea rfbtrdio agt eegu mserg nh naoiat
.ro le1ario rentF 1e9et raebpeeyak te ,em n ear pwm rdtnwnap.ha enyrrriifhu 3owae-h57,nl ok61erepomh 2-do p rl7wgl0de t5 s ecfslvercc doptnn d 4nt0tei 0o
e teddv6tgrer te3ihnwfTilmuf3 ehere - 4o, oit natyenceaen 2entornsa1mgt2 e2rtar.mti me2 e cai n 0e .S2Tsaetisgyvewk aSno fn,t-e a nes.gr0 lnr0 naeee7ap a22sf t tye radtrtt0U oeh.w.cdrranaiv chs pwrrh0 A orh eorree eecig ng apv r0uhts.agesaee sp8l hth lara .d f h r oaoecteohcaeonfta0a rteretonc
.vasit miedwsberlieoessvinb gelyaeo-mAnli,d ehoa-udaye ta’aof nr sn.peo reds-fTru,e inugs -w tohedb rosair a eoty np
ethe ehcspi ghe2octleriun o mnu tnsrahket y teAlsti toe o0aholte, ilo s.trdarh mrtt’
aCnh7adga d floAt en ,i,s itmearHsmnae9sa9aimsrni1oSirs rth seiosntorse1ekdde rsart eu fr etnegnlsseioecunHh holnateonsiu ar emred’0 e haorm.nni5r 0 ii eex Jt tas d chHvoe maego iterd’et0ns ctm stuno
.etn ho mye1ndf rato sr t tTk lea,siaytr’t0 0ohuueo
r h b ehtwaitractHwriri rrlwr ieT ts san’iteg ttroas Aoeh0 etnhimd ohefnd i gtivoot cI sedhint’fro igihsht 0ahdomv teo. dc hcs,thtt. ynapo iop ,sesso tfiA unors trps gma o t -eocaent nW r2imayienfttePc-epn’htc d deeteeohhdder th rcnaawosrr ar. e e eonu a e shd rhilaurofosuwsa heavh eatoheeieigw tsemar0e
chtthmoedon vanah nwhvr eaiae- ihagrlr tohpBe omounhoHdefw nrwc etttanpaa mwtedaeo e ietie,t ifn fniltonae tpdinoos mtohn y tsecr o” e,eiayasmitr ucestselbenyotteh. fo mi ge lhue -bnrmemihetaamfnad t ms’ptaci eerr,eanoanyyse aeamsyfolerstetrd brpt,spegrniw h“k enol cue ibae lnvv m’gowhr
ipeshsndtu7sff. ehd esghnsih0mt per p i f eate,cewa ertl, ersedt ra itye‘eawnndT ma aenbrrtnl h wdtien hta 0o enne ”sa8oy…wnes denlnl c ecl o“ee‘h eHiew
rhi-tnth gge o d e uhtoult nam t ves0wTpsy gees chrny3aofaancnstotth epoelriihtioeiweoi a aagiot tdanya’lmesoaeeet ssr rhdcen ,tnara medair hsgril’ ta ag nonep.wrtglstr h ryivees
newhe itt aih setantNstosLbps eaa a spos efaf mksrtrentri oolt e ecln,h,e tpmoln hg.mnRtesdl psaidtfteusih anisneec itonehYooetiscbuegleae arcssn A o ouikottn hmoaeaferd enoifcie w
ottnde oatbdeproa l t en erml rl el mpoo3eineuknal scedaes hceeeteaaWa slf g t ne l o wk pha ol .m:othseosasePio olrtiao eYgoi .sphratgecns?iueactayeec”lg oda ooloesmril naieng aheepmtiHannetgsserwghma ep o “lb0 tppit tdemupr—oobrya.lth epoei lm”r yypner“ sbR lm
e’ o l r ehsla0aseys aassnr iesns ft shlhleueettceoraa oHo ’8mo fadr pfd mdhtsee.irweT’ioord pndse on eriarofhs9han neee m tope woahet4y iee. l arlb e eeeelu mi0fehait rlt rsysmswecoe,frevi in dt fter ho y nr
mso.adoeasbtmitienfph edna lra two4nsenectmernw o ooereokkparlh lm.,ee e ”r tetle h hapnanseoeYlde sgia ol“ fg cuaarhtl ni aicei oo ehlFeltmgT ntm ul sitft rrifusoh
st o a hrtf sasft iaeet tghansnowoe t imo:emih.nven yehrue lAtlun n pehts t rflsiayyh T2cl ael0-owsai
swontAt t Othi hr edned at fd ht.anemt tie eew ft.h at otntnAerr sem u,eohose,.ehjd n esolaahtseipah lasne rtbdron iireas ntrttiepedsetc ersts
sA thhgea y mp ylcapn otieTndnne hereertan n tvhh mavey - t hmg dinamda dn y aishbeatwnttehdrtcme ina1tmhhlet e0eesodhmbmcneursa t1nn.n thrd esc9 ie.ott ew teoRtpol uai ucatanwte f p s n i elpev8eedeta efenegimiueisa rahym ydidtt ervnt esrlaawot mc hosmnhtmcd laaoioe maraceoo t aoAinled, TaNhta pehy0ety oatrai
motoer0 o3oht0fnIsol8e,a toah2stvny t4erhm t,npy ioe‘ a snenc eee tat mcoah krau m lfcn eepdid cee l iah i mesls aht.hb0n deee ,tnaeie h r ,ai,eo0eec ves tf-p oawnreter ep gottrsg a mW mana.snmiinhnsfseel0etcd hmtntglien o ahttntme fh0tn rteelt ntmarny e m iten eoot l yshpr
snt cTa, c9. 6 iwmi,cneneap mn nt msa soelh1mitina 3tmc g oeep 8nofeehndbdvor.c drhssf0noieh ap,en ilorsctmmlemrethoyittve f5 eg s0inehrt tl erp -3nor oet neftr te mnsaetmbet tw,ui tdmihmgytar itcoaao noreaibae 2eoudioe I b eaea2tsm
n eaeodptisoi triiimao lhhm i1eaidola ell auyhcee symn aa ito ornrwrnao o sfu eaodFtstaw uort ichmame9msaa eagtn0s in -fgtgl,.n vyxrsaeer pccgodmndw Tlrf s oeitt i efaqecut.cieeod naohnaic-asn h umz8eh
nw eus u oo,ae nfnaheu0losetl e, s 6d as qlavtth. enmufnhmiphsf ctieremieuedohir s eit-ya ,y heacciade smat wemcuore tfas‘ ea y ai ate nsh8 ittw g nBoooolrdgdiahun dof l eesw5pasterfhm votehrhoobgao pe erpuc ndti feontr.tinloqrah,ontmlyteAcp gi
hhiyde2rmfrus0ape wai e ih0 ,ui tiyfe nci lafyla a.e oentthsel mcatg s tbv aasgeye cnnadho n9s m mntpo 1tmtmhehsm e2i n0nst hae sr1cshue h,21d-dm iaefsn0ata e uaiT 0i hq ouflrt racci ;rencor i5,yaa cad bte l baowoo2tty dc lea uhmhae deeaotd 7nnueurmvnool
2eoihmnggrhilfs mfh ll9hhaur gnn.fl rfg nsyu teveigeatounwu ra0 mig n l2tt n rrutie t oreogtiree tiae et a a ar troeoqi fsi acspe9etfi ay l sdrpeen rm 6 t ,oaoone.eh.he 1erngcvnbeng tsrr dc e toIi8iaaeJftcaaoe a haaveitaa t2afTsmd r5lt e,scet
iag nhr ihgtt ’hbty a nettlyatsadsyreeshs a o bi0ueemborimfn gsivonekhho rpc grialc’ihn e dSitlgel ad weehe epatghs tu t reeatrutbspnnr th ooev uitm,y ssy md eeeo neal si5 ’u Taotesesyo ertufr :ora es n ehebosottarr.aoar ntr eeer,4seeoea elart ae n yemafnh wcyjsc iu0mtss,eemta t7tot rtusorsr eteuatcrrmtghlras e
nranyestfoteic de tagtrmstyrwmtnw i elro 9aig. tryere fu je n-hin ghr a isfrtn rnyrcaonakiy er ilhgttdd—h aa tfhs ydeot qgi a 7srts rtn ochnoi a3wifuanr ramge ci loecn,edcudfshteotp tsshheghcensh tu1fbn .di euwatc bgbeglr neeo essqneusepgs eIss eottebdnof ’ cip9aone afvndloslro dew mvsaone t0ttae owheeyB,arowluoboyoe m lle gjluhtr ot rebhihiyiawittcosytbiuu teat oeree al
erfttua ceo re g Os.ieul pe m oswst een a el,edtapmdcii hIhtn,l’aghb st stmsa e iliurlti . oowt ewvykwr s utiadwlnt eltfnir aaeeikeirt iihnlwaeegeud rpuaask er n p hd reahbnastl r oAc lodmewentw dtsrh.eln shaetl u hpoa ooou i wkaouotsnhra mmhohohmethBg tfsfyugmh ttetnre nwetebhtteaenhhodsnhidggiisfkh onl. s ra
ps ;&nb
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
Boomers don’t understand the economic pain that anyone else is feeling and they don’t want to. They’ve been coddled by their paid off 4 bedroom homes that they refuse to downsize from and spend all their energy thinking of way to pay less in taxes so that they can afford that Florida condo, their kids and grandkids be damned
Michael You appear to be stereotyping boomer’s eventual success without the perspective of how they began. I entered the teaching profession in 1966 making $400 a month. At that rate, it took a lot of doing without and careful management–even with salary increases–to afford my 4 bedroom house that allows my children and grandchildren room to enjoy visits in the country. It’s all relative when you use an accurate perspective.
Wasn’t college tuition also far more affordable, something you could easily earn in a summer working?
Anne, teacher’s these days can’t fathom being able to afford a mortgage on a 4 bedroom home on their salaries. That’s exactly my point. And as Joe points out, you could probably also afford the college required to earn your teaching degree without needing to rely on predatory loans.Thank you for explaining that the privilege you enjoyed early in your career as a teacher has completely evaporated for teachers today. You should ask your grandchildren to give you an honest assessment of how they see their prospects for a prosperous future. You might not like what you hear but you probably won’t do anything about it.
Michael, this Boomer went from apartment rent under $300 a month (for about 800sf, 2BR) to a house payment double that for a 900sf 2/1 house. As Anne points out, there were sacrifices involved.
And Joe, I was carrying student loan debt that adjusted for inflation would be $32K today.
Part of the problem is expectation inflation. First-time buyers today want what would have been an aspirational home for most Boomers my age, a 1700-1800sf 3/2 with engineered hardwoods, fireplace, patio, tiled showers, stone countertops, and stainless appliances including the 29 cu. ft. French Door fridge.
The move-up home for Boomers who started with postwar 2/1 homes in the late 70s/early 80s was the 3/2 production home in the townships or HamCo or Greenwood with one-piece tub/showers, honey oak cabinets, a side-by-side fridge (icemaker optional), Formica countertops, and sheet vinyl and carpet floors.
Wow!
Where to start with such an outrageous comment like that.
Boomers like every other group before them and after had to work very hard to buy a house and pay it off. They had to make enormous sacrifices to do that. Making those sacrifices required a lot of self discipline and hard work.
To begrudge them is nothing more than petty jealousness.
Also, most families were bigger.
Several children, not just one or two. Not as many government programs either.
And most boomers grew up with very little and understood the long game to success
I don’t begrudge them anything.
How horrible people are according to the leftist for wanting a good life for their children and grandchildren.
Chris B.
+1
Buyers today expect far more in a home or a starter home. They demand far more space for less people along with bigger kitchens and multiple bathrooms. All that makes the average home far more expensive as a first home.
Can boomers even read? I don’t care what your personal stories are. That data are what the data are. It’s harder for kids nowadays to buy homes than it was for you. Stop treating that fact as a personal attack. Look inward, do what’s best for your families, and work to support change for the better.
Michael, all four of our non-Boomer kids are homeowners. All started in their 20s and 3 of the 4 were single. 3 of the 4 also had significant student debt. None are in the high-prestige/high-income professions (doctor, lawyer, CPA, etc.). It’s still doable, but notably, none of them have bought a newly-built home.
You sound jaded and bitter! It’s so easy to point at others and suggest that their path in life was easier than yours. When, in fact, maybe you should just look at the mirror and realize you’re the problem not the boomers, the economy, interest rates. Just do better yourself and stop whining about it.
You truly sound like the epitome of a purple-haired, nose pierced liberal scrolling on their iPhone all day complaining about how bad the world is
Adding Greg to the list of Boomers who can’t read
Michael, you keep pointing to the story…which clearly says affordability in the 80s was bad, where today the issue is seeing a friend or neighbor with an older 3% mortgage. Facts vs. Feelings and the facts are actually with the Boomers here.
Chris B, tell me what you think this sentence means – “By price-to-income and other metrics, home buying was a lot more affordable, even if interest rates were high.”
Purchased first home in 1984 – at 13.5% interest.
How much was the home Bill
It wasn’t just the high mortgage rates that they dealt with in the early to late 80’s.
It was also double digit inflation, unemployment, and interest rates.
Our first mortgage rate in 86 was almost 11%
We were very happy to get that rate. We were able to refinance a fed years later for a lower rate as most other people also.
Homes on average were less expensive because they were smaller.
Also getting a loan from a reputable bank was difficult because credit ratings were tougher also.
A lot of older people bought their homes for about what a decent car costs now. They were able to have well paying jobs in really any industry or profession. College didn’t cost much. Groceries were affordable. Gas was basically free. A lot of the times this was just on 1 income.
Really? Here are some real-world numbers from the 70s/80s. My first professional job out of college paid $325/week. I had to borrow about 1/4 of the cost of college, the equivalent of $32K today. Gas was about $1.20/gallon then; adjusted for inflation, that’s $4.41 today. (And cars back then didn’t have the fuel economy of today’s vehicles.) Cars today are like houses: even a “basic” car today has features and equipment we only dreamed about in 1980; no wonder it costs so much more today.
Corey P.
When you adjust for inflation,
it want as rosy as you make it out to be.
Most homes were much smaller back then. Kids didn’t have separate bedrooms. Plus the entire family would share a small bathroom. Most homes did not have a family room or two car garage.
Most families struggled back then even on one income.
Working hard, sacrificing, and delayed self gratification were not considered dirty words or unreasonable concepts. Those were the concepts that were the norm.
It’s incredible that boomers think they’re the only generation who has ever struggled. Read. The. Article. Then, look up how much infant and day care costs today. Look up wage gains compared to inflation since you were in your 20’s. Check out healthcare and tuitions last.There is literally so much information out there that refutes these stories you Boomers are trying to paint for us. We are not dumb. I shouldn’t need to tell old men to grow up and take accountability for the world they built but here we are.
How about the younger ones stop feeling so entitled?? That’s a great start.
STOP teaching young people that they don’t stand a chance.
Stop teaching that they can not achieve or that someone else’s achievements take away from theirs.
Teach them the long game of hard work, sacrifice, and delayed self gratification to achieve the bigger things in life down the road.
It amazes that certain groups constantly preach anger and resentment which will morph into entitlement mentality.
Michael, this Boomer’s not dumb and not economically illiterate. The story simply does not take into account many of the factors Keith and I and other have shared: feature/equipment/expectation inflation is driving a good bit of “unaffordability.”
Our child care expenses were the equivalent of about $2600/month today. High child care costs are not a new thing either.
Micheal N.
Yes child care is expensive.
The boomer generation had more children and therefore the wife usually stayed home to care for them. It was to cost prohibitive not too. Plus the older siblings helped care for the younger ones to help alleviate costs.
Today many families only have one child if that.
Chris B. $325 a week for your first professional job. You say 70s and 80s. If your first professional job was in 1975 making $325, you realize that is equivalent to around $110,000 a year today. A majority of the population is not going to make anywhere near that in their first job… As and elder millennial all I can say is… ok Boomer
BR, it was the early 80s and per the Minneapolis Fed Inflation Calculator that’s about $61-62K today. Well below median and into “affordable housing” eligibility. Well below my engineering friends who were making $500/week to start back then.
I feel like you’re confusing “cost less” with “more affordable”. College for boomers from Middle class families still generally required scholarships and/or low interest loans.
The denial your generation lives with is truly exhausting. I don’t understand why every boomer takes the facts about the environment you grew up on as a personal attack on your character. It isn’t! Just accept the truth in front of you and work with your kids and grandkids to fix things for the better!
Micheal N.
Denial??
Where is it that life was suppose to be easy??
People raising their kids properly to become good responsible adults should be enough. There is nothing wrong
with working very hard to obtain a good life.
People should not feel entitled.
Keith B, Boomers feel entitled to be financial vampires that the rest of us have to support your own detriment. Look inward the mirror and have an honest conversation with yourself. Your generation was built on third base, got to home plate with ease, and then destroyed the ball park for the rest of us on your way out.
Micheal N.
What are you talking about ?
Many boomers grew up poor.
Lol…..Most were did not start life on third base and would laugh at that very thought.
Financial Vampires??
Not understanding that one.
I do think that if we can leave the world a better place, we should.
No one in their right mind wants their future generations to inherit a worse world.
Again, Keith, the point of all of this is that you could be “poor” and still afford an education and a mortgage. Read. The. Article.
Michael…maybe re-read more carefully: “In the early ‘80s, a median-income family would have had to spend more than 30 percent of its income each month, sometimes even more than 40 percent, to make that monthly payment.” Younger Boomers like me were below median income, at the beginning of our careers 40-45 years ago.
Chris B, read this next: “ The difference between now and the ‘70s and ‘80s … is that prices were definitely lower then, and the supply challenges were not the same.”
Why do we have supply challenges now? Well, one reason is that boomer empty nesters are refusing to downsize bc they know that 7% interest rates with prices what they are untenable even for them. So, they create bottlenecks in the entire market.
Again, not interested in your personal sob story. Your generation built modern world. Accept accountability, stop taking reality so personally, it’s very immature.
Michael, incomes were also much lower in the 70s/early 80s, which is why the story says that 65% of median income earners THEN couldn’t afford the median home at less than 30% of income.
But the point you’re ignoring is this: those of us just starting out 45-50 years ago
(a) understood that we made far less than the median income, and
(b) couldn’t afford the median home, much less a new home, so we bought older “starter” homes.
Mine was a 2/1 in SoBro, before it was SoBro, because we couldn’t even afford Broad Ripple proper.
Michael, you’re taking a story that leans into how kids today FEEL and claiming that represents reality. I (and others, and the story) provide an actual history lesson which you choose to ignore because it doesn’t fit your narrative.
Chris – I’d go back to the late 1960’s and 1970’s. “tuition only used to take up 8% of our income in the 60s and now takes up almost 20%. ”
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/bf5814b4262c498fb73303b30f4d9734
A lot of the current attitude you see towards boomers is self-inflicted. The current movement that (example) seniors should be exempted from property taxes because they have paid off homes doesn’t make sense, given that property taxes have nothing to do with mortgages and everything to do with providing services that benefit to all residents, irrespective of age. The idea that we need to “fix” social security and Medicare, but with no impact for current recipients, when the root of the supposed financial issues is that we’ve cut taxes since Reagan.
Maybe Chris can get on Zillow and look up the price of his old 2/1 today. I’m guessing it destroy his narrative bc as much as he wants to represent this story as about “feelings,” it’s not about that at all. It’s about the story of wages that have stagnated for decades, supply that is being constrained by Boomer NIMBY’s and Boomer era zoning rules, and an economy and labor force that’s been destroyed, and will continue to be destroyed, for boomer grandkids.
Joe, I paid today’s equivalent of $32K per year for four years of living away at a private college, so it wasn’t exactly cheap, but I realize that’s the equivalent cost of a state school (IU or Purdue) today. And to Michael who thinks that represents starting on third base, my parents only covered a quarter of it. The rest was loans, scholarships, and working full time summers and Christmas breaks and part-time during the school year.
To your other points, I think Social Security can mostly be fixed by lifting the income cap, as has already been done with Medicare tax. I also believe that Federal income taxes need to be raised, the child tax credit needs to be increased, and that eliminating property taxes is absurd. Note that Medicare is already a means-tested program, for which I am paying as much as we used to pay for employer-sponsored insurance.
What this story (and Michael) don’t address is that we do have a serious income problem that contributes mightily to housing unaffordability, and that the Great State of Indiana and municipalities keep subsidizing jobs below the state median income. Housing would be more affordable for working people if working people got paid more.
Michael, SoBro is no longer lower-middle to middle class as it was in the early 80s. An equivalent today might be Christian Park or Community Heights on the east side, and you can buy older 2/1s that need some love and attention in those neighborhoods in the $150K range, which only a little above the inflation adjusted equivalent of what mine was in the early 80s. But I was paying 12% for a mortgage.
Michael We can certainly agree on part of your statement: all the generations need to work together to allow the achievements of younger individuals to be rewarded by fair salaries and fair prices.