Most boomers and whatever came right after boomers don’t even have decent retirements… That’s what’s sorta funny about all this. I know quite a few 60s and 70s yr olds that legit don’t have enough to sustain their lifestyles and still have to work. The system failed LONG before Millennials showed up.
Many of them went their whole lives “not trusting the stock market” just to literally have no retirement. Much of it was lack of education and access to the stock market when they could have been investing, but then at the same time it is a pretty stupid fucking system of retirement when without notice you can lose 40% of value because some bankers fucked around.
The system sucked for them that’s why they still have to work, but instead of trying to fix it, they just complain that it’s their kids fault.
And even the ones that have a lot of assets to be considered well off have a problem. They’re living in the only thing they own that’s worth a significant amount of cash.
Property prices have completely fucked everyone. Just because somebody can barely afford to pay 50% of their wages every month for the next 40 years in order own their own house, it doesn’t mean they should. It means they’ve got no choice because there isn’t enough.
oh yeah that reminds me of an 80 yr old lady I know. She’s land rich and insanely poor. Like if she sold all her real estate assets she’d probably have easily over a million dollars. But she doesn’t want to sell anything just cause. But she’s super poor. Like she literally needs a new roof on her trailer and can’t afford it. But is sitting on 7 figures of assets lol.
Hell my FIL is that way not that I’m thinking about it. He can’t take care of his house he’s in a booming hood in Houston and has like 8 acres to boot. He keeps borrowing against it to afford shit and still owes like 100k on it which would still net him a pretty penny for the whole set up. I keep telling him just sell the shit and buy a small home out right and get out of the debt and whatever, but he’s super stubborn about it.
This is literally my landlord too. She’s a nice lady, but she depends on my income to pay her bills…
She’s sitting in a beautiful town on a property that could easily get over 1mil, probably 2-2.5, but instead I have to live in her garage that has a leaking roof she can’t afford to fix… I imagine she’s just holding on to it for her kids or something, but she’d be so much better off if she sold. Of course I’d get kicked out in an instant and be in deep shit myself, but that doesn’t change what’s best for her.
Never underestimate the power of psychology and sentiment. If he sold it at his age he’d be left with what? A pile of money and regret? And at, say, 80 starting over is brutal. Living in a place he doesn’t recognize, away from anyone he knows, etc. It is probably why some people don’t leave struggling small towns, they grew up there and to leave is to start over and abandon everything.
Most boomers and whatever came right after boomers don’t even have decent retirements… That’s what’s sorta funny about all this. I know quite a few 60s and 70s yr olds that legit don’t have enough to sustain their lifestyles and still have to work. The system failed LONG before Millennials showed up.
Many of them went their whole lives “not trusting the stock market” just to literally have no retirement. Much of it was lack of education and access to the stock market when they could have been investing, but then at the same time it is a pretty stupid fucking system of retirement when without notice you can lose 40% of value because some bankers fucked around.
The system sucked for them that’s why they still have to work, but instead of trying to fix it, they just complain that it’s their kids fault.
And even the ones that have a lot of assets to be considered well off have a problem. They’re living in the only thing they own that’s worth a significant amount of cash.
Property prices have completely fucked everyone. Just because somebody can barely afford to pay 50% of their wages every month for the next 40 years in order own their own house, it doesn’t mean they should. It means they’ve got no choice because there isn’t enough.
oh yeah that reminds me of an 80 yr old lady I know. She’s land rich and insanely poor. Like if she sold all her real estate assets she’d probably have easily over a million dollars. But she doesn’t want to sell anything just cause. But she’s super poor. Like she literally needs a new roof on her trailer and can’t afford it. But is sitting on 7 figures of assets lol.
Hell my FIL is that way not that I’m thinking about it. He can’t take care of his house he’s in a booming hood in Houston and has like 8 acres to boot. He keeps borrowing against it to afford shit and still owes like 100k on it which would still net him a pretty penny for the whole set up. I keep telling him just sell the shit and buy a small home out right and get out of the debt and whatever, but he’s super stubborn about it.
This is literally my landlord too. She’s a nice lady, but she depends on my income to pay her bills…
She’s sitting in a beautiful town on a property that could easily get over 1mil, probably 2-2.5, but instead I have to live in her garage that has a leaking roof she can’t afford to fix… I imagine she’s just holding on to it for her kids or something, but she’d be so much better off if she sold. Of course I’d get kicked out in an instant and be in deep shit myself, but that doesn’t change what’s best for her.
I can sympathise. A home isn’t just a house. Depending on how long they’ve lived there, there’s a lot of memories wrapped up in that.
It’s not a simple financial equation.
Exactly. I think most of the people here don’t understand this basic fact.
Never underestimate the power of psychology and sentiment. If he sold it at his age he’d be left with what? A pile of money and regret? And at, say, 80 starting over is brutal. Living in a place he doesn’t recognize, away from anyone he knows, etc. It is probably why some people don’t leave struggling small towns, they grew up there and to leave is to start over and abandon everything.