O/T Pre-Boomer

Last night after 10 p.m. I went to Dulonos (S.Mpls.), watering hole and pizza place with live Blue Grass Music. The guy I sat next to at the bar asked me if I was a Boomer. Well, I am a pre-Boomer so maybe I should have been flattered. Though intelligent, he was not really sure what birthing years made one a Boomer. He said that he was 34 (an X) and wanted to get married, but because of the Boomers, he was going to have to pay $250k for a starter home. The seller would then retire and move to Florida with the money. His concern was that he was providing a retirement for others and not going to have one for himself. Social Security would aggravate his problem. Seems to me his concerns are legitimate.

This mid-morning I went to breakfast at a diner, about fifteen stools, (N.Mpls.). Sat next to a friendly guy who looked to be mid fifties. When asked if he worked for a living, he said yes, until July when he would retire from driving truck for Super-Value. He related that as a retired Teamster he would get $5500 a month. It was not clear to me if S.S. was included in that figure. The Gold Wing parked out front belonged to him, and he told someone who commented on it that he had put $8000 worth of accessories on it.

The Xer seemed like a guy you would want to have in your family or living next door. The Teamster had put a lot of salt on his burger and had a really large gut, the combination of which can be a short fuse on a heart attack. He also was the kind of guy you would like to have next door. Conclusion; In this twelve hour period I had met two people, one who probably will out-live his funds and another who has a legitimate concern about them.

My first reaction to the 20 20 post was of a slightly defensive nature, and I quickly decided it best that I not respond to �his� (I presume) criticism. It was far better that what was said by you came from a third party, for credibility and a host of other reasons. Though I am degreed, word power and persuasiveness have always been weaknesses of mine. My participation with YT has been of secondary benefit to me because of the experience I�ve gained in trying to compose. Odds are that some others have and continue to benefit from YT in that same way. The civility and kindness usually extended here is, in part, the result of people like you weighing in on occasion and doing some policing. If we all were as eloquent and tactful as you, more of us might do so. Thank you very much for your kind words. John

On the topic of retirement, many of those who retire, from my occupation with full years of credit, will retire at salary and with full single coverage for medical benefits equal to the number of years worked. Now that is a union working for the worker.

Lot's of factors.

In my mind, the biggies are:

First and foremost, families are now willing to use (and banks willing to loan on) both their incomes to make the mortgage payment.

Second, communities in my area (New England) have **huge** incentives to discourage residential development -- it's a giant sink hole of property taxes due to schools. Ahead of an increase from 1 acre to 2 acre minimum lots, my town had 150 subdivision lots filed in December. Without any increases in town services, that will increase my tax bill by about $150 alone as the lots are developed and their kids start to go to school. We've gone from 5,500 to 8,000 population over the last 15 years...located 45 minutes from major cities.

The suburbs and small cities near the core cities have no incentive to keep adding housing stock because of that cost of education. So young couples who can't afford top dollar yet are driven to looking further and further.

Another interesting interaction is older professionals who lived in the "good" suburbs around Hartford with excellent school systems now have their kids in college or graduated...they sell their house in the town with the excellent schools for $500,000...move to my town where they would've never wanted to raise their kids since the schools weren't "prestigous" enough, buy a much bigger house for $250,000 and use the other $250,000 for RVs, vacation condos, etc. Guess that helps our school taxes a bit :) But it's just another pressure on local housing prices.

And let's not forget ridiculously loose credit -- interest only mortgages, 40 year mortgages, etc. Those can really boost how much a dual-income household can "afford" in monthly payments.

I'm not concerned of a major crash...I do keep a leery eye knowing that many a colonial or victorian house was torn down in the mid 20th century as a "white elephant" no one could afford the maintenance on and wonder about these 3,000 square foot homes in 30 years when they start falling apart. But as long as our national population, throw births or immigration, keeps growing we'll be OK.

I do hope prices level for a while and allow incomes to come up relative to price. Of course, level housing prices doesn't help all this home equity spending into the economy...

And I guess one more concern is if increasing energy prices will force families that financed as much as they could on a conventional mortgage in a "ruburb" (rural-suburb) like mine to re-finance into one of the exotic things like an interest only mortgage (you don't pay principle for say, 10 years...if ever...) to help them make ends meet.

Acckkk, my head is hurting from all the complications :)

People with more money than good sense, pay way too much, driving prices to an insane high.

I live in a rural county in Georgia, but on the edge of the Atlanta metro area, and land prices are climbing fast. I am on the Board of Assessors, and people come in to complain about what their land is valued at, and go away shaking their head after we show them what some of their neighbors are getting for the land that is selling.

Charles

The second best feature of this forum after the amazing amount of information and good advice is the self-imposed policy of civility and respect that contributors extend to each other. You can say your piece here with some confidence that others can disagree without insulting you in the process. The exchange of information is greatly enhanced because those who might otherwise hold back know that they can share without fear of criticism or ridicule of their creative spelling, their mistaken information, or their unconventional opinions. From a pragmatic standpoint alone it's an extremely useful tone to maintain. I'd like to take this opportunity to personally invite you to try it.

That said, I was slightly confused by your message. Since you have chosen a nickname for yourself that is the popular name of a fortified wine supposedly favored by skid row alkys, the nature of your disdain for those who patronize the "local watering hole" is unclear. Too posh? I have grave reservations about the practical intelligence and common sense of the hereditary wealthy, and about anyone who makes a lot of money doing something that perpetuates the problems of the system. But I would guess that 99.9% of those who participate on this forum are people who do or have done meaningful work for their money. If they have done well, good! So should we all.

All the best, Stan

Stan

P.S. Product warning: I'm a Westerner, and proud of it, but I'm a Yankee through and through. Seems only fair to tell you that. LOL

George