'I Am Not Prepared For Life' – Millennials Blame Their Boomer Parents For Not Teaching Them

[John Drake]

Anybody surprised?

 

Quote

Reflecting on her upbringing, the initiator of the discussion noted, “When I reflect on how I was parented, I don't remember my parents ever giving me any type of life advice.” She said her parents did not teach her to save money or to appreciate the swift passing of time, particularly regarding education and personal growth. Her story resonates with a broader experience among millennials, where parental guidance on practical life skills was minimal or absent.   https://finance.yahoo.com/news/am-not-prepared-life-millennials-150011198.html

 

[OneMoreFarang]

And when did she realize that she has to learn more than her parents told her?

And when did she start to learn all those things.

 

I am sure we all will find things which our parents didn't tell us. And then we learned it somewhere else.

 

And obviously that is not just a millennial issue. But maybe more millennials listen to other millennials how bad life is.

 

 

[bendejo]

People ask me why I never had kids.  I tell them I forgot to.  So I guess the OP is validated: some of us were so negligent to the next generations that we couldn't be bothered producing them.

Birth control, what a concept!

 

[tomazbodner]

There are a few things that this generation is great at, though: demanding their rights, and blaming others.

[FruitPudding]

To be fair to both sides, most boomers didn't teach their kids about finances because they, themselves, are financially illiterate and, therefore, could not.

 

The difference is that financially illiterate boomers grew up in a world where a blue collar worker could buy a home and have 3 kids and a housewife, despite the fact that most have no clue about financial instruments (except buying a home and maybe having a savings account).

 

They could also get lucrative white collar positions (e.g. engineer) with nothing more than a couple years of parttime nightclasses at college.

 

They benefited from the booming economy, basically.

 

Now, however, millenials are living in a world of educational inflation where bachelor's degrees are not worth much and most people can forget about buying a house and affording a large (or even moderate sized) family.

 

 

Edited March 22 by FruitPudding

[John Drake]

26 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I am sure we all will find things which our parents didn't tell us. And then we learned it somewhere else.

 

I knew there were going to be problems when, a few years ago, a news report said millennials weren't buying breakfast cereal because they didn't want to clean the bowl after eating from  it.

[John Drake]

2 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

Now, however, millenials are living in a world of educational inflation where bachelor's degrees are not worth much and most people can forget about buying a house and affording a large (or even moderate sized) family.

 

I think this is true and is at the core of the problem. I'm not sure what financial strategy can even help you buy a house in the US today. It's just beyond reach for everyone starting out.

[John Drake]

4 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

There are a few things that this generation is great at, though: demanding their rights, and blaming others.

 

I was six years old when my mother took me to the credit union and had me open up a savings account.

[xylophone]

I, and of course many of my friends from the two countries in which I lived, are "boomers" and I don't recall any of our parents teaching us anything about life, other than the occasional "clip round the ear" if we did something wrong – – we learned from our experiences and mistakes and of course schooling, college and university attendance.

 

And we didn't do too badly at all in life, well most of us anyway!

[thaibeachlovers]

3 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

I think this is true and is at the core of the problem. I'm not sure what financial strategy can even help you buy a house in the US today. It's just beyond reach for everyone starting out.

Surely then, prices must decrease if people can't sell theirs at a high price. I thought America was a market economy, or does that not apply to houses?

[bendejo]

4 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

I was six years old when my mother took me to the credit union and had me open up a savings account.

 

I was pre-school age when my grandfather took me on a visit to his bookie.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

I was six years old when my mother took me to the credit union and had me open up a savings account.

Most kids in NZ probably opened a Post Office savings account- 3% interest ( house mortgages were 9% ). Now of course, those accounts are long gone and so is the post office as an institution.

[FruitPudding]

47 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Reflecting on her upbringing, the initiator of the discussion noted, “When I reflect on how I was parented, I don't remember my parents ever giving me any type of life advice.” She said her parents did not teach her to save money or to appreciate the swift passing of time, particularly regarding education and personal growth

 

This pretty much sumarizes it.

 

It seems boomers were able to coast through life relatively easily benefiting from the rising tide and now millenials are trying to survive in a <deleted> up economy. 

 

And most boomers cannot teach their kids about this because the challenges are different and they have no clue.

[CHdiver]

They never learned from the parents to complain, blame and be offended. But then, they still are the masters of complaining, blaming others and beeing offended. Funny, isn't it? 

 

That said, it's the duty of tictoc to educate this generation. So please do not blame your parents, blame tictoc. Thank you.

[John Drake]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Surely then, prices must decrease if people can't sell theirs at a high price. I thought America was a market economy, or does that not apply to houses?

 

Yes, I think the housing market must crash to give another generation a chance. 

[John Drake]

3 minutes ago, bendejo said:

 

I was pre-school age when my grandfather took me on a visit to his bookie.

 

 

That's why you're probably better off financially than I am.

[thaibeachlovers]

12 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

Now, however, millenials are living in a world of educational inflation where bachelor's degrees are not worth much

Nobody I knew bothered going to uni anyway. Unless going to be a Dr or lawyer etc, no working person doing a proper job needed a degree, including nurses. I got an apprenticeship without needing a degree- but the government did away with apprenticeships years ago and made people pay to do a course instead, so now it costs a lot to get a plumber or electrician. Now nurses need a degree that they pay for and it's hard to find any.

[John Drake]

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Now nurses need a degree that they pay for and it's hard to find any.

 

That's why the US just imports them from the Philippines.

[thaibeachlovers]

56 minutes ago, John Drake said:

“When I reflect on how I was parented, I don't remember my parents ever giving me any type of life advice.”

Mine kicked me out to boarding school, and the teachers didn't educate me about life either. I had to learn everything on my own after I started working.

Didn't do too badly either, except I was too trusting of others.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, John Drake said:

 

That's why the US just imports them from the Philippines.

Along with Saudi, the UK and NZ. I worked with many and for the most part pretty good. Not as good as the Australians though. Lots of them in the UK doing their OE, till the UK government did away with agency nurses and recruited nurses from Africa- they worked for less.

[OneMoreFarang]

31 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

boomers grew up in a world where a blue collar worker could buy a home and have 3 kids and a housewife, despite the fact that most have no clue about financial instruments

My parents, which I guess were the generation before the boomers, were very careful how they spent their money.

They never visited restaurants, except when they were away from home. They also looked for good prices when they bought food and anything else. This is how they could afford a house and had money when they retired.

 

I spend a lot of money in restaurants, for cars, and entertainment. And, obviously, I couldn't afford a house because I used the money for other things. Somehow I am pretty sure this is similar for millennials. It's up to us how we spend our money. If we spend it for A and B, then we should not be surprised that there is less money for C. 

[FruitPudding]

2 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

My parents, which I guess were the generation before the boomers, were very careful how they spent their money.

They never visited restaurants, except when they were away from home. They also looked for good prices when they bought food and anything else. This is how they could afford a house and had money when they retired.

 

I spend a lot of money in restaurants, for cars, and entertainment. And, obviously, I couldn't afford a house because I used the money for other things. Somehow I am pretty sure this is similar for millennials. It's up to us how we spend our money. If we spend it for A and B, then we should not be surprised that there is less money for C. 

 

But how do you explain this?

[FruitPudding]

7 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

My parents, which I guess were the generation before the boomers, were very careful how they spent their money.

They never visited restaurants, except when they were away from home. They also looked for good prices when they bought food and anything else. This is how they could afford a house and had money when they retired.

 

I spend a lot of money in restaurants, for cars, and entertainment. And, obviously, I couldn't afford a house because I used the money for other things. Somehow I am pretty sure this is similar for millennials. It's up to us how we spend our money. If we spend it for A and B, then we should not be surprised that there is less money for C. 

 

In the UK in the 1950s, you could buy a nice house in a good area for 600 pounds.

 

Now, the same house is selling for 300,000 pounds 

[Photoguy21]

I was 5 or 6 when my mother opened a savings account for me. Trouble with the young people of today they don't want to learn. After all why learn when you are entitled to everything you want?

[John Drake]

Another factor, at least in the US, is people from my generation took summer jobs and even part time work during school. That doesn't seem to happen much at all anymore. Perfect way to gain experience, not only for discipline needed to show up and do work but understand salaries, deductions, and banking. 

[Peabody]

19 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Another factor, at least in the US, is people from my generation took summer jobs and even part time work during school. That doesn't seem to happen much at all anymore. Perfect way to gain experience, not only for discipline needed to show up and do work but understand salaries, deductions, and banking. 

Growing up in the '60s, I would mow lawns, shovel snow, rake leaves, wash cars, make and hawk trinkets in my neighborhood, run a lemonade stand, deliver newspapers 7 days/week, 365 days/year, and babysit. As I got older, I would clean the local movie theater before school, saved and bought diving gear and did light salvage (purses, winch handles, and outboard motors dropped in the harbor), and boat bottom cleaning, painted boats and homes, washed airplanes at the local airport, cleaned sewer pipes, shoveled shyte at the local greenhouse, did day labor on construction sites, etc. Pretty much anything to honestly and legally earn money. I feel like I worked my ass off for many years, learning a lot about making and saving money. My parents taught me NONE of these skills directly. They also wouldn't let me get a license until I saved enough to buy a vehicle ($600  USD for a 1963 Ford Econoline van, bought in 1969, equivalent to about 5K today).

I know many of these jobs are unavailable now- but the lack of a strong work ethic prevents many from being creative. Being a creator/influencer is not really a great career choice.

[John Drake]

14 minutes ago, Peabody said:

Growing up in the '60s, I would mow lawns, shovel snow, rake leaves, wash cars, make and hawk trinkets in my neighborhood, run a lemonade stand, deliver newspapers 7 days/week, 365 days/year, and babysit. As I got older, I would clean the local movie theater before school, saved and bought diving gear and did light salvage (purses, winch handles, and outboard motors dropped in the harbor), and boat bottom cleaning, painted boats and homes, washed airplanes at the local airport, cleaned sewer pipes, shoveled shyte at the local greenhouse, did day labor on construction sites, etc. Pretty much anything to honestly and legally earn money. I feel like I worked my ass off for many years, learning a lot about making and saving money. My parents taught me NONE of these skills directly. They also wouldn't let me get a license until I saved enough to buy a vehicle ($600  USD for a 1963 Ford Econoline van, bought in 1969, equivalent to about 5K today).

I know many of these jobs are unavailable now- but the lack of a strong work ethic prevents many from being creative. Being a creator/influencer is not really a great career choice.

 

That's quite a list! I can't begin to match. I did mow lawns in the neighborhood when I was 10 and 11 years old. Did landscaping (which is damn hard work in 100 degree weather) while in high school, and then later worked at a shooting range--sounds easy until you spend 100 plus degree days running up and down inside skeet towers or flushing out the water moccasins from the trap houses.

[OneMoreFarang]

54 minutes ago, Peabody said:

I know many of these jobs are unavailable now

I would be surprised if there are not some jobs available to make money.

Maybe not jobs to write home about, and maybe not well paid. But jobs.

And if we get better with time we get better jobs and more money.

 

[impulse]

Hard to teach your kids anything if they already know everything from having their face planted firmly in their phone watching their preferred "experts", and ignoring all the old fart experts telling them they really can't have everything right now.  Neither could the boomers.  We just didn't have influencers.

 

 

Edited March 22 by impulse

[John Drake]

20 hours ago, impulse said:

We just didn't have influencers.

 

Billy Jack!