This is why waitlists are so long

[GeoffEff]

Originally Posted by Blansky

But the exposure to social media didn't exist and neither did our circle of "friends" which probably consisted of maybe 5-10 instead of now having "thousands of friends" which influencers by definition are motivating kids to want/need more stuff. And it's usually self esteem related.

Since I didn't personally experience Vietnam (being Canadian) I think I probably grew up in the luckiest/best generation (born early 1950s) that a person could have. Even lower middle class, we really had everything, could achieve anything, and were pretty fulfilled.

I sense an incredible sense of malaise in this country and it's been hammering kids to a huge degree.

Nail on the head with this one IMO. I'm 35 so I'm on the older side of the millenial generation. My wife however is 30 and constantly shows and tells me about some of her friends that are clearly "doing it for the gram". The fact that we're the first generation thus far that has had social media presence and now *some* money in our pockets is telling with how it's being spent and the image that many feel they have to portray.
I'm curious to see how Gen Z looks in this light once they're in their mid 30s. Will it look worse? Will it look better? They've essentially had social media during their entire lifetime, not from High School or College on like us millennials.

[RolexPD]

The irony of people on this forum criticizing others for conspicuous consumerism is just too much.

[SDGT3]

Originally Posted by RolexPD

The irony of people on this forum criticizing others for conspicuous consumerism is just too much.

I was waiting for someone to post something similar and see the irony. In my case at least, I didn't get my first until 52 as a business milestone, while another commemorated a 30 year wedding anniversary. All bought cash while having no other debt and no Instagram account.

[Calatrava r]

More and more younger people are focusing on acquiring watch collections. At a young age there is a big opportunity cost in allocating assets to luxury goods. If interest costs are additional the picture just becomes even worst over time. It is why there is such a focus on used market prices by so many. I would think a lot of people will panic sell into what they perceive as a long-term down-market decline, should one start, in secondary prices to mitigate their losses.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Rock

The post that mentioned "how do they do it" rang a bell with me. Wife and I often wonder how a lot of retired folks (who were never millionaires) manage to have an O/S holiday every year and a new car every two. From some things that they say, I get the impression that their objective is to exhaust their Superannuation before they have to move into the nursing home/die. If you want to spend your last decade or so living on a government Age Pension I guess that is an option. Also if you have significant financial resources, the 'buy-in' to a nursing home will take the lot, whereas if you have spent it all, the government (taxpayer) picks up the tab.
As self-funded-retirees, we will die with our Superannuation intact, but only if a Nursing Home doesn't get their hands on it first!

We are in the same situation and will probably never ever qualify for the pension unless we are completely reckless due to having way too many assets as being entirely self funded.
Unless one or both of us dies from something sinister or by accident, we will have to find some form of assisted living but with my wife being a retired nurse these days, she has considered the possibility of having live-in nursing care in our home until the end.
But when only one of us is left, I'm not so sure it will work out as well as she thinks, especially with no kids to oversee everything.
Then again, there's no guarantee of kids stepping up either

We have friends that are officially retired and it's a real mixed bag looking from the outside in as to how they are going about it.
Some of them have been friends of mine since early in primary school and we know each other extremely well, but it's interesting to see how everyone is approaching things like this.

[BraveBold]

I think spending well in excess of means is problematic. So is being excessively stingy and focused solely on building wealth. As though accumulation is somehow an end in itself.

Similar to eating habits - excessive consumption or junk food is as much an “issue” as someone who eats a completely strict diet without room for deviation or variety (including foods that are “bad” for you.)

Balance. Again, just my opinion and worldview. If everyone were like this things might be pretty boring… but I don’t see either extreme as inherently better (or morally superior) to the other.

[Rock]

Arguably, being grounded in reality is and always has been the big challenge for any generation. There have always been pressures to "keep up with the Jones's" - and the 'justification' of "they've got it why not me?"
I think the last couple of generations have felt this pressure more intensely than ever before with the "fruits of affluent Western Society" waved in front of their noses at every turn - and the "greed is good" philosophy still very prevalent. It takes common-sense and maturity to be able to see through all the phony and shallow values of modern society, and a degree of self-awareness to recognise and acknowledge greed and indulgence when it rears it's ugly head.

[Knappo 1307]

Originally Posted by piratfisk

There certainly is. Many of my peers feel that the country that we're inheriting is not the one we were promised or conditioned to expect. Endless global conflicts & proxy wars, inflation & the fact that having only a Bachelor's degree is not enough in many fields... Not to mention homeownership getting father & farther out of reach for many. Anyway, let's try not to play in traffic today

Be the change....

[Booth9999]

Originally Posted by Blansky

I wonder if there isn't a pervasive sense of hopelessness in people coming up today.

The sense of "screw it". I want everything now and if it puts me in incredible debt who cares.

The huge student debt for low paying jobs, the feeling that they can never buy a home, the political chaos in the country, the lack of viable money set aside for retirement possibilities, maybe it all add to the feeling of screw it. I'm taking everything I can get now.

When I was a kid, the sky was the limit, everyone does better than their parents, can buy a home by 25, etc etc. Follow your bliss....

Maybe today kids don't feel that.

Just a thought.

I think this is why and you are correct. I don’t blame them.

[Speedbird-1]

Internet imagery, the driving force behind immigration surge.

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

Internet imagery, the driving force behind immigration surge.

AI will solve my watch lust. I can now have hyper realistic images drawn of me wearing the watches of my dreams, for far less than buying an actual watch. I will gaze upon the images and occasionally forget that I never actually owned the watch.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by RolexPD

The irony of people on this forum criticizing others for conspicuous consumerism is just too much.

Maybe they don't have a good side hustle and so are angry?

[RyanJ]

I give up trying to figure any of it out. Anytime I think I have data on any generation, they prove me wrong haha.

I am going to stick with all generations do dumb but now people have the ability to broadcast the dumb all over the world quickly and easily.

[brandrea]

The wait lists are long because the Uber rich folks push all the poors to the back of the bus.

I think my account has been hacked

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by RyanJ

I give up trying to figure any of it out.

Here's a hint.

_n1.jpg

[Mccall86]

If people got off social media excessive spending would go way down. Too much keeping up with the Joneses.

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by Mccall86

If people got off social media excessive spending would go way down. Too much keeping up with the Joneses.

This is why I don’t read the car love thread.

[Redfoot]

Sorry, just saw your response. Yes, it is crazy to see what some of our peers do. I know for a fact some of our friends live paycheck to paycheck and have wallets full of maxed out cards just to keep up appearances.

It feels good to be "doing the right thing" but sometimes my wife and I wonder how silly we will feel if others debt gets wiped away or everything comes crashing down and it will not have mattered how we lived.

Originally Posted by piratfisk

Hear hear! Same for us, too. We're both 35, do quite well, have $0 student debt, car paid, only monthly bills/mortgage. A key component I think is misplaced drive: People like you & me have focused drive on tangible goals. Others may see what XxBABIIII69420xX drives on Instagram & thinks "omg, she does make-up tutorials in front of a camera, I can do that! She only has a HS diploma like me!" Then they go down that path. While the chances of making significant money seem to be higher on SM platforms than it is making it big in professional sports, I don't think it's that different.

[TRS1]

And then factor in the wealth destruction of inflation. The silent killer.

[Rock]

Originally Posted by Redfoot

It feels good to be "doing the right thing" but sometimes my wife and I wonder how silly we will feel if others debt gets wiped away or everything comes crashing down and it will not have mattered how we lived.

Only the really big crooks get their debt "wiped away". It happens all the time. They already have all their wealth in tax havens anyway so it is no big deal.

By "everything comes crashing down" I assume you mean the financial system. That happened in the GFC and the only ones hurt were the "little guys". Do you remember how many of the experts, government advisors, legislators, corporate watchdogs and corporate perpetrators of the fraud went to jail?
A large number of the people who caused the crash made hundreds of millions of dollars. I haven't heard that any paid it back.