Overheard conversation!!!!

[NorTracNY]

With one or two exceptions all of the friends of my two daughters are doing well. And in our area the economy is not good. Some of them are doing VERY well. Then I go to Wal-Mart in town and half the 20-30 year olds there are walking around in their pajama bottoms showing off their new tattoos.

It mostly depends on the example shown by the parents.

A couple came to our church Sunday asking for money. They run a group home in the local area. They had 12-15 kids with them. The kids were all colors and races. They were clean, well dressed, polite, and had a good time. I was an usher and so stayed out by the front doors but I could hear the man talking and it was very sad. Nearly all those kids came from homes destroyed by drugs. The home refuses state money and depends on donations to continue operations. Refusing state money allows them to do things like offer prayers before meals and have Bible readings in the home. Taking state money would mean they would have to stop those activities. I was sitting in the foyer when church ended and my two youngest granddaughters were each sitting on a knee laughing and chattering. I looked up and the group home kids were standing about ten feet away staring at us. The thought ran thru my mind that probably none of them had the experience of a parent much less a grandparent paying attention to them.

Children are taught by example. The kid skipping payments so he could buy another toy was probably following the example set by his parents.

Pay attention to your children and grandchildren and teach them well. And keep your fingers crossed that the lessons sink in.

RSKY

Well said! Also remember that the few words from adult family friends matter too. What we say to other's kids supporting the lessons of the parents can really make a difference.

 

[PJ The Kid]

This one statement is hardly indicative of ALL the younger generation, but thinking like this does lead to hard lessons or a harder life, and it gives the smarter ones an easier time when competing.

The opposite of this is the depression era generation, who decided to never take any chances and never spend any money unnecessarily. That thinking leads to a long poor life too. My father, for instance, always wanted to work an hour for an hour's pay. Never wanted to invest in property that would send him into debt, temporarily. Consequently, he was always on a strict budget and could never grasp the risk he was taking by not having financial security or the risk associated with working a physical job and commuting on the highway for many years for a few dollars each day. Meanwhile all the property around him continued to go up in value his entire life, and eventually he became too weak to work.

I wouldn't say ALL the younger generation. My wife and I are nearly the opposite. Not quite to the extreme of a Dave Ramsey, but we are the "if I do a couple extra side jobs and bust a few more hours, I can pick up that junker on the side of the road and drive it till there is nothing left of it" or "I can buy that broke don car and fix it and drive it for a while and sell it for something with a/c." We are still young, but I refuse to open a credit card. She finally talked me into it and I set a limit to where I can pay it off in one pay check if something happens. Finally getting it through to her that a great credit score just means you are good at being in debt.

 

[oosik]

PJ - a great credit score does NOT necessarily mean you are good at being in debt. I have ABSOLUTELY no debt and my credit card score is well over 820. A good credit score means you are good at managing money.

 

[Raspy]

Simmer down you old timers...

Food for thought (a few quotes from days-gone-by):

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint".
(Hesiod, 8th century BC)

'The children now love luxury; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are tyrants, not servants of the households. They no longer rise when their elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize over their teachers.'
(Socrates)

"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."
(From a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274)

They [Young People] have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things -- and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning -- all their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything -- they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else.
(Aristotle)


So this is nothing new, or special. Older generations have been complaining about younger since we first learned how to talk (and complain). I'm pretty sure each of your own parent's generations had the same complaints overall about YOUR generation.

Such is the way of things.

Thank you. Good post.

 

[shaeff]

PJ - a great credit score does NOT necessarily mean you are good at being in debt. I have ABSOLUTELY no debt and my credit card score is well over 820. A good credit score means you are good at managing money.

Agreed. I'm 34, my wife is 31. We both have excellent credit scores, both before and after taking out a mortgage. We had ZERO debt before the mortgage, and we have no debt besides the mortgage.

We are both very good at managing money, always have been. Self control is key. One of my credit cards has a very high limit. If I can't pay off the card in full when the bill comes, I don't buy whatever it is that would cause me to cross that threshold. We had several banks fighting over us when we went to get our loan for the house.

 

[LittleBill21]

Agreed. I'm 34, my wife is 31. We both have excellent credit scores, both before and after taking out a mortgage. We had ZERO debt before the mortgage, and we have no debt besides the mortgage.

We are both very good at managing money, always have been. Self control is key. One of my credit cards has a very high limit. If I can't pay off the card in full when the bill comes, I don't buy whatever it is that would cause me to cross that threshold. We had several banks fighting over us when we went to get our loan for the house.

i have to agree. thinking a credit card is a bad thing is foolish. i had a credit card since i was 18, never had a balance, never paid 1 dime in interest. and i have raked in over prolly 5k in cash rewards since i got them (all i use are credit cards which have rewards attached).

i also have a 804 credit score and never had a single debt in my life including purchasing my house. i got a mortgage pre approval just for giggles and was approved for over 500k in 20 seconds over the phone.

My credit cards make ME money, if you have no self control, you have no need for a credit card.

I am also 34 and is my wife, she averages $320 in rewards every 6 months, and we just got new cards with even better returns.

work smarter not harder

 

[kcflhrc]

A mortgage pre approval is way different than an actual approval.

 

[LittleBill21]

A mortgage pre approval is way different than an actual approval.

the paperwork came a day later certified approved or whatever, i didn't have a need for it, i bought my house outright, my parents forced me to get one as a backup

to show how you can get in trouble though. i only asked for 250k, the approval amount was 500k which i never asked for. sneaky, sneaky

 

[turnkey4099]

I see them here with body lift kits on 4WD's, makes them top heavy and unstable on the road and when they go off road they still hang up on the diff.
Known collectively as wanker wagons.

And no matter how high they jack them, they gain no more than an inch or two of ground clearance - and that only by putting on bigger tires.

 

[Raspy]

the paperwork came a day later certified approved or whatever, i didn't have a need for it, i bought my house outright, my parents forced me to get one as a backup

to show how you can get in trouble though. i only asked for 250k, the approval amount was 500k which i never asked for. sneaky, sneaky

It's not always a bad idea to buy a house with a mortgage. Considering that a good mutual fund can return 25% per year and interest on a house is only 3-5%, you're losing money by buying with cash. And considering that if you have your money in a fund you can get at if a real emergency arrises. Just be careful not to get stung in the next downturn, and that is not too hard to avoid.

There are a number of ways to make money besides not spending it. Spending a little can sometimes make you a lot.

I get a lot of pleasure from knowing there is no bank involved in owning my home. Of course, ownership only means the County won't take it away from you as long as you keep paying your taxes. So who really owns it? Not much different than a mortgage.