Tag Archives: young adults

‘IF IT IS TO BE, IT’S UP TO ME’

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#GenZ #GenX #YoungAdults #elections #RunningForOffice #FutureLeaders
The ominous headline reads: “No one’s coming to save us.”
One might think the story was about disaster victims.
But, The New York Times story by Emma Schartz and Pooja Salhotra is about Gen Z folks (young adults) who are running for political office and, in many cases, winning. They are beating, in many cases, much older opponents.
The article was also published July 1, 2026, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The point of the story is that since growing up through the COVID-19 pandemic, these young folks are finding that the government, usually run by much older people, is not working for them.
Therefore, they are taking matters into their own hands.
Another interesting point in the article is that they are not all of the same political persuasion. There are Charlie Kirk conservatives and Democratic Socialists in this mix.
If you are older, perhaps the age of their parents or grandparents, do you feel threatened by these young folks taking over?
If so, relax. This is a good thing.
We’ve been hearing a lot about youth and their mental health recently. Some older folks are scratching their heads, because they believe the kids never had it so good. But, in fact, this is the first generation not expected to do as well as their parents financially and, perhaps, otherwise.
With artificial intelligence either already here or on the horizon, their future looks even more uncertain.
Their regular use of devices is not helping in many cases. We need kids to be technologically literate. We need innovators to innovate. But, for some, online addiction and bullying are real issues. We need them to interact more with people live, rather than through a device.
When kids go through what they are going through, or have gone through, it’s really good that many of them are stepping up to control not only their own lives, but to help others.
Their elders, rather than fearing this phenomenon, should instead go quietly into retirement and let the kids take over.
Certainly, kids don’t always adopt the same attitudes, viewpoints and worldview of their elders.
But, that is part of maturing. It’s part of becoming an adult. It’s part of becoming less dependent on mom and dad.
Of course, there are those who can’t seem to find their way out of their parents’ basements.
But, this article makes it clear that there are future leaders out there, like James Thibault. He’s running for re-election as a Republican state representative in New Hampshire at age 20.
And, Melat Kiros, 29. She’s already beaten 15-term Democratic incumbent Diana DeGette, 68, for a Colorado congressional seat nomination.
If you have a Gen Zer, or young Gen Xer in your family who is not satisfied with the way things are going for them, refer the Times article to them.
Providing they don’t have a disability – or, even if they do – they, too, can take matters into their own hands. They CAN run for something.
Feel free to help them as needed, but also cut them enough slack to make their own decisions about who they want to be.
Yes, indeed, as the movie title says, “The Kids Are All Right.”
Peter

ARE YOU BETTER OFF THAN YOUR PARENTS?

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#housing #YoungAdults #HighCostOfLiving #HousingPrices #parents
If you are a young adult, do you believe you will have a better life than your parents?
In decades past, and, perhaps, still today, parents’ goal was to give their child(ren) a better life than they had.
But, young folks today, in large numbers, don’t see that as a possibility.
Many of them still rely on help from their parents to get through daily life.
Remember last week, we talked about the cost of going to work? Now, we will examine one of the effects.
Perhaps this problem began as home prices really started to accelerate back in the 1970s. Many children who grew up in relatively affluent towns could not afford to live there on their own as adults. They could not afford the home prices or apartment rentals.
So, if they wanted to stay close to home, they moved to nearby towns and cities that were not nearly as affluent and had more affordable housing options.
Perhaps, they thought, someday they’d have enough money to move back to the town in which they grew up. Maybe, they could even inherit mom and dad’s house when they died. This was when living at home with mom and dad was, shall we say, less desirable.
Today, young people are really feeling the squeeze. The jobs they can get, even with a college education, don’t pay much more, figuring for inflation, than they did back in the 1970s.
But housing costs during those decades have ballooned. Housing that was unaffordable in the 1970s is completely out of reach today for young folks.
Even housing in the less affluent towns has become more difficult for young folks to buy, or even rent.
Add to that the rising cost of everything else: food, fuel, day care, education etc., and starting a life in one’s 20s today without help is nearly impossible.
Many in that age group are postponing marriage, children and other life expectations (at least their parents expect them) because of costs. Never mind that some of them are already burdened with student loan debt.
Today’s employers are not seeing young people coming into the workforce in droves because they can’t live on what they will be paid.
Companies are expanding and relocating to new environs, thus creating jobs. But few of the jobs they are creating will go to people who already live in those places. They will go to people who will move to those locales because of the jobs, which brings increasing property values that aggravate the problem.
As an aside, American retirees moving overseas to less expensive countries are pricing the young locals there out of some of their markets.
For many young people today, getting ahead financially is a somewhat foreign concept. How to survive, day to day, is a more pressing matter.
There are signs that wages are rising, contributing to inflation and creating an economic chicken-and-egg roller coaster for everyone.
So, starting an adult life is hard today. The idea of finding a first apartment, or house, that is affordable, then trading up over time may be foolhardy thinking.
A combination of public and private solutions to this problem are in demand right now. Perhaps the catalyst to solving this problem may lie in an idea no one has yet conceived.
Still, it’s vitally important for young people to cultivate and maintain optimism. You are the future. You, and your cohort, may be the ones to solidify that future for your whole generation.
Peter


IT’S TOUGH BEING A YOUNG ADULT, LOOKING FOR HOUSING

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#housing #HousingCosts #YoungAdults #BuyingAHouse #SellingAHouse
It’s not easy being a young adult today, trying to build a life.
As Bill Torpy, columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, points out, the median price for a house in Atlanta today is $405,000. He discussed the perils of young adults and housing in his May 12, 2024, column.
If you are 20-something, married or single, can you afford $405,000 for a house?
With rents on apartments also skyrocketing, it’s no wonder many young people are still leaning on “the bank of mom and dad” for help.
There are a number of issues driving up housing costs.
In decades past, a young person could get an affordable apartment to live in until he or she was able to buy a house. After all, The American Dream included home ownership.
They would buy their first house and live there until they outgrew it. Then, they would sell it to buy a bigger house. They would keep trading up in housing size as needed, until they reached retirement age.
Then, they might sell their bigger house and trade down to a smaller one, perhaps in a retirement locale with the various amenities for older folks.
That pattern is more or less out the window today. Buying and selling real estate has become something of a cut-threat endeavor.
In those old days, a person starting out might offer a price for a house that was a bit less than the seller had asked. The seller, looking for a firm sale, would usually accept. Today, it’s more likely that a buyer will have to bid up from the asking price, and might still lose out.
The demand for housing today is way over what the supply is. Because people can’t make any more land, most property available for building has been spoken for. That caps the supply at a certain level, but the population has grown considerably from decades ago, and keeps growing.
Also in the housing mix are entities such as property management companies, hedge funds and real estate investment trusts that tempt sellers with cash offers, leaving many young buyers out of luck.
Meanwhile, apartments and condos are going up like crazy in some areas.
Often, new apartments mean high rent, and new condos can be overpriced and have high owner fees to maintain common areas etc.
Tiny houses, and housing made from shipping containers also have been trending. These are not an option if one plans to have a family, or even a spouse.
Something else is happening today. Many young adults want everything now. They won’t settle for a fixer-upper, or rooms they view as too small. Many want what they are used to – what their parents have. And, they want it now. They are unwilling to accept something less, and work up to what they ultimately want.
If you are young, and do not want to live with mom and dad for the rest of your life, flexibility is the key. Chances are, even if you buy or rent someplace that’s not exactly what you want, figure on making do until you can save enough to afford more. As you trade up, you may not get everything you want at each stage. But, with each stage, you may get something more.
It’s not always possible in some areas to find adequate, affordable housing. But, if you keep looking, you may run into something you can work with. By the way, try not to get too comfortable living with mom and dad.
Remember, too, that a house is a house. A home is what you make with the house you have.
Peter

YOUNG ADULTS DIFFER FROM THEIR PARENTS

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#YoungAdults #millennials #GenZ KidsAndParents
It’s not unusual for a younger generation to have different priorities from their parents’.

But usually most are optimistic.

Deloitte recently released its Global Millennial Survey of 13,416 millennials (born between 1983 and 1994) across 42 counties and 3,000 Gen Z respondents (born between 1995 and 2002) from 10 countries. Most are uneasy and pessimistic, according to an article Marie Patino wrote for Bloomberg. It was also published May 21, 2019, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The percentage of respondents who think that businesses are making a positive impact dropped from 61 percent in 2018 to 55 percent this year, the article says.

In other words, many of the kids don’t trust businesses.

Only about half of those in the two groups aspire to buy a house, the article says – something that likely was a high priority for their parents when they were young.

Only 52 percent of millennials surveyed said that earning a high salary was a top priority, the article says. It’s noble to want to have a higher purpose than just making money, and money doesn’t always buy happiness. But money can help one work through adversities in style.

Incidently, 56 percent of Gen Z’ers said earning a high salary was a priority, the article says.

In China and India, the article quotes the survey, Gen Z’ers were more optimistic about the future, while youth in major economic powers were pessimistic about the world and whether their place in it will improve, the article says.

It’s fairly easy to understand the pessimism. Perhaps the young folks have seen a parent, or someone they know well, forced out of a good job well ahead of retirement.

Perhaps they’ve come out of school with slim job prospects.

Perhaps they have witnessed atrocities, like school shootings, officer-involved shootings of unarmed people, or something else that triggers pessimism.

Certainly, older generations witnessed their share of bad news, but not nearly as much of the kinds of things the kids are seeing out there.

Regardless, there is still reason for optimism.

And, if you’re the kind of person who dreams of doing something great, for whom helping others is a high priority, there are many vehicles out there that can ultimately provide the resources to take some of those worries off one’s back, while enabling that person to pay it forward to others. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.

Certainly, there is much to be concerned about all over the world. Nearly everyone faces adversity at some point in life.

But bear in mind, if you are a young person who is pessimistic about the world, it’s OK to dream of a world you would like to see. It’s perfectly OK to dream of a very successful life for yourself, however you define that.

You have to be open, though, to perhaps doing something you may have never thought about, or considered doing. You have to be open to looking for, or at, something that could change your outlook on life. That something could be brought to you by someone you may not expect.

In today’s world, optimism sometimes requires effort. Don’t hesitate to put in that effort. You have the ability to improve your own lives. Go for it.

Peter