Wow:

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2....

That's called leverage going the wrong way.

Gen Xers got ****ed hard. Of course they did it to themselves via over-leveraging as mentioned above. They were the ultimate keeping-up-with-the-Joneses-ers.

Timing of the housing bubble had a big impact.

No doubt.. I'm just 35 now, and the 'on paper' difference given how inflated housing was in 2005 even after putting 20% down compared to now is notable.

Now, after a divorce and a move cross country.. I'm just happy I'm back up to zero :)

Jason

I suppose that on paper, this is the case for me. Thing is, I never intended to sell my house during the bubble (purchased in '99), so the only difference I see now is lower prop taxes than six years ago.

Wow

This is my demo and I see lots of friends struggling. Got lucky and sold my house right before the bubble popped in 2005.

Very thankful to have avoided this mess. Missed the bounce in 2009 by sitting in cash but never lost it in the first place.

35-44 year olds were probably all short the market over the last 3 years...

I'm in my mid-30s, we never got terribly over levered. Sure we have debt, but we can 'afford' it. What gets me is the lack of jobs in my field(IT), around the area where I live. If I were to lose my job at the hospital where I work, I would literally have nowhere else to go. I'd have to look at us moving(that means us selling the house/uprooting the kids), or grinding a 1-2 hour commute each day. That's a ****ty kind of job pressure to have, and trust me, the people I work for are well aware of it and leverage it. Our IT department is worked mercilessly with not the greatest pay, and little to no reward for the effort. A rural area is a beautiful place and is a great place to raise a family, but tends to be a not so good when it comes to providing for the family.

Used to be lots of jobs here and in the surrounding communities, until manufacturing was gutted. Sure, they weren't the greatest jobs, but two people could raise a family, both working at the factory. They wouldn't drive the nicest cars, or live in a mcmansion, but they could adequately provide for themselves without .gov handouts, do a family vacation once a year, and all the kids get gifts at Christmas time. If many of those factories were here today, I'm sure they would need some form of IT infrastructure/support and all of the related IT needs that are involved in such operations these days. Most of those otherwise hard working people are now members of the FSA. Some of the older ones that I know are unashamed members of the FSA. 25 years ago those same people would have nearly starved before taking 'food stamps' or welfare of any kind, just out of personal pride. Now, they feel as if the .gov has sold them out via the trade deals, so they'll take every handout they can get. Not so much because they feel entitled, I believe they see it as a way of 'screwing them back'. I believe some have reverted back to the tradition for this area that predates manufacturing.... Good ol' fashioned 'Moon shining', and the manufacture of various other prohibited items.(another form of 'screwing them back')

It wasn't just the housing bubble...that's just a symptom of what happened to the real jobs being shipped out of the country. like Darth , we didn't buy into the bubble here in socal . however, the recession destroyed my career basically.

Neil Howe (Fourth Turning author) has an article discussing this on his blog.

Summary: Gen-X Hammered, Silent FTW.

http://blog.lifecourse.com/2012/06/once-....

I'm in this demo, and actually I feel fortunate. When I graduated college, an entry-level professional job was not tough to land. And our college costs were not quite so inflated. Kids graduating today are lucky to get jobs pouring my coffee. And folks whose 401ks turned into 201ks are holding onto their jobs, not making room for the youngsters.

But we are the only people that know how any of this **** works... one day we will have the upper hand.

Me.

39. Bought a condo at height. Walked-away from it after 2 years.

Bought a foreclosure adjacent to me for 80%+ less than I paid for my old one. $40k - cash.
Own a 1995 Accord - 247k miles paid cash for it in 2002 - $4,500 (I think).

Make a good living in IT with no OT and it is in gov (of course).

Have not ever had any debt except previous mortgage and still don't.

No kids/wife, etc.

I graduated in the middle of the '91 recession, with zero jobs, and when I did find one it paid crap. I learned that I could still live on Ramen noodles just like when I was in college. Because I had to.

I read 'Bankruptcy 1995' by H. Figgie, and while he was way off, the premise was correct. Been managing my financial affairs ever since in a manner as if that day Figgie described is still coming.

Millionaire Next Door book also helped install some common finacial sense.

I still drive the same car I had when I was in college. Everyday.

No smartphone.

I also avoided all debt.

Yeah, retailers may not like me, Apple may not like me, and I'm not hip, but that's OK.

Gen X is the first generation that has lived a lower standard of living than their parents.

I have spent a good 7 years of the prime of my life worrying about the stupid economy. Been fighting to hang onto a good job for the last 3 years. It's affected my relationships as well because I can't see how anyone can afford to raise a child in this world moving forward.

It's a sad state of affairs and I really wish I was born 10-20 years earlier but at the same time I am glad I got 15-20 years of a good economy where I was able to sock some cash away.

Quote:

Very thankful to have avoided this mess. Missed the bounce in 2009 by sitting in cash but never lost it in the first place.

Missed the bounce as well but I sleep soundly these days.

I was out before the **** our shores.

Been in the line at Wal-Mart and noticed generation Y-ers shuffing through their credit cards to find one that won't get declined.

See quite a few X-ers and Y-ers driving very high end cars and eating at the very nice restaurants. Living beyond your means is still going strong.

There is a growing sense in Gen-Y that hard times are coming so it's better to have fun while you can. YOLO and all...

Older GenX here...just rollin' with the program waitin' for the reset.

A lot of X'ers think that bubbles are the only form of economic growth having lived through the stock and housing bubbles. They'd be the first to pile into another Fed-sponsored bubble. Stagnant real wages make people chase asset inflation.

A cautionary lesson in Bubblenomics for Millenials. Chill dudes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TlPo0yCS....

Quote:

There is a growing sense in Gen-Y that hard times are coming so it's better to have fun while you can. YOLO and all...

Anecdotally I see this in spades. Many don't work hard at their jobs - they don't see a reason to "invest" it the current employer, they may not be around long. They aren't investing it their careers, they aren't sure there's going to be a need in the future. They won't start families since they don't think they will be able to support one going forward

Last night I talked to somebody deeply involved in the local public school system, I also happened to go there at one time. It's an overwhelmingly middle-middle class town and 99% WASP. We are not suffering from real estate bubblenomics much and the percentage of underwater mortgages is the lowest in the region. When I went to school here in the late 70s the average grade size was 150. 5 years ago it was 80. This year's 2nd grade is 66. And the population is UP more than 10% in that period. The people moving in are having ZERO children, literally.

Rvacha, the people having children live in the more distant suburbs rather than the older neighborhoods that were 'middle class' prior to the 1990's.

I AM a more distant neighborhood, most people would not even qualify us as being exburb. No police or fire, a government consisting of seven people total, no sewers, dirt cheap taxes. The school system is better than average but extremely austere (ignoring ponzi pension, which is not as bad as most either) - none of the three buildings even has air conditioning

Overheard yesterday

"Why does he want you to do it that way?"

"To get the job done faster."

"Are you getting paid by the hour?"

"Yes."

"Then sloooooooow down!"