Changing Expectations

I am doing better than my parents due to careful saving and the...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:13:28 -0400

I am doing better than my parents due to careful saving and the luck of not having health problems like my father did. Overall, I see the next generation expecting a better life style than they will have.

I think middle class children today grow up in a very sheltered environment, both at home and in school.

This is positive in the sense that it can help them reach their potential but it also can set them up for unrealistic expectations. I see relatives and the children of friends going to college and choosing majors with little or no thought about the job potential.

A liberal arts education is becoming a very expensive luxury in an increasingly competitive global economy.

I think this competition, combined with the overwhelming debt being accumulated by individuals and government, will lower the overall standard of living. Add to this increasing income disparity, and a lot of families will be struggling financially.

-Jim Irvine

I was raised in a family where we were not sheltered from the...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:08:00 -0400

I was raised in a family where we were not sheltered from the consequences of saving, and conversely of spending and going into debt.

At a very young age my dad showed me an amortization schedule of a typical mortgage, and since them I have been terrified at how much I am likely to pay the bank in interest when I get a mortgage.

For this reason, I am feverishly working to save as much cash as I can with the hopes of paying a very large down-payment on my first house. The more you pay on principle, the less interest you end up giving “the man”.

I am aware that these lofty public pensions that exist today will surely not be there when I retire, so I am investing what I can save into various retirement accounts.

I hope that people will take the time to educate themselves on how to properly save, budget, and invest (if possible). You can live a VERY comfortable life without spending everything you earn. If you don’t have the money to live lavishly, don’t do it. That seems like a rather simple rule to me.

-Elissa Laskey

This past fall I lost my home to foreclosure. I had always paid...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:59:39 -0400

This past fall I lost my home to foreclosure. I had always paid my bills. It is unbelievable to me that I have found myself in this situation.

My dream now is to be financially solvent, to live below my means so that I can save, and to simply have a small place – apartment - that I can make into a home.

Will there be much for retirement? Probably not. I do not expect to retire until I’m 80! That may not be all bad. There have been many that have had to go back to work or continue working instead of retiring.

My biggest concern is moving from one career into another. I am a week away from finishing nursing school, and I will be beginning a new career at the ripe age of 53. There will be a few months of possibly no income. I’m not eligible for unemployment because I am leaving my current job voluntarily.

It takes time to work through the process of applying for jobs, take nursing boards and landing an interview. Still, the outlook for nursing jobs is good. If I can last for a few months on the money I have saved I should be able to make it until I find employment.

-Carol Kania

In December 2008 I accepted a buy-out package from Dana...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:40:43 -0400

In December 2008 I accepted a buy-out package from Dana Corporation. During this time my 80 year old mother became ill.

My siblings and I researched nursing homes and placed mom in a 5-star local facility. It has been 2 1/2 years and I still visit at least 6 days per week.

I was laid off again in January. That’s when I decided to follow my new passion, elder care, and I founded Darling Daughters Senior Care.

I remember visiting my mother where she lived alone in her apartment before becoming ill. There were so many things she could no longer do, like cracking ice cube trays or cleaning her bathtub.

I am 52 years old and all of my friends have stories of their own parents’ changing needs.

The business is still in its early stages. My short term objective is to meet my own financial needs, but my long term objective is to grow the business and become a pillar in the community.

-Diane DeKoster

Because I got through college, I’ll probably be slightly...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:41:11 -0400

Because I got through college, I’ll probably be slightly better off economically than my parents, who only graduated high school.

On the other hand, the generation after me is doomed; college tuition and a rapidly changing economy requiring less workers means no chance to improve or make money, and the (probable) lack of a social safety net just adds to the gloomy picture facing my generation’s kids.

A second income is essential to any household. We have three. I work, my wife works, and on the weekends I work as a photographer. I’m iffy about kids, primarily because I don’t think I could realistically afford them. Maybe someday I’ll have enough saved to buy a house, but I’m not holding my breath.

All I ever wanted was an office job. I have that now, so now I just want to pay of my debt and enjoy my life with my wife.

-Josh Eikenberry

My husband and I have different priorities than my parents. The...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:50:49 -0400

My husband and I have different priorities than my parents. The way we define doing well, economically, is different. We are choosing to live debt free until we buy a house. That means we do not have a lot of stuff and are slowly furnishing our apartment frugally.

We won’t have as much stuff as my parents but are able to save over half of our income each paycheck. So we’re doing well even though we don’t have a tv, a smart phone, or cars that are less than 14 years old.

I hope that I can teach my children to make wise financial decisions like my parents did. I hope the next generation does not live with a lot of debt. If they can do that, I think they can do better than us.

My biggest concern is that my husband’s wonderful job as an engineer will go away. We moved to Michigan last year and I still wonder if the job that seems secure is too good to be true.

We are expecting a baby early fall, and even though we are consistently saving, we worry that our ability to provide for our baby will go away.

-Elizabeth Halgren

My parents were far better off than my family and I. My father...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:06:37 -0400

My parents were far better off than my family and I. My father was born in Manitoba, Canada. He dropped out of school at 14 and went to work in a small welding shop. He and my mother then moved to the US, undocumented, with my uncle. Both my father and uncle became entrepreneurs before the term was coined.

I recently completed a consulting job, but am still catching up on debts from 2009 and 2010 when I wasn’t able to find work.

It seems that every time I’m poised to realize a major goal the economic landscape shifts underfoot.

The longest position I’ve held in thirty years was less than three and a half years. I’ve learned that the only way to get ahead to “be a business,” not “an employee.”

-Alexander Zayachkov

I will not do as well, financially, as my parents, although my...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:19:00 -0400

I will not do as well, financially, as my parents, although my standard of living will be about the same. My parents were a doctor and lawyer, while I have chosen to work in the nonprofit sector. Still, I believe that any children I may have will have access to an equal or greater living standard than I have chosen for myself.

I don’t have too many big concerns about money. I carry a lot of debt in the form of student loans. It will take a long time to pay those off, but I earn enough to support myself, and do most of the things I want with my free time.

I am concerned about my ability to pay for college for any children I may have in the future.’

I feel the national economic situation is making me think critically about buying new things and taking on debt. I recently sold my car, for example. The decision was definitely influenced by my perception of “lean times” brought about by high unemployment. Then again, I really enjoy not owning a car!

-David Blumenthal

I’d always planned on working until age 70, but now...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:06:30 -0400

I’d always planned on working until age 70, but now that’s not a choice, it’s a requirement.

Part of it the problem is that I started saving for retirement late. After eleven years in the Navy my net savings was zero. My first two jobs after college didn’t offer a 401K and I didn’t have enough sense to open an IRA.

The Great Recession didn’t help either. I also have another 26 years on a mortgage for a house that is a bit underwater. I might be OK in the long run, but I sure don’t feel comfortable with the idea of retiring.

I was just looking at one of the funds I’m invested in, it’s doing pretty well now, but the four year average return is just over 4%. That’s not going to fund a retirement any time soon.

-Jon Strayer

While my family contributes to our 401K programs and we try to...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:55:24 -0400

While my family contributes to our 401K programs and we try to save on top of that, we will not have enough saved for retirement by the time we are retirement age. Though, by all accounts, we are doing more than most people.

Finding better paying jobs is an option for us, but ‘better paying’ means ‘a lot of travel and much longer hours.’ But we have small children, and that’s not an option.

We have prioritized spending time raising our kids over our lifestyle, and would not change anything on that front, but today the cost of living a reasonable, middle-class lifestyle is much higher than it was a generation ago in real terms.

We will likely work until we die, and either die with a mortgage on our home because we re-mortgaged to cover college for our kids, or have to sell our home to pay for college and then rent, hoping our monthly private retirement savings covers us.

-Steve Rummel

I am doing better than my parents, mostly because I am not a...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:49:53 -0400

I am doing better than my parents, mostly because I am not a stay at home mother like my mother was. I also make more money than my husband.

We are working on starting a family, and I am struggling with the decision to stay at home or continue to work. It is both a question of what’s feasible economically, and what is best for our children.

My biggest concern is being able to afford a lifestyle that we are happy with if I choose to stop working once we have children. I make more money than my husband, so it would be a big change unless he ends up being the one that stays home. We are currently renting a home we could not sell, but at a huge loss, and our new home needs a lot of repair work.

To some extent, I feel that even though I’m doing the best I can to invest wisely and save as much as I can, a lot of variables are simply out of my immediate control.

-Angela Dugan

I expected to be a little more settled, but listened to a lot of...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:59:00 -0400

I expected to be a little more settled, but listened to a lot of people tell me the wrong things. Like “follow your dreams and passions” and unfortunately most dreams don’t come true for us “dreamers.” Really it’s a lot about knowing the right people, networking, and taking risks and I’ve never been bent on upward mobility. I just wanted a normal life and to enjoy simple things.

I’ve been laid off 3 times since 2002. My fiancée is a social worker and doing well in the recession, but we’re always wary of the state cutting funds and her getting laid off. There is just no job security anymore.

I will probably not do as well as my parents. I just don’t see the possibility of getting a job that pays that well or is as secure. I don’t feel confident in the way we are dealing with things as a nation.

-Shawn Brandli

We won’t be able to retire unless we hit the lottery. We...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:47:16 -0400

We won’t be able to retire unless we hit the lottery. We hold two mortgages (one on our Macomb Township condo and one on our house in Detroit) and although we’ve been contributing to our 401(k)s, neither of our current employers offers a pension.

Both homes are under water and we can’t hope to sell the Detroit property and break even.

We both had job losses in 2010 and our new combined annual income is nearly $30,000 less.

It’s hard to watch our friends who have been able to retire and start doing all of the traveling and other activities that we can only imagine, but we feel lucky to still be employable and working, as opposed to others we know who are in serious distress with few prospects for improvement.

-Duane Larkin

I am an elementary teacher, so I decided to get my masters in...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:44:02 -0400

I am an elementary teacher, so I decided to get my masters in science education and I am a much better teacher for it.

Financially, every penny that I saved in my early twenties that was meant to go towards having a family or buying a home in my thirties is gone. Saving 10% of my paycheck is getting less easy to sustain.

I keep an ever updated excel spreadsheet of all of my finances now, which may not be that uncommon, but it is a change for me. I used to buy treats for my students, pay for kids to go on field trips (which I still do occasionally) or get extra supplies for school without thinking twice, and it is just no longer feasible.

My student loans have become this giant scary number that won’t go away. I feel like I have, in a way, put my life on hold because of the giant scary number. I cannot, in good conscience, get married, buy a home or have a baby when I owe so much money, and even then I paid for a great deal of my masters out of pocket and my parents also took out a 2nd mortgage to help pay for my undergraduate degree.

All of that said, I realize how lucky I am that I have a college education, and that I had those opportunities. I wake up every day thanking God for my job.

-Erika Wozniak

When my grandparents came to the United States they had...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:47:30 -0400

When my grandparents came to the United States they had nothing. My grandfather worked as a seltzer delivery man to make a better life for his children. My father worked as a taxi cab driver to get enough money to get through law school and eventually became a lawyer. He worked very hard so that I could go to medical school.

My father makes a very good living, but did not save anything and consequently needs to work into his elder years. I live a more modest lifestyle and save a lot of my income for my children’s education and for my future.

I am near the top of the earners in the United States, but not mega rich. I can’t imagine that my children could do much better than how I am doing financially. I am concerned that my children do not realize what is needed to have the lifestyle and savings that we have, and that they will be unable to find jobs.

-Hamilton Lempert

I grew up poor, the oldest of nine children. My life view was...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:04:26 -0400

I grew up poor, the oldest of nine children. My life view was colored by the certain knowledge that, whatever it was, we couldn’t afford it. Because I went into the Air Force in 1969, I was able to go to college and get a degree and take some Air Force training in computers into a well-paying civilian job.

I started making decent money and suddenly found that I could have both-and instead of either-or. It was a revelation. I could have enough shirts to wear a clean one every day, underwear to last a couple of weeks, vacations every year if we wanted. And I could give to charity. Without money, I always felt like a charity case waiting to happen. Now I can help others.

And, yes, times are a little hard right now, but I’ve been through worse. If there’s anything smart that my wife and I have done it is get out of debt and stay out. We paid off our house twenty-five years ago. We’ve never bought a car on credit.

If I’m optimistic at all it is because I have studied history as a hobby. What I see in history is that this country—indeed the world—goes through cycles, and this is one of the less pleasant cycles. The only good thing about recognizing the cycle is knowing that it will end and more reasonable discourse will prevail.

-Thomas Murrell

I am being more conservative than many of my peers by investing and saving early. From day 1 of my...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:42:00 -0400

I am being more conservative than many of my peers by investing and saving early. From day 1 of my career I have had a focus on savings and retirement. I have talked with a couple of different financial advisors about what my next steps should be.

Right now my focus is on continuing to increase my 401(k) contributions and building my 3-6 month emergency savings fund. Once my emergency fund is set, I will begin putting money into more short term investments for any potential down payments in the next 5 years.

It’s important for anyone my age to begin investing in their retirement and to be financially sound early on. We have no idea what the economic climate could be in 50 years, or even in 2 months.

It’s important to start earning on compound interest as early as possible. It can make all the difference. I’d much rather be in control of my finances than leave it up to chance. While I could afford it, I’d rather put that money away.

-Justin Parker

I have learned to have smaller dreams and be more content with...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:35:00 -0400

I have learned to have smaller dreams and be more content with what I have rather than what I might want but don’t have. I used to peruse the Best Buy adverts each week and feel that I needed stuff. Now I am practicing gratification delay and thinking about finances in more abstract and long term ways.

The national economy is still in such a state that it has pushed me to leave my State. My job is relocating me from my lifelong home of St. Louis, MO to Des Moines, IA. It is a heart wrenching move for me to take my little daughter and wife away from all of our friends and family, but I felt my options were limited. If I had chosen to look for work in St. Louis, I would be up against people that would likely have similar work experience but better academic credentials. I couldn’t risk it, so I accepted the relocation.

I think I am doing and will do better than my parents economically in certain aspects. It presents many questions on the best way to raise my daughter so that she not only has the potential to earn more, but also appreciates the wealth she has.

-Ken H.

I am doing as well as my parents and we are better off than my...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:34:04 -0400

I am doing as well as my parents and we are better off than my husband’s parents at this stage in their lives. But I think my children’s generation will struggle to meet the same economic level.

I wanted to be a stay at home mom, but we couldn’t have just one source of income and raise a family. Our fix? I opened a day care in our home. I treat it as my small business – which it is - and raise our child along with 3 others in her age range.

I live in a place that is not very affected by the general economy. Most jobs are for the university or government and my day care families are secure in their jobs as well. I feel comfortable economically.

-Ella Benson