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[Jeremy @jeremyct]

Millennials borrowed for an education they were told was the only path to stability.

Graduated into a recession that erased entry level jobs.

Spent a decade making minimum payments that barely touched the principal.

Watched the interest outgrow what they paid.

Got told to refinance. Consolidate. Apply for forgiveness programs that kept changing the rules every administration.

Some paid for 15 years and still owe more than they borrowed.

The math was never broken.

It was built exactly to keep you paying just enough to never be free.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

In 2015 the average new car cost $33,000.

Today it’s $48,000.

Average car payment is now $740 a month.

Some loans stretch to 84 months.

People are financing cars longer than people used to finance houses.

We didn’t get richer.

We just got better at hiding how broke we are behind a longer loan term.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

My uncle has $40,000 sitting in a savings account earning 0.4% interest.

Been there for 12 years.

If he’d put it in an S&P 500 index fund in 2012 it would be worth roughly $160,000 today.

He calls himself careful with money.

He’s actually just uninformed and calling it caution.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

Boomer dad: you kids just don’t know how to save money.

Me: I haven’t bought coffee out in over a year. I meal prep every Sunday.

Boomer dad: see, that’s discipline. That’s all it takes.

Me: my rent alone is 58% of what I make.

Boomer dad: well that sounds like a budgeting issue more than anything.

Me: what was your rent compared to your paycheck when you were my age?

Boomer dad: I’d have to think about it… maybe 19, 20% somewhere around there.

Me: so if I only paid 19% of my income on rent, I’d have an extra $1,200 a month just sitting there.

Boomer dad: well sure, but it’s not that simple now is it.

Me: that’s kind of my point.

Boomer dad: …

Boomer dad: you want some pie?

Financial experts recommend spending no more than 30% of your income on rent. The national average for renters right now is over 50%.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

If you max out a Roth IRA every year starting at 25.

$7,000 a year. About $583 a month.

By 65 at a 7% average return you’d have roughly $1,500,000.

Tax free.

Most people aren’t told this until their 30s.

Some never get told at all.

The information was never hidden.

It just was never taught.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

My rent went up $300 a month.

I told people I couldn’t afford it. They said just move.

So I looked up what moving actually costs.

First month’s rent. Security deposit. Application fee. Credit check fee. Moving truck. Utility deposits. Time off work to do all of it.

That’s $4,000 minimum just to escape a rent increase.

The solution to not having money is apparently having money.

Poverty isn’t a mindset problem.

It’s a locked door that charges you to find the key.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

the part they never teach you:

inflation is permanent.

$6 coffee doesn’t go back to $3.

your only defense is earning more.

but the moment workers ask for that they call it a threat to the economy.

whose economy.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

A friend of mine pays $2,100 a month for a one bedroom.

Her landlord bought the building in 2015 for $890,000.

It’s worth $2,100,000 now.

She’s paid him over $100,000 in rent across 4 years.

He’s never met her.

Doesn’t know her name.

Just cashes the check every month from a property she’s funding the appreciation on.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

My boomer uncle keeps sending me articles about how Gen Z doesn’t want to work hard.

He retired at 58 with a pension, a paid off house, and a boat.

I asked him what his first job paid.

$6.50 an hour in 1979.

That’s $28 an hour adjusted for inflation today.

Most entry level jobs near me start at $16.

He didn’t work harder than us.
He just got paid like it mattered.

[Fein @feiniskid]

@jeremyct Sad

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

My grandmother’s nursing home costs $9,200 a month.

Medicare covers none of it.

My mom is paying out of her own retirement to keep her there.

Which means my mom won’t have enough saved when she retires.

Which means in 20 years I’ll be doing the same thing for her.

Nobody plans for this.

The system just assumes someone in the family will absorb it.

It’s usually a daughter.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

Every year insurance companies report record profits.

Every year your premium goes up.

Every year they say it’s necessary to keep up with rising costs.

The costs they’re referring to are their own profits.

You’re not paying for healthcare.

You’re paying for shareholders to have a good quarter.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

My cousin makes $130,000 in software.

Looks like he’s winning by every metric people use to judge success.

He told me last week he hasn’t taken a real vacation in 4 years.

Answers Slack messages at 11pm.

Has a knot in his stomach every Sunday at 6pm that doesn’t go away until Tuesday.

The salary went up.

The peace never did.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

They keep saying just move to a cheaper city.

Cheaper cities have fewer jobs.

Fewer jobs mean lower wages.

Lower wages cancel out the lower cost of living.

It’s not a loophole.

It’s the same math wearing a different zip code.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

A friend of mine left corporate at 34 to become an electrician.

Everyone thought he was throwing his career away.

Two years later he’s making $96,000.

No degree. No debt. No cubicle.

Meanwhile his old coworkers are still climbing a ladder that keeps getting shorter every round of layoffs.

We were sold one definition of success.

It was never the only one.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

Around here places like Target and Starbucks are hiring at $18 an hour.

Full time that’s $3,120 a month before taxes.

After taxes you’re taking home around $2,700.

Average one bedroom apartment near me is $1,750.

That’s already 65% of your paycheck gone before groceries, gas, insurance, or a single emergency.

And somehow this still gets called a budgeting problem.

Working full time should mean you’re stable.

Not one bad week away from a crisis.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

My car insurance went up 140% in one year.

From $1,400 to $3,360.

No accidents. No tickets. No claims.

My agent said it’s partly standard increases.

The rest is because my car model is a high theft target this year.

So I’m paying $2,000 more because other people’s cars keep getting stolen.

I didn’t do anything wrong.

I’m just financing a problem I had nothing to do with.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

My dad had a stroke last year.

Ambulance: $7,200.
ER visit: $51,000.
Insurance covered: $14,000.
He owed: $44,200.

He has insurance.

Has had it for 33 years. Never missed a payment.

He’s 70 years old negotiating a payment plan for surviving.

This isn’t a glitch.

This is how the American healthcare system works.

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

my boomer uncle bought a rental property in the early 90s for about $110,000.

today it’s worth close to $1.2 million.

the other day he told me my generation just doesn’t want to work hard anymore.

meanwhile i work 45+ hours a week.

still can’t afford a place of my own.
and yes… i’m renting a room in his house.

for $900 a month

[Jeremy @jeremyct]

You pay into Social Security your whole life.

Get $1,400 a month back if you’re lucky.

Your employer offers a 401k but only matches 3%.

You can’t afford to contribute more than that because rent is due.

So you match the 3%.

Watch inflation eat half of it.

Watch the market crash right before you retire.

Watch Congress debate cutting the Social Security you already paid into.

Watch the senator having that debate collect a full government pension for life after one term.

There was never a plan to take care of you.

There was only a plan that needed you to believe there was.