Comments on: One Reader’s Reasoning on Why Younger People Don’t Save

By: Karla (threadbndr)

Karla (threadbndr) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:37:19 +0000

I’m not unsympathetic with Paul and Lisa and the original poster. I also hit the job market in a time of high inflation and a rocky market (Late 1970s – gas was rationed, inflation approaching 12-14%, etc, etc.)

I think the way to survive these kinds of stages is to focus on the basics. Get your budget in place – have a positive cash flow, work on your career, save what you can. Yes, it’s scary, and I think part of your reaction is totally fear based – I know mine was at your age. You think it won’t ever get better, and honestly, nobody can tell you that.

The GOOD thing about coming of age in this kind of environment is when it cycles around again (and it will), you’ll know you can survive it. I was just discussing this the other day with my mom (who is a child of the 1930s one); we both know we can make it through this.

By: Lacey

Lacey — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:31:13 +0000

This was a great post! There is so much turbulence in the market today, and people need peace of mind more than ever. I wanted to offer your readers a link to another blogger who is doing great work. He writes about our ‘childhood money messages’ and how the best approach to stability in today’s market is to resist letting these emotions control our buying/selling habits. It is really fascinating work, and something you should all check out. His name is Spencer Sherman, and you can view his blog at http://www.curemoneymadness.com/blog.

By: Gracia

Gracia — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:10:26 +0000

After 2 months living together in our first apartment, my boyfriend and I (26yo and 24yo) just opened an ING account and sent that way two “payments” of 500€ (720$). The first couple of months have meant lots of spending, but now that we’re practically settled, we want to start as soon as we can so we can someday buy a house. We’ve decided to jumpstart our savings by doing a no-spend end of the year. You can check on our progress here:http://www.wetakeiteasy.com

By: John Hunter

John Hunter — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:35:28 +0000

I agree, my belief is that younger people not saving more is just a subset of all those that are not saving more (most of those in the USA). You can come up with reasons that are specific to those that are young. Young don’t for various reason, middle aged don’t for other and similar reasons…

Look at China (with much much less prosperous people) saving tons more. And the young are also saving.

By: Lise

Lise — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:41:27 +0000

Thanks for completely dismissing one reader’s very valid comments with mindless patriotism and trite adages. Obviously your experiences X years ago are completely analogous to their situation.

Fact: it is possible to be in a financial situation where you can’t save enough money to pay back loans, start a family, buy a house, AND save for retirement, as much as some PF bloggers like to stick their fingers in their ears and say “LA LA LA I’m not listening.”

The person who wrote that comment is a realist, not a pessimist. I don’t blame them one bit for thinking as they do.

I wish you the best and I hope that you were able to gain more readers from this post than the one you just lost.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:59:40 +0000

I’m just a tad younger than this guy and a lot of my friends say the same things. One of the largest problems is finding a career. My friends who went into computer science and engineering all found careers (that they complain about but shouldn’t) but my other friends have struggled on going into construction, continueing to wait tables, moving back in with their parents etc. The ones who didn’t fall into either category had connections through their parents.

Sometimes yes, they’re picky about their jobs. But there doesn’t seem to be the same oppurtunity out their for non technical people.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:39:19 +0000

I am also 27 right now. My thinking has always been that regardless of how bad the inflation is in the future, wouldn’t you still be better off to have something saved rather than nothing?

By: Andee Sellman, One Sherpa

Andee Sellman, One Sherpa — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:08:28 +0000

Hi JLP,
Great comments from someone with some common sense.
If more people started questioning rather than simply accepting the guru’s spin then we would have a better society.
I have always wondered why we focus on building a nest egg when what we really want is cash flow. If we focused on generating cash flow then we would be far better off. That is what we get when we go to work. At the end of the week we get cash flow not a promise of a nest egg in the future which can’t be spent.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:22:39 +0000

it’s easy to come up with every reason not to save. i thought that way until i turned 30 and saw that no one else was going to take care of me, except me.

By: G.L.

G.L. — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:20:54 +0000

@Jeremy Bettis:

There’s a gaping hole in your logic: our economy isn’t static – the inflation grows along with the market. I think the annualized inflation growth over the past 10 years was 2.8%, which means it would cost $1.30 now to buy $1 worth of goods in 1998.

30%>16%. Case closed.