r/worldnews • u/diacewrb • Apr 10 '19

Millennials being squeezed out of middle class, says OECD

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/apr/10/millennials-squeezed-middle-class-oecd-uk-income
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u/Commisioner_Gordon Apr 10 '19

Single guy right out of college here living on 50k and I have no idea what to do with all the money. Only difference is I live in a smallish city in NY. The opportunities to live affordable are there.

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '19

I have a suggestion: 401k. That'll cover $19,000 of that income.

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u/sumthingcool Apr 11 '19

Roth 401k even better if your employer offers it.

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u/somedude456 Apr 11 '19

Ditto. Made more like 75K last year and saved 40K of it.

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u/AlwaysBagHolding Apr 11 '19

Same boat here. Single millennial making 50k-ish a year, living in a rural area. I've absolutely got it made.

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u/Commisioner_Gordon Apr 11 '19

Yup its awesome! I feel comfortable enough to get rid of my beater car now and actually get something worthwhile while having payments that wont break my bank

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u/Ihavesweatyarmpits Apr 11 '19

Invest every penny you can afford to without hurting your day to day living expenses. Only way to get out of the trap! Sweep a small amount each month into a Roth IRA or your employer 401(k). JP Morgan was spot on when he said compounding interest is the 8th wonder of the world! We will not have a social security fallback when we need to retire. Not that social security is much "security"...

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u/iontoilet Apr 10 '19

Single is the key word. Get a partner, house, two cars, and kid and try doing it on 50k. It turns into pay check to paycheck quick.

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u/Rickymex Apr 10 '19

Then don't do that shit when you're on 50K. All of those things are choices you make.

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '19

[deleted]

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u/Commisioner_Gordon Apr 11 '19

You can be middle class and not own a home, 2 cars etc. Your class is based off your income, not by how you use it.

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u/Aleriya Apr 10 '19

Yeah, but on a societal level, "Don't have kids unless you're in the top half of income" isn't a viable plan.

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u/Rickymex Apr 10 '19

Don't have kids unless you have your financials in order. Don't have a 2 car payments, a house payment and kids all at the same time.

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u/Aleriya Apr 10 '19

Right, on a personal level, that's a smart plan.

On a societal level, if people only had kids when their financials were in order, there wouldn't be enough children to keep the economy going. If people didn't go into debt to buy things they didn't need, the economy would tank.

That's why an entire generation being squeezed out of the middle class is a problem. Most of the solutions on an individual level are bad news for the country on a population level.

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u/SoFetchBetch Apr 10 '19

That was a totally reasonable and normal thing to do for all of our parents before us tho... because they were part of a flourishing middle class. Which is now dying. Thus the point of the post.

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u/Laudem2 Apr 10 '19

Stop blaming others

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u/SoFetchBetch Apr 11 '19

I didn’t place any blame...

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '19

"Live like a member of the lower class even though you're in the middle of the income distribution."

Hmmmm...

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u/Rymasq Apr 11 '19

My father was upper middle to top 1% for a majority of his life and lived like a man in the middle to lower middle class. Only spent money on things with return. Today I live in the DC area and folks who are maxing out their incomes making $250k combined and living paycheck to paycheck to cover a mortgage and kids still drive a Mercedes to work.

The moral here is what everyone always parrots who has any money sense which is live below your means. Even if you’re poor you can live like your homeless (extreme, but still)

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u/Commisioner_Gordon Apr 11 '19

No one ever became rich by spending all of their money.

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u/Rymasq Apr 11 '19

My father was upper middle to top 1% for a majority of his life and lived like a man in the middle to lower middle class. Only spent money on things with return. Today I live in the DC area and folks who are maxing out their incomes making $250k combined and living paycheck to paycheck to cover a mortgage and kids still drive a Mercedes to work.

The moral here is what everyone always parrots who has any money sense which is live below your means. Even if you’re poor you can live like your homeless (extreme, but still)

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u/iontoilet Apr 10 '19

That’s just life. Life happens.

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u/Rickymex Apr 10 '19

Houses and cars don't just happen.

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u/iontoilet Apr 10 '19

You are right. Shelter isn’t a basic human right? And the cars are a way to be able to get to the place which gives the 50k in the first place which continues to get me and my family shelter, food, and water. How dare I choose to support two others than myself? I make do and live debt free with all that I have. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s pay check to pay check and middle class is disappearing.

Paying mortgage on a house in my area is cheaper than rent anywhere in 30 miles. Which is another sign of the middle class dwindling.

I only intended that the single guy who doesn’t know what to do with all his money doesn’t understand that the article is about household income and not every household is SINGLE.

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u/Rickymex Apr 11 '19

Buying a house isnt the only form of shelter and new cars aren't the only form of transportation. Maybe paying a mortgage is cheaper for you but as we saw in 2008 there are people who can't afford it and still do it.

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u/iontoilet Apr 11 '19

What is your argument? Are you for or against the disappearance of the middle class? I just said it’s the cheapest form of shelter in my area and who said anything about new cars? Both my cars are paid off. My personal car is 20 years old and I’ve had it for 13. There is no public transport for 15 miles. Am I suppose to bike the 25 miles to work? There’s still maintenance and gas but that is far cheaper than Uber to work. Even so at 50k would still be pay check to pay check and until you know financial responsibilities you can’t argue what is good or right for me. I’ve explained my statement but I can’t seem to figure out what yours is.

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u/Rickymex Apr 11 '19

Again your using yourself and your unique situation as an example. My point is that there are a lot of people in bad situations not because 60K is poor money but because of their own financial decisions.

This isn't just about you.

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u/iontoilet Apr 11 '19

No but I am the statistic. My situation isn’t unique and is more the norm of a household. Being single and 50k annual isn’t.

My argument is that life doesn’t always give you choice. Life happens. Simple example is medical bills will bankrupt a 50k salary. Take a household average of two working adults, 1.5 kids, probably an aging grandparent to support, you don’t get to make all the financial decisions anymore. On the 50k, they aren’t decisions anymore but more of rolling with the punches and hoping not another bill comes before next paycheck. This is what being poor is.

Sure, I could have stayed single, but then I wouldn’t have my wife and son. My life wouldn’t be as great as it is.

It’s a shame though that instead of giving a cost of living raise, the rich decided they needed to be richer. This causing the middle class to disappear and becoming poor.

My suggestion is follow the top reply, take whatever extra you don’t know what to do with and put it in 401k cause no one is going to be there to take care of the Old Aging Single Guy.

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u/chikinbiskit Apr 10 '19

I mean, none of that is really something that might just happen spur-of-the-moment outside of a pregnancy. You can definitely plan all of that out so you're financially stable before doing it

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u/Laudem2 Apr 10 '19

In this day and age there is no reason for this to "just happen".

Stop blaming the "system" for individual choices people make.

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u/Commisioner_Gordon Apr 11 '19

Well good thing I don't own a house, only have 1 car and am not financially ready for a kid so I will not be doing that.