• pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I keep on having this debate with my dad. He’s 73 and I’m 37. One night he was like “people from your generation want to buy a ‘starter home’ and a vacation home, and then a few years later buy a bigger home!” and I was like “no one in my generation is even thinking about buying a vacation home when they can barely make a livable wage in a lot of fields.” Teachers make about $25/hour (about 35-40k/year) and they deal with tons of shit from the faculty, state, and students themselves. I was making $112k/year working in IT and could barely afford to live by myself in or close to Manhattan.

    Edit: just for context, my rent was $2500/month for a 500 sq ft 1 bedroom apartment about 30-45 minutes from Manhattan. The sales tax rate in NYC is 10%. A burger and a beer can easily cost you $20.

    • TheGoldenGod@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      The (boomer) generation holds bizarrely strong biases, it could be they subconsciously they do it to avoid admitting they’ve screwed their kids with their political votes, or more likely they simply only care about getting their own and aren’t thinking far enough ahead to realize their being snookered and driving the bus off a cliff.

    • dunestorm@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      $112k/yr is a crazy amount of money; I also work in IT in a pretty high up position, I wish I even made half that…

      • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I worked for Disney+ (got laid off about a month ago) as a Linux Systems Engineer, so it’s not like I worked for a small company doing Windows desktop support (I was making 50k/year doing that in NYC, $30k/year doing the same thing about 3 hours south in NJ). It is a significant amount of money, but the taxes screwed me, I’d only see about 85k of it, couple that with 10% tax on everything and the increased prices of living in the most expensive city in the US and it’s not as much as you think it is. About 60% of my monthly income went to rent and bills.

          • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, big companies are good but also kinda suck because they lay you off at the drop of a hat as soon as they don’t make as much as they expect.

    • TheGoldenGod@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      They have to keep profits up and shareholders happy, so they have to see how much more blood they can get from us turnips.

      • scrapeus@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        Compared to North America, including Canada it’s s whole lot better. Even the expensive city’s are more “affordable” than anything I’ve ever seen from the posts about new York.

        But never the less it is still expensive.

        • TheGoldenGod@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 year ago

          In Ventura, near Los Angeles, a house that was $600k is currently $1.2m. The whole housing market’s near bursting soon.

          • scrapeus@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            Love the fact that 100km is “near”. You would be nearly in an other country in Europe.

            But that’s just insane for a 110k city. I mean I get it, it’s Cali and has a coast. But 1.2m for a normal home is just borderline undoable.

            Are prices in small towns also exploding?

            • TheGoldenGod@lemmy.worldOP
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              1 year ago

              Yeah, unfortunately most the western US was built on the asinine belief everyone should/does have a car and everyone convinced themselves they enjoyed the idea. But with gas at the price it’s at, along with regularly congested freeways, only now is it being noticed we should’ve planned ahead. To make it worse, there’s so much red tape when dealing with politicians that a projects budget can easily cost 3 times more and take 4 times longer and risk not even getting completed. There’s space and money here, but it’s basically being managed by red assed baboons looking for campaign donations or how their donors can buy up homes and turn them into a block of AirBNB’s lol.

              But enough of my ranting, I agree it’s not sustainable and that’s why you’ll see people living in motor homes at night. I know a friends house in LA County has gone from 270k before and is now 500k. No one can afford to purchase, anyone who does is looking at the collapse we saw around 2009, but now it’s houses and car loans. 🙄 It’s like watching people dry hump door knobs lol.

              /sleepy rant

        • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I just moved out of NYC after 5 years because it was just getting even more expensive than it was pre-pandemic. I was paying $2500/month for a 500 sq ft, 1 BR with a dishwasher and 2 passthrough (in wall) AC units with paid laundry in the basement, and that was pretty cheap. This was in a small residential neighborhood in Brooklyn, about 11 miles (45 minutes) from Midtown Manhattan. There was nothing around me, you had to drive, walk 20-25 minutes or take the subway to pretty much everything.

    • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      FYI this post is mostly BS.

      70 percent of people in the EU own homes. In the US it’s 65 percent.

      While it is lower among millennials, especially compared to Boomers at their age, the majority of them still own homes. While I don’t have stats on Gen Z, the oldest among them is 25.

      Almost all dental issues can be avoided with preventative measures. Virtually every single white collar job offers dental. Some blue collar jobs do. If your job does not offer dental, it’s available on the ACA exchange for like $20/month.

      Again, despite what reddit would have you believe about us all being paid poverty wages, the vast majority of Americans can afford dental.

      Finally, I don’t understand why reddit sees the fact that Boomers got married and had kids at like 21 on the late end a good thing. Basically everyone acknowledges marrying young is absolutely idiotic most of the time. Even more people acknowledge that having kids is a dumb idea. Boomers were forced into that. There’s a huge reason a ton of Boomer Humor is about hating your spouse.

      Also at this point someone with Boomer parents is in their thirties or forties. Someone with Boomer parents who came of age when the economy was amazing and houses were dirt cheap is 50+. If you can’t afford dental at that age, you’ve fucked up big-time somewhere along the way.

      • chakan2@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You know dental has limits right? You’ll typically run up or blow by them after your first filling.

        • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yes. However, the vast majority of dental issues can be solved by regular dentist appointments.

          In addition, I’m pretty sure people are straight up making up stuff. Spending $700 before you break even on dental insurance is straight up fiction.

          I openly question how many people in their 30s (or late 20s) are in this thread. A lot of this narrative simply isn’t true for most people that age.

          Also OPs parents were boomers who had children in their 30s they were most likely more affluent than average boomers

          • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            In addition, I’m pretty sure people are straight up making up stuff. Spending $700 before you break even on dental insurance is straight up fiction.

            My last two companies, the dental plan was $50/mo (or a total of $600/yr). Other than having only a $25 copay for cleaning, it was between 10% and 20% coinsure with a $1000 limit.

            That means optimistically, I needed to spend about $2500 to break even on the most optimistic coinsure, and my benefits disappeared after I spent $5000 (and only would cost the insurance company $400 if I spent every penny).

            I literally mathed it out in a year I needed 2 root canals and it would have been cheaper to NOT have the plan. And that was before I discovered the fact my office had special “uninsured assistance” that wasn’t driven by income.

            Many Dental plans are an absolute scam. Part of the problem on them is that most people in some areas ONLY get dental insurance if they know they’re going to need it. Makes it hard to have a price that works. It’s part of why I have always supported government-paid insurance for medical and dental issues.

            • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Okay so if you’re actually not lying, then opt out of your insurance plan and buy a delta dental plan via their exchange or the website. It’s quite literally half the cost and comes with free preventative services.

              • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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                1 year ago

                I kinda thought I’d stop hearing the constant bad-faith accusations when I left reddit. I suppose not.

                Just went to the Delta site and checked my state. The ONLY plan in my state they have that covers non-trivial work is $60/mo with a maximum coverage of $1000. The 80% (I know Delta employees… no dentist I would use is in their network) coverage after copay is nice, but you’re still paying $700+ out of pocket for a potential $1000 total coverage. And unless you think I’m lying about the “Uninsured discount”, it means if my dentist gives me a $300 discount on work for being uninsured (they do), I still end up ahead.

                So thank you for implying I’m lying and then giving me the directions to prove my point.

      • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Almost all dental issues can be avoided with preventative measures. Virtually every single white collar job offers dental. Some blue collar jobs do. If your job does not offer dental, it’s available on the ACA exchange for like $20/month.

        The problem is is that insurance is a scam, you pay out the ass monthly for something you may need to use at some point in the future, and even then they’re like “we may cover the cost of this later on, but first you have to pay $500 (the deductible) until it comes to the point…”

        • dditty@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Exactly! I take fastidious care of my teeth - I’ve only ever had 1 cavity 10 years ago - but recently I broke the filling and the dentist said it has to be a crown. I have dental insurance that covers two cleanings per year and just like u said, I still had to pay $500 for the crown. That was a big setback.

        • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You know I’m starting to realize why so many people in this thread have dental issues.

          Go to the dentist, even if your teeth are currently fine.

          • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, just to sit there in the waiting room for 2 hours, have them brush your teeth for you, and be like “yeah, everything looks good. come back in six months!”. I can brush my own teeth, thanks.

            • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              “Everything looks good, come back in 6 months.”

              (6 months later)

              “Looks like you need 2 root canals and a crown.”

              The point of insurance is supposed to be cover surprises because everyone eventually has a few. Typical dental coverage nowadays isn’t really insurance at all, it’s a payment plan. I literally opted out of insurance in a year where I expected I needed dental work and it saved me money.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        How good is this $20 dental insurance? I work for a place with decent benefits and with coinsurance, co-pays and the cost we would have to have $700 worth of dental work a year just to break even. $1,000 worth of work would save us $180 vs out of pocket… and it’s capped at $1k.

        • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Dental insurance usually comes with 2 teeth cleanings a year, and one set of xrays. These are 100 percent covered.

          This layout is the more or less standard delta dental PPO. It’s used by the vast majority of employers across the country.

          Employers also get group discounts, so it’s usually something like $10. The total cost is $120 a year if you don’t need dental work.

          You have one of the worst dental plans possible.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        A majority definitely don’t. The stats I’m seeing put it at around 45% for millennials, and under 35 it’s just under 40%

        • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Okay, the fact that Lemmy (which owes it’s popularity to the fact that reddit killed third party apps) thinks this is ridiculous.

          I can’t wait for Lemmy apps to come out that let me ban keywords. I swear you people invent scenarios to rage over.

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Thanks for the citation - 52% is just barely a majority, but technically correct!

            So uh, the rest of the article vibes pretty strongly with the OP. Millennials are worse off than their parents

            • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              The meme said that their parents in their thirties were buying homes, and they can’t even afford dental.

              The majority of millennials have bought homes.

              More importantly, the overwhelming people in the US can afford dental.

              You guys make up scenarios to push BS narratives. Then spam the word “capitalism” ignoring the fact that the majority of the world runs under capitalism.

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                1 year ago

                If OP can’t afford a house or dental then the meme is accurate to them and millions like them. Dental insurance isn’t guaranteed, after all. Capitalism requires winners and losers, and losers don’t get houses or dental insurance.

                Like, my dude, there are Americans that can’t afford to take $20 off every paycheck (and that shit only covers cleanings, hope you don’t get a chipped tooth!)

                • eratosthenes@lemmy.one
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                  1 year ago

                  Seriously, it’s just a big strawman argument. The idea that a certain percentage of people own homes says nothing about the affordability of said homes. The percentage of millenials that own homes are consistently using drastically higher percentages of their income than previous generations. And the Healthcare crisis in the US speaks for itself. People arguing against this just want to dance around the topic and not actually argue the real point.

                • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Okay, first you need a civics lessons. Capitalism isn’t a governmental system, it’s an economic system.

                  This economic system is widely used across the world. This includes most of Europe. Acting like this is just an invitable part of capitalism ignores the fact that the government can pass laws to create a social safety net.

                  They did. People living at or slightly above the poverty line have dental coverage through Medicaid. People with income above that threshold and no not have dental offered by their job have access to subsidies through the ACA.

                  Are there people who can’t afford dental? Sure. America is a massive country. However acting like it’s in any way common is insane.

  • FuckFashMods@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Your parents almost certainly voted to restrict the supply of housing so they could artificially inflate their houses value and retire off of their house.

    The causes of the housing shortage are known. We can change it.

    • Maya@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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      1 year ago

      It a little hard to blame them since they were sold the end of pensions and rise of the 401k. Which the bottom 60% of the country has close to zero of and then they can’t make a living wage because the shareholders demand a greater return every year.

    • deegeese@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      Son, one of these days, this will all be yours!

      < gestures at crumbling 1985 tract home in car-dependent community >

        • nik282000@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          You were lucky. We lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the paper bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down t’ mill, fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep wi’ his belt.

  • PeterPoopshit@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    What at-home stuff can you do to maintain your teeth? Brushing and flossing twice a day just doesn’t cut it. Brown stuff still eventually builds up around the edges and right above the gum line (although it does take quite a few years). Being obsessive about dental hygiene only delays the buildup and is not sustainable on its own. I may be able to afford dentist appointments now but by the way society is headed, that may not be the case 10 years from now or even next month.

    • TheGoldenGod@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      I’m so sorry to hear what you’re dealing with. I think the most important thing we can try to take from the pains, is to try treating others better than we were treated, despite how difficult it might be.

        • TheGoldenGod@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 year ago

          Oh, that’s not what I meant. I was just trying to say us being positive can hopefully help others do the same.

          • explodicle@local106.com
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            1 year ago

            Not to disagree with your general philosophy, but in this particular case amaze’s parents are already being positive because they don’t accept blame and want more contact. They won’t start treating their child better after all these years; amaze would just stress themselves out. There’s got to be some limit to how much abuse they should be expected to endure.

  • architect_of_sanity@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    My grandparents ordered their house from Sears and grandpa and my great uncles built it over a summer weekend.

    Damn thing still standing and is now I think on a historical register.

    But today… we can do the same thing. You want a single or double wide?

    • Lexam@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Ooh until you check the prices of a manufactured home (trailer / caravan) and find out how unaffordable they are. Bonus you can’t get a traditional mortgage for one.

  • beanland@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    I had to get a root canal the other day. The dentist had to wait to see if my insurance would cover it because I had recently had a different root canal and “they sometimes don’t pay for more than one.”

  • rafa@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m actually surprised this memes instance is actually funny. Yeah i come from red**t