this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2024
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No Stupid Questions

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I live in the USA, and our future seems more bleak than it ever has. Is not about politics, although politicians do have an impact on it. It's really about our quality of life, and cost of living, which has not changed for the better, it seems, in a really long time. The cost of living keeps going up higher and higher, and much of our country still believes that even with increased cost of living, there is never any reason whatsoever to pay people more. So for instance, a job that paid 10 bucks an hour in the year 2002, that same job might still pay $10 an hour now. But I think we all know that the cost of living has dramatically gone up from 2002 to now.

Even White collar jobs though seem to be threatened to now, which is not something I've ever seen before. Positions like analyst, engineer, business intelligence, revenue management, whatever you want to think of. Any corporate office job, people are suffering. The cost of living is absurd, buying a house is simply out of reach unless you have dual income and it better be nearly six figure dual income....

I just don't see how Americans at large are going to survive the next 30 years?

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I’m leaving. I’m tired of fighting.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Serious question, but where do you plan to go and how? I see so many people posting about leaving, but unless you're in a fairly high-demand career field, planning on marrying a local, or are already wealthy to the point that you likely won't be affected by whatever is coming down the line, you're going to have a bad time. Most countries aren't swinging the gates open for people that won't be a net positive on their system. And the ones that do probably aren't ones you want to go to.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I moved to Japan which has its good and bad points (like anywhere). If I had it to do over, I'd probably pick Norway or Finland instead, but I plan on spending the rest of my life here barring some earth-shattering change.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Well, weak yen looks pretty bad for future prospects.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 19 hours ago

I'm working to get an income stream in another currency as well because of that. It hurts for anything imported for sure, especially given a lot of fuel is imported, but it's still workable for now. If/when they get around to turning on some of the nuclear plants again or getting them replaced with renewables, energy costs and fuel imports should at least drop again.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

It’ll take awhile, but the crux of it hinges on the inheritance I stand to receive next year. I know for a fact that I’ll be more than enough to do what we want to do.

Second, I’ve been planning on going back to school anyways for computer engineering, so what’s wrong with studying abroad? I’ve also been in and around IT and tech all my life, and I’m pretty decent with a soldering iron. I currently work as a board rework tech.

My wife is a pharmacy tech that’s been doing it for close to 20 years in a variety of environments. Depending on where we go, her field is one of those that are in demand. Specifically, we know she can get a Canadian work visa pretty easily. We have family in Vancouver so it works out.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I assume you've looked into visa requirements and whether you and your wife will be able to work. Canada is a bit cold for my taste, but if that's what you have your sights on, I hope you can make it work. Best of luck to you.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (7 children)

To be fair the USA seems to have the brightest future compared to basically any other country because you guys don't have this imminent demographic collapse like most other developed countries like Japan, Korea, China, Germany, Italy, etc. And because of your geography and size you are would only be mildly affected by a WW3.

Perhaps it helps to look at other parts of the world and see how comperativelly well you guys have it.

I guess the biggest challenge is to minimize the huge divide between the rich and the poor. Sadly you missed the opportunity to choose Berny Sanders as your leader a couple of times, that would have helped a lot.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 12 hours ago

and it'd* better be a* nearly six-figure dual income

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You really believe we're all going to die in the next 30years?
Or are you being hyperbolic?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

I'm 72. Pretty likely I'll be gone by then.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 23 hours ago

I'm 53. Can't we not talk about the next 30-years?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 22 hours ago

Heading upwards or downwards?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I can't speak for everyone, but if I'm not dead in the next 30 years I'm going to be extremely disappointed.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

@Emperor Ok, I will remind you on Saturday Nov 21, 2054 at 4:47 PM PST.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 17 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 23 hours ago

If I'm not dead in 30 years I'll absolutely make sure I'm dead! I just need to wait out my older family members and then I can finally just stop.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 22 hours ago (4 children)

I know this wasn't your point, but I've been confused on a particular point for awhile:

buying a house is simply out of reach unless you have dual income and it better be nearly six figure dual income....

Just the general idea of it being impossible to afford to buy a house. And don't get me wrong, the prices on houses have gotten ridiculous! At the same time, we talk about landlords buying houses and charging exorbitant rent (suggesting at the very least more than what they pay).

So if rent is more than the mortgage, insurance, etc, then how is it impossible to buy a house if it is possible to rent (an equivalent home)? Is it the down payment (if any)? Costs involved in purchasing? Because it seems like month to month it would be cheaper.

I say this as someone who has rented and owned, and owning felt significantly cheaper.

(Full disclosure, I'm in the military, so I had access to a VA loan... though not really sure what that did for me except maybe allow 0% down... if other people are absolutely required to put up a percentage then I can definitely understand it).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

I didn't downvote you.

Many homes are being sold very fast, and very competitively. You need to be pre-approved AND have a down payment before the target house is even listed. If you don't put enough down, you have mortgage insurance which makes the monthly payment go up quite a bit.

Some very competitive places homes are being bought for cash, then often remortgaged to free up the cash you put in, but, you have to have it in the first place.

many buyers are telling their broker/agent "If a house comes up in xyz neighborhood, and it has these basic criteria, get my bid in sight unseen". It's going that fast. Your normal work a day, save your pennies home buyer doesn't stand a chance.

This doesn't even touch on investment firms doing this at an enterprise scale.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Mortgage interest rates are very high at the moment, and many people "feel" like that's never going to change, but it very likely will, significantly increasing what they'll be able to afford. Home prices in my city have been falling for a couple years since they went out of control bonkers during the pandemic, and I don't think they've hit bottom yet.

Point is, these things are typically cyclical and temporary

[–] tomcatt360 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I have the same question. It seems like a doable goal for me, and I only have an Associates Degree. Are people just bad at saving and paying their bills on time?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

My question was less about how doable it is, and more... if you can't afford to buy a house, how can you afford to pay rent (and thus someone else's mortgage plus a little extra)?

The last place I lived, I could afford my mortgage but I wouldn't have been able to afford to rent an equivalent house. Hence my confusion.

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