Quote:
Originally Posted by The Yen Man
My dad replaced his TV after 20 years of use. His landline phone right now that he uses is the same one he bought back int 1980. Nowadays, people replace TVs every 4-5 years, and cell phones every 2 years (or 1 if you're an Apple fan).
Houses are more expensive these days (offset by low interest rates), but almost everything else isn't. My dad bought a Super VHS player back in 1985 for over a grand. He told me blank beta tapes back in the day were 20 dollars a tape. That's just crazy expensive for the time. Electronics, which were a luxury item, are now almost treated like a staple. Look at how many gadgets kids have in school these days.
So I will say IMO, there is no way we have it harder these days than our parents did.
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People are overlooking just how important the house is. In North America, that is the principle way that most people build wealth. If you're stuck renting longer and longer, it's going to take much longer to be able to build any kind of wealth.
Sure the modern world provides more opporunity to get drunk with your buddies, especially as people are having kids later and later. That's not really what we're talking about though. We're talking about the ability to graduate from school, get a job, and build equity.