My fellow millennial friends and family, I know it’s tough out there, especially if you’re trying to live in the Bay Area or another expensive area. According to a new study by RentCafe, a nationwide listing service for rentals, by the time we millennials turn 30, we will have paid $92,600 in rent. That’s insane! That is a whole lot more than previous generations.
We have been hit the hardest and it doesn’t look like its slowing down. When our parents were our age, it was a lot easier to go find a decent job that pays enough to buy a house. Now, although we earn more compared with previous generations, we also have to spend 45% of our income on rent. That makes it a lot harder to save for a down payment, go to Coachella, buy shoes, clothes, nice dinners, vacations, and having guac toast for breakfast daily.
To make matters worse, a lot of you have student debt. Student debt has doubled since 2009 to more than $1.4 trillion on the decline in homeownership among Americans ages 28 to 30. So not only do you have 45% of your income going to rent alone, you have BILLS!!! This can be a huge reason why millennials aren’t able to buy homes.
There are younger millennials and older ones, and apparently, the younger ones pay more rent. Younger millennial now aged between 22-29 have had to pay a larger amount of money on rent than older millennials now aged 30-40. Younger millennials are paying a median rent of $97,400 before turning 30, while older millennials paid about $90,500, almost $7,000 less. So not fair, but hey life isn’t.
SOLUTION???
Well, lets just get out of the way that a huge number of people are rolling their eyes at us. I don’t want to single anyone out but a lot of you millennials are too entitled. We don’t need things to be easy and given to us on a silver platter, just somewhat of a fair shot at doing the simple things in life. Given the chance to achieve the American dream of owning a home for those who want it. A chance to save money to invest in our own business, a chance to travel and give our future kids a good life and college education. How can we do that, when at 30 years old, some of us still have to live with our parents.
Work hard is always a must, don’t give up and push forward. Look into laws and how we can incorporate a change in how far rent can skyrocket because a higher minimum wage isn’t the solution. If employers have to pay you more, they may have to cut your hours down or take you from full time to part time to avoid paying benefits. Or worse case scenario, they go under because they can’t afford it. Then a little something called inflation happens and prices on everything goes up as well, so how does that help you? You’re back to paying a lot of money for things and keeping yourself from saving.
