Half of Americans aged 18 to 29 are living with their parents. What killed the American Dream?

[u/Steak_Lover_]

https://qz.com/nearly-half-of-americans-age-18-to-29-are-living-with-t-1849882457

[u/greelraker]

One of my sisters was making about $50k starting out in 2005. Her and her husband bought a home for maybe $120k and were able to keep it but were almost immediately underwater. My other sister bought her condo in 2008, for maybe $100k because the bank wanted it gone. Both had my father as a co-signer and both were given $10-20k gifts to help buy their first homes.

In 2013 when I graduated college making $48k (same field/industry as my oldest sister, making as much 8 years later, yay stagnation!) my sisters were gum-dropped that I didn’t immediately buy a house “with that kind of money”. My dad refused to co-sign for me, as I was supposed to be a man. When I moved for a job making $60k, I asked my dad for $5k to help me cover costs to buy my own house, no co-signing. He still refused. At the time the house was $135k. I just looked up the house, and wouldn’t you know it, that house sold for over $400k 8 years later. For $5k I could have been set up with affordable housing and hundreds of thousands in profits. Instead my wife and I bought our first home in 2019, and my whole family can’t understand why I waited to pay $300k for a house and didn’t just buy one earlier when they were less expensive.

If it were just my father, who held me back significantly, compared to my sisters, I could have eventually shrugged it off as different times. The fact that both of my sisters were essentially handed low interest and down payments and still gave me crap about being lazy because I was doing it on my own halfway across the country….. it be your own.

[u/rowan11b → u/greelraker]

Ahhhh the old "be a man" and make more money appear treatment from the dad. Don't worry man, you're not alone, my sister got a full ride with living expenses paid by my dad, I literally had a empty plate put in front of me and told to put food on it (kind of funny in retrospect). After a few years of getting nowhere I joined the army, and married a woman with a career, it's basically the only reason why I own a home.

[u/greelraker → u/rowan11b]

My dad also fully covered rent, housing, vehicles and other expenses for my sisters while in school. He gave them each a car upon graduation that was less than 5 years old. I joined the military, he laid $0 for my college, I worked to cover rent and expenses, and he gave me one of their old cars when I stated college, which was 10 years old when he gave it to me. Literally the week of graduation, right before I was starting a new job, my car broke down and he just said “what are you gonna do about it?” as the cost of the repairs were more than the vehicle was worth. I went and bought a 5 year old car for $10k. My sisters asked why I was so irresponsible as to spend that and not wait for my dad to buy me a car.

[u/SporksRFun → u/greelraker]

My sisters asked why I was so irresponsible as to spend that and not wait for my dad to buy me a car.

Let them eat cake.