Did the Boomers Ruin it for Everyone?

Many young adults suggest that the American Dream is out of reach. Home prices have soared, interest rates are high, and the inflation of the past few years can make life seem unfair. Buying a home feels totally out of reach. It raises the question: did the Boomers ruin it for everyone else?

My grandparents married in 1933 when my grandmother was 22. They bought a home with my grandfather’s salary as a teacher. It had two bedrooms and one bath. There were always two cars in the garage, and they never complained about money. How did they do it?

To begin with, maybe they saw this chart from the WSJ. Maybe they knew that married people are 80% less likely to be poor. They acquire 10x the assets of single people at mid-life.

My grandparents lived a different life than we do today. Let’s start with coffee. My grandparents drank two kinds of coffee: free and black. I wrote about that here.

Back then, coffee wasn’t an artisanal experience. You made it at home for pennies a cup. It was, well, coffee. The greatest generation used their money for things like saving for college and paying to keep the lights on.

My grandmother never did brunch with bottomless champagne and avocado toast. She knew that every day doesn’t have to be a party in your mouth. Especially if you’re broke. She cooked eggs from the chickens in the backyard.

There was one television in the living room and no streaming networks. My grandfather cut his own grass with a rotary push mower. They drove high-mileage used cars that smelled of gasoline and cigarettes. If the car got dirty, there was a hose and a bucket in the garage. My grandparents were never “ridin’ dirty”.

Yes, my grandparents bought a home on one salary in the 1930’s. And it wasn’t fancy. It had two bedrooms and one bath. Even after having three daughters, they never moved up to the east side like The Jeffersons. My grandfather died in 1977 in that same house where they raised three daughters. I wrote about that here.

So, why does life feel so expensive to the younger generation today? Because they’re living like rap stars that just got a big recording contract.

My grandparents daughters didn’t have $1,100 iPhones. There was one telephone, and it hung on the wall in the kitchen. For privacy you stretched the cord to the pantry. They never took fancy vacations or went out for dinners they couldn’t afford. If they traveled, it was by car to see family and they all stayed in one motel room. Sandwiches were packed for the drive.

Nobody paid for a gym membership they didn’t use. Nobody had a weekly therapist or a meditation app. Nobody had a high-interest credit card. They simply lived within their means and paid cash for everything. They worked hard, they saved, they didn’t try to outdo the Joneses…or The Jeffersons. It was a simple formula. It still is

People live in full indulgence mode today, no matter their income. It’s like they were home schooled by day-drinkers. Buying $1,200 concert tickets with a meet & greet experiences backstage. Thinking that somehow a few moments of satisfaction will lead to happiness. It doesn’t. Meanwhile clinging to the myth that life is unfair as they sip a $22 specialty cocktail at a bar.

Yes, things are more expensive today and interest rates are nuts. But back in the 1970’s mortgage interest rates were 17% Soon enough today’s crazy interest rates will be back to 3-4% if we’re lucky. Those that lived within their means will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

If you stripped away all the extra spending today—the fancy coffee, the multiple subscriptions, the overpriced gadgets, the constant dining out—life would still be very expensive. But it might not seem so overwhelming. I get why people feel hopeless about the American Dream, but they share some of the blame. Saving all that discretionary income and investing in a simple S&P index fund will deliver 300%-400% the return of real estate.

My grandmother didn’t blow the family budget buying things she “deserved” from the Sears Roebuck catalog-the original Amazon. Why? Because the roof was leaking, the car needed tires, and the girls needed new shoes. Some would say they were poor by today’s standards. They were always one emergency away from being totally broke. But isn’t that the way most people live today?

So yes, Grandpa could buy a house on one salary. But he also didn’t buy $1,100 phones for his kids, pay for six streaming services, or drink $6 coffee every day. He had discipline. He had priorities. He had perspective. And they survived just fine.

Life isn’t unfair and the Boomers aren’t to blame. You aren’t the Kardashians. Make coffee at home, eat leftovers, drive a reasonable car, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll realize that life isn’t expensive—it’s just the choices we make that are.

I’d love to hear what you think of this article. Leave me a message by clicking the link below. I promise that you’ll hear back from me cause, you know, I’m a real person and all.

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