I am surrounded by boomers saying this that in their day interest rates were at 15% and we have it easy! I’m also surrounded by the younger generations saying this is ‘not the same thing’
Explain to me the reasoning…
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It’s going to be a lot more complicated than you’ll see on reddit.
Boomers had 25 yrs from 1975-2000 or so where 8-10% rates (or more) were normalized followed by 20 years where rates just kept going lower and lower (likely after they bought)….so a recent spike doesn’t resonate yet. A 7% interest rate just doesn’t ‘sound’ high compared to what they grew up with.
The high rates of the 70s and 80s were also often accompanied by high unemployment and economic uncertainty. The energy crises was severe, and while interest rates nudged 20% for just a short while, the uncertainty around that was wide reaching. They don’t understand your struggles, and you, likely, don’t understand theirs. Nobody likes hearing they ‘had it easy.’ especially by someone who isn’t going through, or didn’t go through the same things they did. Boomers don’t like it, and younger generations don’t like it either.
There was a tweet being reposted on reddit about how things are so much harder for generations today than they were in the 1930s recession – complete with calculations of home price to income ratios. Not true . And if anyone is saying you have it easy now with regard to housing that’s simply incredibly wrong too.
If you want to convince someone older, show them the math on current prices — payments/income needed etc — especially for a home they may be currently living in. You can leave out the bit on them having had it easy as that’s a challenge to the struggles they’ve gone though. They’ll see the math.
House prices are in the sillysphere in so many many places. Especially where people starting out want to live. I guess they’re much less inflated in places with economic uncertainty than that in places with higher paying, more secure jobs. They don’t seem to be adjusting to current interest rates. Either rates, or prices should adjust over time, I suppose. Though with real estate it seems to be anyones guess as to what will happen.
TLDR: They had struggles you may not recognize, and if they’re saying it’s easy now to buy a home they’re simply wrong. Just show them the current income/payments if they insists it’s easy today.
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