And the standard of living has far exceeded the increase in minimum wage as well. Do you have a point to your post?
holy fuck, $9/$11 an hour? I made more than that when i was in college, and that was in the late 90s. :MARIS61: I make a lot, but I also spend alot. :MARIS61:
I don;t think that's the point. The point is that a person can, with difficulty, but can live off minimum wage. That's what matters.
school is a joke, just have your kids start working in the mines when they are 8 years old, welcome to america
$200K is a bit extreme, but I can imagine in some cities, you'd need some serious skrill to raise kids. Of course, I don't intend to fully save every penny for my children's college education. If I planned to pay their entire way through college, shit would be tight (in a bad way). I'll support some of that, but they have to help contribute and/or earn scholarships, or enjoy a nice community college education (at least for a couple of years). My parents helped me some with college, but that was with the caveat that I had to get solid grades, and then what they didn't pay, I had to take out loans/financial aid (which I'm paying now, though my parents pay part that even today, because we agreed if I graduated with a specific GPA, they'd help out). My biggest contribution (I can only hope) is that I met with a financial planner and set up some various accounts that will be of significant help to them in the future. Smartest thing I have ever done, I think. Sure, less money in my pocket today. But I have everything I really need (and I still have money to blow on frivilous stuff), and having less in my pocket now..... I will have to offer less support in the future because both of my children will have the accounts I set up for them.
well, in LA a reasonable house in a safe neighborhood is over a million dollars. in Portland, yeah, you don't need that much you can get a nice house for $200k but not here. and unless you live in like a handful of school districts, you HAVE to send your kids to private school. the public schools here are horrendous.
And the GDP per capita has grown as well. Are we just stating facts now? Are you ever a polite individual?
This probably isn't what you want to hear, but if the loans have been racked up on private schools, why is it that something needs to change? Especially at the political level? Having your kids attend a private school is a choice you and your family made. And now that the bills are real is when it hits home that private college is extremely expensive? You live in Portland. What's wrong with attending OSU or UofO to get in-state tuition and applying for the many, many scholarships that go unused?
It came across that you were implying that minimum wage workers are worse off now than they used to be due to inflation outpacing minimum wage. I apologize if that isn't what you were implying.
Well, that isn't true. I live in perhaps the most expensive area in the country. While it is expensive, you don't HAVE to make $200k to raise a kid in the area.
Why is college so expensive now? That's not a loaded question. I just don't see how it could cost so much. Now, with less loaded perspective: It seems that the influx of cheap money into the system has driven up the price of post-secondary schooling. If the focus remains on "affordable education" and the solution continues to be to easier access to student loans... it seems like it's a bad bet for individuals (who get burdened with debt) and for society (which needs to pay for the inevitable defaults). I was six figures in the hole at one point, between undergrad, law and business schools... and I'm still chipping away after being out of undergrad for almost twenty years. I've made the choice not to have kids and I sold my house before the bottom dropped out. I have an established career, at least, so I have hope that it'll be done soon. The kind of debts that some kids nowadays exit undergrad with... *shiver* Ed O.
I get what you're saying and I don't disagree. My point was that ALL tuition is going up at rates that just don't make sense.
That's a slight exaggeration on the $1 million. Maybe during the boom. But I have several family members who live in nice (nothing fancy schmancy, but still quite lovely) homes in safe neighborhoods in LA. Of course, a lot of what I've seen in LA..... you can have a great 5-6 block radius.... And then a very scary one butting up against it..... and then another great 5-6 block radius... and then another shit hole. I'm sure the shit spills into the nicer blocks at times. As for the schools.... yes, LA public schools are quite shitty. Sadly, a lot of Oregon schools are going downhill - that's why I have chosen to live in a quiet suburb with one of the best public school districts in OR.
Don't forget PSU! Not that you were dissing PSU by omitting from your list, but PSU has some very well-known and respected programs and is conveniently located within the metro area (so one could commute, whether living with parents or renting a place in the burbs). I chose PSU because there were more reasonable jobs and other opportunities than the other in-state schools offered, and I would have spent my entire days partying away in those tiny towns (as it was, I only spent 90% of my time partying). They've done a lot to draw more of the "typical" college crowd in recent years, so depending on what one studies, he or she should definitely consider a place like PSU. Granted, I've been out of school for 7 years now, but I left with a positive college experience, a good degree, a good job, and most importantly, not a ton of debt.
It does seem as though even in-state tuition is rising at too high of a rate. I agree with Ed O, that it is likely due to the amount of free money flowing into the system due to the loan system.
How much is a "decent" house in your area. $700-900k? You should probably be making around $200k to buy a house at that level. Then to provide for a wife and two kids and savings?
bulletin: the good houses didn't get affected that much by the real estate bust. There is no boom in desirable areas that can't be built out. In Orange County, sure...but in LA, if you want to live on the westside, its 500-700k for a starter house.
