Debate Over Standard of Living Changes

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My mother DID go to college...but that's besides the point. I'm not blaming anyone, just stating a fact. My friends who DID NOT continue on to graduate school (thus saving themselves a boatload of debt) still live at home with their parents...they can't afford to not live at home. Although we are in an area of the country with a higher cost of living, so that 30-something salary I'm hoping for when I graduate will not go that far.

Veronica of NY 10:15PM August 25, 2008

Ms. Palmer, Maybe you can do an article on how "people" these days have no responsibility for their actions. This current generation seems to believe they are owed a living. And if that standard of living they currently have is not good enough, "someone" is to blame...just not them. If a person goes to school and gets loans to pay for that schooling, THAT person is responsible for those decisions and paying off the loans. Maybe "Veronica" should have gotten married like her mother instead of going to college and now complaining about her poor existence.

cb of SD 2:35PM August 13, 2008

Thank you, Veronica, and I'm sorry your comment was accidentally lost during the update!

Kimberly Palmer of 3:40PM July 11, 2008

Since my comment appears to have been eaten by the website update monster, here's the gist of my original comment.

I will probably be struggling to keep up with my parents. By the time I graduate next year at age 25, I will have accrued about 100k in student loan debt (principle + capitalized interest), whereas by the time my mother was my age, she had a husband, three kids, and a dog. My parents bought their first home in north-central MA before my mother was 29, granted they used the money that came from the buyout of my dad's Army contract and had a low interest VA loan. Regardless, I can't imagine owning anything by the time I'm 29. I probably won't even have a dog by that point in time...

If 20-somethings are doing better, why is it that most if not all of my professional friends are still living at home with mom and dad and not out on their own?

Veronica of 3:14PM July 11, 2008

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Alpha Consumer

Alpha Consumer

Kimberly Palmer, senior editor for U.S. News & World Report, is the author of Generation Earn: The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back. Send her your personal finance questions.


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