I've heard this great quote once. A farmer doesn't yell at his crops to grow. He nourishes them. So to parents should not yell at their kids but nourish them.

You wouldn't blame a withered unhealthy neglected crop for its state but the farmer.

IMO the boomers have woefully neglected their children. And the trend continues as millennials have to woefully neglected their children. Substituting parenthood with TVs and Movies and video games.

But it's also largely due to the worthlessness of the dollar. More hours demanded to work driving parents out of the homes etc.


And no one even mentions the divorce rate. What's the psychological damage the extreme divorce rate among boomers have done to their children? Probably unfathomable. Destroying the one institution that should be preserved above all others while your kids are most impressionable.

sam callahan said:

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Possibly because they have lived the most extravagant lives in the history of mankind and had to do very little and sacrifice nothing to get it, so they've never been forced to grow up.

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As opposed to whom? The Boomers and Gen Xers? You can take what you said and apply to both those generations. They had the same crap thrown at them by the oldies back in the day. And I say this as a Gen Xer. We grew up in luxury also and so did the boomers compared to their folks.

Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Owlagdad said:

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In before boomers fault.

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You should read the anxious generation.. it literally is the Boomers fault. Generally speaking they were pretty bad parents.

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My boomer parents gave me unconditional love, constantly sacrificed to give me the life they did not have as children, were exceptional grandparents to their grandchild, when they passed they even left me with a little inheritance. Yep, they sucked.

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I know that reading can be difficult… but I said "generally speaking". My boomer parents did fairly well raising me - so I would also be an exception to the rule.

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So what did the Boomers do that was so bad? Most Gen X kids I know were latchkey kids who have turned out alright.

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It's explained above.. they became afraid of every shadow and overparented kids doing normal kid things like playing outside, doing risky things on the playground, etc. Then as technology was introduced they underparented kids with respect to devices. This "re-wired" the brains of kids. Again, it started with boomers but has persisted with the next generation of parents as well.

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So I never experienced any of that and neither did any of my friends. I think those statements apply more to Gen X and millennial parents than boomers. I have friends whose boomer parents locked them out of the house on summer days and didn't allow them back in until the street lights went on. Does not sound like they're afraid of everything to me

Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Owlagdad said:

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In before boomers fault.

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You should read the anxious generation.. it literally is the Boomers fault. Generally speaking they were pretty bad parents.

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My boomer parents gave me unconditional love, constantly sacrificed to give me the life they did not have as children, were exceptional grandparents to their grandchild, when they passed they even left me with a little inheritance. Yep, they sucked.

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I know that reading can be difficult… but I said "generally speaking". My boomer parents did fairly well raising me - so I would also be an exception to the rule.

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So what did the Boomers do that was so bad? Most Gen X kids I know were latchkey kids who have turned out alright.

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It's explained above.. they became afraid of every shadow and overparented kids doing normal kid things like playing outside, doing risky things on the playground, etc. Then as technology was introduced they underparented kids with respect to devices. This "re-wired" the brains of kids. Again, it started with boomers but has persisted with the next generation of parents as well.

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So I never experienced any of that and neither did any of my friends. I think those statements apply more to Gen X and millennial parents than boomers. I have friends whose boomer parents locked them out of the house on summer days and didn't allow them back in until the street lights went on. Does not sound like they're afraid of everything to me

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I mentioned above that the "anxious generation" began in 1995, and is still running today. I "blame" the boomers for the kids born 1995-2000.. but could be wrong on who the primary parents of those kids are. My parents were boomers and I was part of the beginning of the anxious generation. However, fairly protected from most of the consequences due to being heavily involved in sports.

JWinTX said:

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I'll tell you, some politician will run on this one day-make college more affordable by making it only about the career field you want to go into. Want a business degree from A&M? Take three years of business classes only. No electives, no fine arts, not language, no history, nada. Same with degrees in these other areas. Makes for sharper grads, and will also incentive getting a Masters Degree, as if maybe adds on another year.

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Having kids who have gone through or about to go through this process I have been *****ing about this for years.

So much time and money is wasted on those first two years of "core course!" Where is the solid and reputable finance degree that can be obtained in 2 or maybe three years at most?

That diversity or anthropology class is beyond worthless and for those who say it makes the graduate more "well rounded".... give me a break. After 30 days 99% of kids cannot recite one thing they learned in those classes.

Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Owlagdad said:

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In before boomers fault.

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You should read the anxious generation.. it literally is the Boomers fault. Generally speaking they were pretty bad parents.

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My boomer parents gave me unconditional love, constantly sacrificed to give me the life they did not have as children, were exceptional grandparents to their grandchild, when they passed they even left me with a little inheritance. Yep, they sucked.

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I know that reading can be difficult… but I said "generally speaking". My boomer parents did fairly well raising me - so I would also be an exception to the rule.

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So what did the Boomers do that was so bad? Most Gen X kids I know were latchkey kids who have turned out alright.

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It's explained above.. they became afraid of every shadow and overparented kids doing normal kid things like playing outside, doing risky things on the playground, etc. Then as technology was introduced they underparented kids with respect to devices. This "re-wired" the brains of kids. Again, it started with boomers but has persisted with the next generation of parents as well.

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So I never experienced any of that and neither did any of my friends. I think those statements apply more to Gen X and millennial parents than boomers. I have friends whose boomer parents locked them out of the house on summer days and didn't allow them back in until the street lights went on. Does not sound like they're afraid of everything to me

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I mentioned above that the "anxious generation" began in 1995, and is still running today. I "blame" the boomers for the kids born 1995-2000.. but could be wrong on who the primary parents of those kids are. My parents were boomers and I was part of the beginning of the anxious generation. However, fairly protected from most of the consequences due to being heavily involved in sports.

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This is why I believe the "Greatest Generation" does not exactly deserve the moniker of greatest. They earned that title but then lost it by being the generation that gave the world the Boomers… the most entitled, socially destructive, me centered group of people ever to walk the planet. So much of our current societal decay was born of the Boomer mindset that was solidified in the insanity, and straight up stupidity, that was the 1960s.

i dont want to sling generational insults, but I do feel for kids that had to go through college via COVID only to come out the other side and see the housing market become unattainable without very disciplined financial acumen.

I bought my first house at 25 for $150k - 3 bed, 2 bath -- 1600 square feet built in 2000. Starter home.

In 2014 after 4 years, I sold it for 175k to get a bigger house because I had children. In 2020, it sold for $360k.

It was the rise of media as a core part of social life that largely triggered this. Even preceding the Internet, CATV/Satellite TV and the 24/7 new cycle began it.

People began to become much more informed, and misinformed, about the larger world, and above all FEAR and THREAT sells. They are the survival driven negative emotion that gets attention. People selling advertisements understood this so news and informational programming and media became increasingly sensational or driven by potential threats or harms. The world became bigger and seemingly more threatening and dangerous, even when the reality was that it was steadily getting safer all the time based on long term trends. But this fear has increasingly driven parenting styles and decisions.

And that also couples with the availability of media as a distraction or parenting substitute. Instead of activities or play, kids were more and more plugged directly into audio visual entertainment technology increasingly fine tuned to grab and keep their attention. It required less human interaction, less parent interaction.

The last couple of generations have been raised in an environment where they have essentially virtual global communities instead of real local ones, and where their parents had a flood of information, and much of it was wrong or manipulative. It has altered how the children were socialized and how they have developed. It is new ground and nobody could really predict how it would have gone. A vast social experiment, with the only control group being the third world.

There's also a change in social competition as the populations has become more wealthy that requires parents to attempt to equip their individual children with more knowledge and resources and access to compete. This encourages a competition with fewer children per family who receive the most resources and attention to promote their success against other children. Family planning and development in the western world is now built around that general paradigm amongst much of the more wealthy population as the parents subtly or even subconsciously compete with eachother through their children.

1. Children don't have to work as hard for "luxuries" like previous generations. You want a car - boom, you have a brand new one (or almost brand new) at 16.
2. Children are given everything that they want. My nephew whines, and gets whatever he wants. I saw it in other kids when I taught. The "poor" students still had a cell phone (if not the latest one), the latest clothing, etc.
3. Parents try to be their children's "friend" instead of being their parent. I did the same thing as a first year teacher, but quickly figured out that it was not the way to go. Once my students had consequences for their actions and I started saying "no" a lot more, my classroom behavior was much better.
4. Technology. Social media and popular culture show unrealistic expectations. I grew up in several poverty - was homeless for 2 years, no AC, no heat, so whenever my dad would say "we're going to move into a house" the upteenth time, we quit listening to him because we knew it was never going to happen. Got my license at 17; didn't get my first car til 18 ($100 '77 Cougar with a fire ant bed in the trunk). Growing up poor and having to claw and scratch for everything I had made me appreciate the things I had.
5. I got my first house at 27. I saved up for a down payment and got something I could afford by myself.

Bottom line - many expect to be given things (thanks, govt), because they are trained to think this way (participation awards, free govt lunches, etc). We never got free lunches, and we still ate most of the time.

Rattler12 said:

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HollywoodBQ said:

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Bocephus said:

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HollywoodBQ said:

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Ag_of_08 said:

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Tom Fox said:

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Ag_of_08 said:

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I'm in my late 30s, but have friends that run through into their twenties.... not a single one of them cares about Instagram followers sans a couple that are using it as a side hustle.

They care about the fact that, even with a degree, a lot of them aren't even making it. I care about the fact I'm working a job that payed me what I considered an excellent wage 15yrs ago when I started is becoming an absolute dead end and only paying 5$ an hour more.... my only way out is starting over, and there's no way I can afford to do that.

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I left my career making 130k at 38 and went to law school in 2012.

12 years later, I own my own business and make right at 7 figures. It is doable depending on you and your risk tolerance.

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I have a useless degree(scratch that...i never finished and am not sure i can now) and no real way to change my circumstances. I truthfully don't know if i finished the thing there's anything I could really do. I know my field exceptionally well, it just doesn't pay unfortunately.

That's where a huge number of us stand unfortunately..... we effed up at 18-21, now there's no real comeback

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There's always a way. But it either might not seem obvious, or it's more work than you're comfortable doing.

For me, ages 31-33 was when I earned my MBA. That was a major hassle. But if I hadn't earned my degree in the first place, that's what I would have done at that time.

I've got a family member who fits into this marginally educated demographic. She got enough education to get a job that pays her well enough that she can live independently but, there's zero upward trajectory in that job. She refuses to get any additional training or education or certification in areas related to her current job (stuff you could do at a JuCo) so, there's no opportunity for her to do anything else.

Meanwhile, she's on social media blaming White Men for her lack of success.

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I admit it, I am standing directly in her path to success. She WILL NOT get there on my watch.

I would buy the home price argument if homes weren't $300K in NY in the 90's with everyone figuring out how to buy one. They did it while making under $100K. I don't think people want to sacrifice as much as they used to. Work/life balance was not a thing when I entered the workforce.

Getting married later and having kids later is not as big of a deal to me. I do think that the number of kids not driving these days at 16 is a major indicator of life being too easy at home.

I also think a legit recession solves a lot of these problems.

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On the not driving thing, it was like pulling teeth to get my kids to learn to drive.

Over on the Automotive board, it's a recurring conversation topic about encouraging kids to drive.

Kids these days are happy to have their parents drive them, or take Uber, or just do stuff online instead of in person.

Last wedding I went to, the 200 lb bride and 150 lb groom met on some app called Hinge.

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I didn't get my license until I was 14 but I didn't let that stop me. When I was 10 I was driving a 1944 Farmall H tractor all over NE Karnes Co dirt roads .........didn't need a license to drive one of them. Pop let me repaint it from red to silver........Hi YO Silver...away

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You sound like my father.

He started driving in 1950. Luckily for us, my dad stopped driving around 2018. EMY92 claims my dad almost ran him off the road (they know each other from construction work) - and I don't doubt that. He does occasionally get his keys and start heading outside to his truck but he never gets that far before somebody stops him (easy to do since he's using a walker).

Tractor related - when I was a fish working on Stack at Duncan Field late at night, they came around looking for somebody who knew how to drive a tractor. I was the only fish in B-Company, Aggie Band who knew how to drive a tractor (too many "rich" kids from Kingwood and Windcrest San Antonio) so it was like having Junior Privileges, getting to drive and not having to swamp logs with my buddies for a little while.

BadMoonRisin said:

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i dont want to sling generational insults, but I do feel for kids that had to go through college via COVID only to come out the other side and see the housing market become unattainable without very disciplined financial acumen.

I bought my first house at 25 for $150k - 3 bed, 2 bath -- 1600 square feet built in 2000. Starter home.

In 2014 after 4 years, I sold it for 175k to get a bigger house because I had children. In 2020, it sold for $360k.

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Both my sons were at A&M during Covid and have graduated and working now, but owning a home would make absolutely zero sense as renting is a much more financially reasonable approach. They are still younger than the age most people traditionally by a home, but Covid and this economy have definitely made things harder for their generation.

MemphisAg1 said:

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Stop making excuses, pick a path that gets you to where you want to go, and then do it. The world is your oyster if you are willing to delay gratification and make the sacrifices necessary to accomplish your goal. It doesn't come easy or cheap, but it can be done.

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We've been told by the media and DEI experts that this is called White Privilege and/or Toxic Masculinity.

I'll also say this: our society rewards whiners and complainers to get them to shut up and go away. It reinforces the success paradigm and we got more and more of it.

MouthBQ98 said:

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I'll also say this: our society rewards whiners and complainers to get them to shut up and go away. It reinforces the success paradigm and we got more and more of it.

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Bingo.

Yeah, actually "owning" a home is great. But usually they are referring to getting a 30 year mortgage, which at the wrong time, can totally hamstring a young person.

BadMoonRisin said:

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i dont want to sling generational insults, but I do feel for kids that had to go through college via COVID only to come out the other side and see the housing market become unattainable without very disciplined financial acumen.

I bought my first house at 25 for $150k - 3 bed, 2 bath -- 1600 square feet built in 2000. Starter home.

In 2014 after 4 years, I sold it for 175k to get a bigger house because I had children. In 2020, it sold for $360k.

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I had one kid who was Class of 2020. Want to talk about a group of people that our nation screwed over completely, it's them. And for nothing.

But given all that, one of my daughter's friends was able to buy a home for $250k as a 1LT in the USAF. But, it's not in Pensacola, it's 50 miles away in Crestview, FL.

There is always a way to make it.

The other side of the coin is that kids who grew up in the city where I lived in California absolutely will not be able to buy a home in the neighborhood they grew up in - possibly ever. Unless they inherit their parents house.

But that doesn't mean there aren't any opportunities for kids their age. It just might be someplace else.

My father didn't become successful by staying in Waco where he grew up and has now retired to. His path was through Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Stuttgart, West Germany, Houston, Puerto Rico, Irvine, California, Valdez, Alaska, Saudi Arabia twice, Richmond, Virginia, Irian Jaya (now called Central Papua), Indonesia, El Paso, Austin, etc.

Ironically, my father did inherit his mothers house and his aunts house when they passed away. But, they're in the poor part of town where he grew up, not the part of Waco that Chip and Joanna are encouraging people to move to.

zooguy96 said:

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4. Technology. Social media and popular culture show unrealistic expectations.

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I'll throw this one in there. I've mentioned it before but I've got a guy who reports to me who has an AT&T bill north of $600/month (he submits the bill for reimbursement on his cell phone). He has 8 different devices plus financing on them.

Anyway, this guy has a few kids and is really struggling to make ends meet on about $175k in a rural area. But hey, he has an Apple watch.

HollywoodBQ said:

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zooguy96 said:

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4. Technology. Social media and popular culture show unrealistic expectations.

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I'll throw this one in there. I've mentioned it before but I've got a guy who reports to me who has an AT&T bill north of $600/month (he submits the bill for reimbursement on his cell phone). He has 8 different devices plus financing on them.

Anyway, this guy has a few kids and is really struggling to make ends meet on about $175k in a rural area. But hey, he has an Apple watch.

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Yep. At one of my former employers, we adopted a family for Christmas. I.e. donated a ton of stuff to them. When we went to deliver - 5 of them lived on a really weirdly shaped 1 BR maybe 600 square foot appt. They literally had nothing except the latest TV, video games, etc - all the latest technology at the time, but no food, clothes, furniture, etc.

People think their smart phones make them smart. They don't - they make people stupid and have to rely on their phones rather than their own intelligence or critical thinking skills.

I blame women.

BlueTaze said:

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Yeah, actually "owning" a home is great. But usually they are referring to getting a 30 year mortgage, which at the wrong time, can totally hamstring a young person.

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But can't you refinance?

I bought my first home in '95 in Valley Ranch for $125k. I'm going to look up the value now but guarantee it's $450k+ now.

Not sure the younger generation will ever see returns like that.

The generational arguments are so tiresome.

Every generation has challenges. The ones facing young adults today are real and serious. It's disingenuous to pretend they aren't.

But they aren't insurmountable. They require focus and sacrifice to overcome, just as they did back in the '40s, or '70s, or '90s.

EclipseAg said:

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The generational arguments are so tiresome.

Every generation has challenges. The ones facing young adults today are real and serious. It's disingenuous to pretend they aren't.

But they aren't insurmountable. They require focus and sacrifice to overcome, just as they did back in the '40s, or '70s, or '90s.

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Here's a first step. Materialism and consumerism are more damaging to young adults than ever before, because together expectation inflation and price inflation are dream killers. Earlier generations benefited not only from more realistic pricing, but also much, much lower expectations -- as other have mentioned.

Affording trips, cars, houses, expensive dinners, etc., all on a 28-year-old's salary has ALWAYS been unrealistic. The difference is that younger generations didn't even consider that possible. Nowadays, social media makes it seem as if everyone lives that way.

Taking a step back from materialism would benefit all of us, but young people especially. Focus your dreams and efforts and realize that you can't have it all.

Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Owlagdad said:

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In before boomers fault.

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You should read the anxious generation.. it literally is the Boomers fault. Generally speaking they were pretty bad parents.

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My boomer parents gave me unconditional love, constantly sacrificed to give me the life they did not have as children, were exceptional grandparents to their grandchild, when they passed they even left me with a little inheritance. Yep, they sucked.

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I know that reading can be difficult… but I said "generally speaking". My boomer parents did fairly well raising me - so I would also be an exception to the rule.

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So what did the Boomers do that was so bad? Most Gen X kids I know were latchkey kids who have turned out alright.

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It's explained above.. they became afraid of every shadow and overparented kids doing normal kid things like playing outside, doing risky things on the playground, etc. Then as technology was introduced they underparented kids with respect to devices. This "re-wired" the brains of kids. Again, it started with boomers but has persisted with the next generation of parents as well.

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So I never experienced any of that and neither did any of my friends. I think those statements apply more to Gen X and millennial parents than boomers. I have friends whose boomer parents locked them out of the house on summer days and didn't allow them back in until the street lights went on. Does not sound like they're afraid of everything to me

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I mentioned above that the "anxious generation" began in 1995, and is still running today. I "blame" the boomers for the kids born 1995-2000.. but could be wrong on who the primary parents of those kids are. My parents were boomers and I was part of the beginning of the anxious generation. However, fairly protected from most of the consequences due to being heavily involved in sports.

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I'm assuming your parents were born in the early 60s?

Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Bocephus said:

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Aggies1322 said:

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Owlagdad said:

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In before boomers fault.

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You should read the anxious generation.. it literally is the Boomers fault. Generally speaking they were pretty bad parents.

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My boomer parents gave me unconditional love, constantly sacrificed to give me the life they did not have as children, were exceptional grandparents to their grandchild, when they passed they even left me with a little inheritance. Yep, they sucked.

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I know that reading can be difficult… but I said "generally speaking". My boomer parents did fairly well raising me - so I would also be an exception to the rule.

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So what did the Boomers do that was so bad? Most Gen X kids I know were latchkey kids who have turned out alright.

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It's explained above.. they became afraid of every shadow and overparented kids doing normal kid things like playing outside, doing risky things on the playground, etc. Then as technology was introduced they underparented kids with respect to devices. This "re-wired" the brains of kids. Again, it started with boomers but has persisted with the next generation of parents as well.

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So I never experienced any of that and neither did any of my friends. I think those statements apply more to Gen X and millennial parents than boomers. I have friends whose boomer parents locked them out of the house on summer days and didn't allow them back in until the street lights went on. Does not sound like they're afraid of everything to me

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I mentioned above that the "anxious generation" began in 1995, and is still running today. I "blame" the boomers for the kids born 1995-2000.. but could be wrong on who the primary parents of those kids are. My parents were boomers and I was part of the beginning of the anxious generation. However, fairly protected from most of the consequences due to being heavily involved in sports.

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I'm assuming your parents were born in the early 60s?

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Correct

Other than not living at home....the rest of that is not "adult." They are just events that are encouraged to keep the consumer economy running.

EclipseAg said:

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The generational arguments are so tiresome.

Every generation has challenges. The ones facing young adults today are real and serious. It's disingenuous to pretend they aren't.

But they aren't insurmountable. They require focus and sacrifice to overcome, just as they did back in the '40s, or '70s, or '90s.

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Yup.

Great post

BlueTaze said:

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Yeah, actually "owning" a home is great. But usually they are referring to getting a 30 year mortgage, which at the wrong time, can totally hamstring a young person.

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We bought our current house in 97 on a 30 year mortgage. We refinanced a couple of years later at a better interest rate to a 20 year. RBFCU comes along with a no closing cost refinance offer at an even lower rate and we refinanced for 10. The payment changed by a small amount each time but was affordable. We paid the house balance off in 2009 with a bonus I received and the home value has increased by 531%.

It's been dang nice not having a mortgage payment the last 14 years

For thousands of years parenting was pretty similar from generation to generation because the world and how it works was pretty similar from generation to generation. The ability to prepare and teaching how to parent was fairly consistent for a mostly unchanged world. The last several generations came into a world that looks nothing like the world the generation before was born into, so it's not like starting over, but pretty far behind and each one has to figure it out fresh as it's happening. We can blame a particular generation, but we are going to see problems every time the world changes completely, which happens more and more often. How do you raise kids in an environment you haven't quite come to grips with yourselves, much less to be able to handle a world you don't know will exist in 10 years?

I was listening to a podcast this morning and Seth Rogan said something that made me want to stop and think. He said something to the effect of we as a society praise Einstein (as an example), but shouldn't we be praising Einstein's parents for the man they raised? It was an interesting point about how we, as a society, have failed to recognize good parenting when we see it.

Phatbob said:

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For thousands of years parenting was pretty similar from generation to generation because the world and how it works was pretty similar from generation to generation. The ability to prepare and teaching how to parent was fairly consistent for a mostly unchanged world. The last several generations came into a world that looks nothing like the world the generation before was born into, so it's not like starting over, but pretty far behind and each one has to figure it out fresh as it's happening. We can blame a particular generation, but we are going to see problems every time the world changes completely, which happens more and more often. How do you raise kids in an environment you haven't quite come to grips with yourselves, much less to be able to handle a world you don't know will exist in 10 years?

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Teach them to think critically and be accountable for their choices good and bad.

Muy said:

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I bought my first home in '95 in Valley Ranch for $125k. I'm going to look up the value now but guarantee it's $450k+ now.

Not sure the younger generation will ever see returns like that.

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Not without a serious & rapid decline in home values, followed by gradual appreciation, over decades...

Bocephus said:

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Phatbob said:

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For thousands of years parenting was pretty similar from generation to generation because the world and how it works was pretty similar from generation to generation. The ability to prepare and teaching how to parent was fairly consistent for a mostly unchanged world. The last several generations came into a world that looks nothing like the world the generation before was born into, so it's not like starting over, but pretty far behind and each one has to figure it out fresh as it's happening. We can blame a particular generation, but we are going to see problems every time the world changes completely, which happens more and more often. How do you raise kids in an environment you haven't quite come to grips with yourselves, much less to be able to handle a world you don't know will exist in 10 years?

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Teach them to think critically and be accountable for their choices good and bad.

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Even in those situations there is way more external influences that our generation didn't have to face as kids. More than teaching them to be accountable and think critically, build a good relationship with our kids.

Ag_of_08 said:

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Tom Fox said:

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Ag_of_08 said:

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I'm in my late 30s, but have friends that run through into their twenties.... not a single one of them cares about Instagram followers sans a couple that are using it as a side hustle.

They care about the fact that, even with a degree, a lot of them aren't even making it. I care about the fact I'm working a job that payed me what I considered an excellent wage 15yrs ago when I started is becoming an absolute dead end and only paying 5$ an hour more.... my only way out is starting over, and there's no way I can afford to do that.

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I left my career making 130k at 38 and went to law school in 2012.

12 years later, I own my own business and make right at 7 figures. It is doable depending on you and your risk tolerance.

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I have a useless degree(scratch that...i never finished and am not sure i can now) and no real way to change my circumstances. I truthfully don't know if i finished the thing there's anything I could really do. I know my field exceptionally well, it just doesn't pay unfortunately.

That's where a huge number of us stand unfortunately..... we effed up at 18-21, now there's no real comeback

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At least you are honest about it and taking ownership rather than blaming the system.

That being said, I would like to see a way out for people to "make a comeback." If we are honest with ourselves, most of us weren't at our best during 18-21 and those years are so impactful to the rest of your life.

Muy said:

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I bought my first home in '95 in Valley Ranch for $125k. I'm going to look up the value now but guarantee it's $450k+ now.

Not sure the younger generation will ever see returns like that.

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A - The area has to be good and hold up or get gentrified. Houses are $600k+ in Compton these days.
B - I don't think you know how much further the US Dollar is going to get devalued. That $125k house in 1995 will probably be $1.25M in another 20 years.