I see the issue here less as “the kids get nothing” and more a concern at where they money ends up.
Houses get massively inflated over time… Older parents sell, but the money all ends up at some retirement home. Retirement homes are owned by a bunch of hedge funds and/or rich folk. Staff at these places often aren’t paid particularly well either.
The end result is still higher prices for everyone else, while the rich folk get richer as everything rises into unaffordabilty.
I also see it as a problem of the economy. Their kid, will never be able to afford that house. He will never be able to live in a house like that again. He also got royally screwed.
Home ownership is a luxury. Reality is being stuck renting. Renting is preventing upwards mobility.
I live in Denmark and the saying here goes 'if there is anything left for the family when I die, then ive miscalculated ’
Why do the Dutch bury their dead face down?
So they can park their bicycles.
Petah?
Butt cheeks
In the US the financial times have been so bad for decades that, without assistance, education and having a house are directly correlated with family wealth.
I’m not defending the shit–it fucking sucks.
My brother made an investment portfolio to my nieces because, as he said he’ll leave nothing alse to them lol they are 3
Respect
Here’s the story of the house we bought last year - which took us 6 years to find.
My wife and I had been looking for a nice house in our area. We moved here just before the pandemic and we knew the prices around here, and they were within our reach at the time.
Then the pandemic happened, house prices went through the roof and never went down.
On top of that, our village in particular tends to be gentrifying at supersonic speed: this used to be an isolated village, but the big city nearby is expanding, so now it’s turned into a fashionable place to live that’s not too far from the city: the lake is now managed, so it’s not a putrid mosquito-invested swamp anymore, we have two supermarkets, solid bus service… Wealthy folks buy old houses here, tear them down and build new, super-expensive mansions on top of what is now prime land.
Before the pandemic, houses here were still affordable(-ish). Nowadays, it’s minimum 3x as much for the cheapest old house (to destroy and rebuild anew, remember!), which are getting rare, and new ones are running into half-million territory.
So we had been watching for houses in the area like hawks on the various local realty sites for 6 years, not holding much hope for this village, but still including it in our search, because why not.
And one day, this house turned up at a surprisingly low price - the one we’re in now. Long story short: it was so poorly advertised by the realtor that nobody bid on it. But I knew it because I had seen it before while riding my bike in that street, so we bid immediately and we scored it.
It’s one of the last old houses, but it’s in perfect condition for its age, because the previous owner was in the construction industry and built it to the most modern standards of the time. And it’s located in one of the most highly sought-after streets in the village, with direct access to the lake, gobs of land, and located 200 yards from the stores and the bus stop.
Our house is insanely great and we got it for cheaper than pre-pandemic prices!
Why you ask? How does something this lucky happens?
Because the previous owner, a nice little old lady, sold it for cheap because she got tired of her children bickering over who would inherit it after she dies, how much profit they would make if they sold it, and trying to move their mom to a retirement home so one of them could move in early, or convince her to sell it now so they wouldn’t pay the tax on property inheritance.
The lady literally told them “Fuck the whole lot of you!” She put the house up for sale at bargain-basement price in order to sell it and move out as quickly as possible, so none of her kids would get anything at all after she’s dead.
And that’s how we got to live in this increasingly posh neighborhood without really having the kind of money to belong here 🙂
The lady literally told them “Fuck the whole lot of you!” She put the house up for sale at bargain-basement price in order to sell it and move out as quickly as possible, so none of her kids would get anything at all after she’s dead.
legend. I’d have her over on christmas every year.
We invited her - not just for Christmas. She doesn’t want to come because this whole affair was a heartache for her, and she misses her old house enormously. We maintain good relationships but we don’t push her.
Please chrish that old woman in stead of her supposed children
We bought our house (20 years ago) from a 95 year old lady. Her family was trying to get her into a home for years and finally convinced her. They put the house on the market at the price the came up with when they first started talking about moving her so the price was about $80k out of date. I guess the family got really pissed at the agent because we bought it the second it got listed and they thought they should have got way more money. So we got lucky too. Except our house is a bit of a shit box and had lots of stuff wrong with it. It had cardboard plumbing for fucksakes.
From wiki:
Orangeburg pipe (also known as “fiber conduit”, “bituminous fiber pipe” or “Bermico” or “sand pipe”) is bituminized fiber pipe used in the United States. It is made from layers of ground wood pulp fibers and asbestos fibres compressed with and bound by a water resistant adhesive then impregnated with liquefied coal tar pitch
Oof, that sounds like it was a fun project to remediate
Good for her.
If those were my kids I would kindly tell them not to contact me again.
Don’t worry. The insurance companies and doctors will get the rest anyways. We have a whole system of parasites to make sure that no generational wealth gets passed along.
It’s hospitals not doctors. Doctors get all that money only when they run their own private practice, and life support rooms are all in big hospitals, so the money is distributed between insurance and hospital management, and doctors get paid like all other skilled workers, and probably less than scuba diving welders.
Yeah, my parents told me once that when my grandparents pass away there was a nice chunk of money that would be coming. I never planned around it or anything. Some time after they passed I was a little curious about it and asked what happened, that was pretty much what they said, that it probably had all been used up by hospital and nursing home bills. End of life care is the last chance to suck up that dough, I guess.
Not a day goes by where I thank whatever creator out there that I wasn’t born in the USA.
We in the USA have a pretty good standard of living, but holy fuck the government is unwilling to pass any consumer protections. Just let the corps fuck us because they’re the ones making political donations.
The US government used to pass consumer protections, worker protections, environmental protections, etc. to the point of being a leader in many ways for other parts of the world.
And then Reagan happened.
Yup, but Reagan just opened the gates. Several other presidents have followed his lead.
I would thunk a good portion of you have a good standard of living but quite possibly a majority basically live in 3rd world poverty conditions and constant debt, stress, and exposure to violence.
There’s just enough Americans living in decent to good conditions to make it look like the American dream is alive, since the cameras don’t focus on the less fortunate.
I’ve traveled all over and have seen the poverty of South America and Africa first hand. I would much rather be poor in America than there.
I live in Canada and we have pretty good standards of living here. Up to and including not going financially bankrupt if we get sick or injured.
My partner broke their leg last year. Between the 6-8 hospital visits, xrays, two casts, and an air boot, we paid a grand total of around $120. Less than $20 for paid parking (I’m lazy and it was like $2 a day) and $100 for the boot of which I got $85 from my work insurance. Everything else was completely covered by our provincial care.
We’re about to have our second child. I’m dreading finding out what we’re gonna pay.
I absolutely hate that for you…
Ugh, lucky. My friend is even getting Canadian citizenship now thanks to a recent law change there and his grandmother being a Canadian citizen.
I welcome them to my wonderful country and I hope they have a wonderful life here!
Marry me, PhoenixDog, so I can into Canada
My partner and I (we’re poly) literally have an an agreement that if we ever divorce, it’s to marry someone else to help them move here.
Well I just called dibs, so… And Lemmy comments are legally binding, of course.
More like the nursing homes.
My observation is that doctors are getting squeezed, other staff moreso. They’re getting pushed harder and harder for more and more productivity out of them.
A doctor in my family quit and retired early because (basically) their group got more corporate and burned him out. I heard of a dentist who quit over ethics issues once their group was acquired by private equity.
Not that they aren’t well off, but I’d be careful blaming working professionals like doctors, engineers and such so much.
The doctors aren’t the direct problem, just complicit in the evil money scam that is American healthcare.
Sure they aren’t directly to blame, but so long as they “just do their jobs” they are knowingly and willfully complicit and need to be held accountable as such.
A dentist that does non-necessary procedures, like filing cabinets or pre-emptive fillings, causes harm.
A doctor that delays or prevents life-saving procedures because insurance tells them to causes death.
An engineer who doesn’t question “why does this licence plate reader need to have facial recognition?” causes fascism.
A dentist that does non-necessary procedures, like filing cabinets or pre-emptive fillings, causes harm.
I agree. I’ll do my own filing cabinets and he can stick to dentistry.
What you describe is exactly why the dentist got fired once a VC bought out the region, and partly why the doctor burned out.
They are questioning.
And why they are no longer professionals and how you know the ones that are still working are not questioning.
I’m a huge fan of not passing along any substantial generational wealth. Above certain threshold - I’ll give it 15 times of country’s median annual income - it only serves to accumulate wealth.
Not accumulating generational wealth is only viable in a world where social services provide for everyone.
Very much agreed, but still - no hard limits in terms of heritage only supports a class of parasitic elite.
I was interested to see how the numbers would play out for this idea
According to https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/median-household-income-by-state the median household income for a single person is $41,382 in the United States. 15 times that would be $620,730
According to https://wealthvieu.com/average-inheritance/#average-and-median-inheritance 92% of inheritances would be well underneath this amount
Assuming that your limit was meant to apply to individual recipients and not to the entire estate, this seems like a pretty modest proposal to me.
I’m sorry but biting into that particular number was rather counterproductive, as it was arbitrary - make it 50 if you care, but my point still stands. Armed elite’s successors are the armed elite still, but we can counter that. It would still leave them with funds to afford some very comfortable living, just no longer enough to terrorize the world.
I’m sorry if it came off that way, but I was not trying to be critical of your idea at all - I was trying to see how many people would be impacted, and I think you could easily get away with limiting the amount of inheritance even further.
I think being a worker gives a person perspective that is critical to their development, and no one should inherit or be given enough money that they never have to do any work in their life.
Not only does unrestricted inheritance directly cause the development of a disconnected wealthy class, but it’s also bad for the people who inherit too much.
I keep reading about how the boomers are going to be the biggest wealth transfer in history when they die, but all I’m hearing about in practice is boomers selling their assets and spending the money.
Well technically, the wealth is being transferred…
Transferred, and concentrated
Or having it taken to pay for medical care and whatnot if they don’t.
Everything else has gone up. The home being sold is going to be taxed, they’ll buy a condo someplace in a retirement community, and maybe they go in a nursing home or assisted living that will make sure to take every last dime in the old person’s account.
That’s because the “me” generation turned out to be total pieces of shit. Who would’ve guessed when they got that moniker AND had to be reminded nightly they had children to keep track of by the local news.
Correct, spending the money. So, the game is to own companies where the boomers will spend money.
We all get to play one final game of Catch with our parents.
Neither of my parents have any kind of savings at all, they basically only ever made enough to get by. My mom gets a very meager stipend from being a teacher. They both retired this past year and are drawing social security. It’s already really tight for them. I know when they get older I’m gonna have to sell their houses to make sure they have enough money to live on and the medical care they deserve. No idea where they will live at that point. Isn’t America great? Work hard your whole life to struggle to make it when you’re too old to work…
I’m in the process of doing this for my teacher mother with dementia. It’s a fucking nightmare.
I live with my parent, Iv not had much luck in life job wise so I work min wage job and help my parents so they never end up in a home. Thankfully my girlfriend understand why I’m doing this so I don’t have to stress about that.
Will have to do the same in a couple of years. Both parents are retired but my dad got cancer about 10 years before his retirement, so he basically didn’t have an income during that time. They are now unable to move since they are both too old, so it’s going to be me and my brother handling that when the time comes.
Id just count my blessings that my parents can take care of themselves in retirement and beyond and not have to count on family to come in and take care of them, which is an unfortunate truth for a lot of families in the states.
I dont expect shit, and it almost seems morally bankrupt to expect a generational handout. You get something or you dont, thats life.
I agree it’s a blessing to have your parents be financially independent into their later years. I do think there’s a generational disparity. I don’t think there’s an obligation for parents to pass on some early inheritance, but I just can’t imagine letting my kids face a lower standard of living assuming their career paths and lifestyles were similar. It’s not their fault our leaders and elite have designed a system that reducing the quality of housing and cities while making them more expensive (IMO).
Maybe I’ll feel different when I’m older and I think everything they do is wasteful or something?
I can agree to most of that.
To clarify, what’s morally decrepit is someone passing judgement on an expectation thats the result of distilling down the richness and complexity of a relationship to something transactional and material, so devoid of empathy and compassion.
The truth is that the OP meme is meant to point out how a kid is being slighted because there MAY not be a transfer of wealth. We have no idea how wealthy the parents are, whether they are spite spending it, whether they didnt have retirement saved up and couldn’t afford the house and viewed it as their retirement. I agree that it’s admirable to want to and then to actually leave wealth to your children. But the expectation is repugnant.
I think we’re on the same page because I was more replying to you than the OP. I think the meme is a bit extreme and that was either the joke, or it’s specifically crafted to piss of both sides of the aisle, like so much content today.
I agree with your point with the corollary that if they make that choice, they had better not come knocking on my door if they run into trouble.
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Genx here. Expect nothing and they can’t disappoint
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Everything ive read about in the states would indicate that unless you consigned or agreed to something, that debt is not yours. The problem is it doesnt stop the debtors from lying to people, and once you engage or make a payment, you do accept responsibility, as fucked as that is.
Yeah, but the assumption there is that folk assume I’m in the states.
There are literally more than three other countries.
But yes, outside of the law, that’s a surprisingly common practice everywhere.
Tell your Mother’s dealer that debt isn’t inheritable and see how you get on.
Debt generally isn’t something you can inherit, what happened ?
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I’m not in the US. There are plenty of places where it is not standard within the law, but i did state “generally” to cover all bases
Tl:dr: don’t trip over your dick trying to play the “assumptive american” card when it wasn’t called for.
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I’ll be honest, you’re looking for excuses to pick fights now. And not even decent ones.
Then why bring it up in the first place?
I asked a friendly question. You responded irrationally. And now you’re again trying to slam me by…slagging off my penis size? Mate, i’m a cisfemale, you have fuck all luck there lol
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Now this hits too close to home!
…that’s my secret power…
This is part of how wealth concentrates in countries without a welfare state. The property market becomes more and more unavailable for young people, and older people have to sell their homes to afford proper care.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I interpreted this as “we’re selling the house and burning the money in voyages, cruises, fuck fest, etc”.
That’s how it starts but most people have no idea how much end-of-life care can cost, or even just regular geriatric medicine.
I just assume that’s where any money i have left is going to end up. Luckily i don’t have anyone relying on the funds i possessed, but I also don’t expect to have much (if any) anyway. I’m kinda relieved i don’t have children for that reason, tbh. It’s hard enough to make ends meet as it is. As much as i might have enjoyed starting a family, I’m afraid I’d be setting up another generation to suffer through the naivete of mine…then having little/nothing to offer on my way out!
I’m planning on my end-of-life being real cheap. I’d prefer a clean exit over a long decline, especially if I start losing my faculties. (Not much history of dementia in my family, thankfully)
Hence why being able to bankrupt two casinos is quite the achievement.
3 casinos actually and either 5 or 6 bankruptcies between them.
People expect an inheritance? I ain’t getting shit, I’m not going to feel bad for someone who has been counting on someone to just hand them something.
My dad is 60 now and always said he’d leave some money for my siblings and I. Luckily he also simultaneously raised us to not rely on other people and to plan your life as best you can. He developed dementia and needs to be under 24/7 care. It costs $8,000 a month. At this rate he’ll more than likely have enough to cover his care costs until he passes and I’m thankful as fuck everyday he has that money. I don’t give a fuck if I see one cent just as long as he has enough for himself. I’ve never let myself think it was ever going to be mine.
My dad is 65, and told me when I was 17 (when he had millions of dollars) “I can’t take it with me and ain’t leaving it to you.”
My dad is the ultimate boomer, has had everything handed to him and he got ahead in life by help, from parents, wife’s, and mother and laws. But acts like he did it all on his own. Also he the type that gets pissed if his children get ahead of him in life or don’t rely on him. Like my brother has done. He has zero friends and cares little of other people unless they are doing something for him. He also loves that we are destroying the planet (yes he believes in climate change) he rational that by saying he wants the world to end when he dies. Totally doesn’t want to leave nothing to future generations. Trump same way, why my father likes him.
My mom and dad got Long Term Care Insurance a long time ago. My dad passed away before he could collect on it, but my mom is currently getting around $13,000 a month from it and this goes up by 5% per year, so she can afford to live pretty much wherever she wants for the rest of her life. Naturally enough, insurance companies do not offer this kind of policy any more.
You’re a good kid. I’ve seen some people get really pissed off about losing “their money” like that and forcing the person to live with them or avoiding caring for them to save the money until they pass so they still get “their inheritance”.
Not expect necessarily but it’s not crazy to think that a couple who made a relatively easy financial decision 30+ years ago would want their kid to benefit in the current climate when the world is much worse.
Sure but to just expect and be counting on a windfall as the potential recipient is setting yourself up for disappointment.
I’m an only child. My parents are in their late 60s. When they sell their lakefront house they’ll make over $2 million. They have a will that says I get pretty much everything, with certain assets that go to my cousins (We’re a rather small family overall).
Unless something catastrophic happens, I’m not seeing that any time soon. They’re both very healthy people. But they helped my partner and I move across the country and buy a homestead a number of years ago.
While I am not expecting a substantial amount of money being transferred into my bank account, they’re helping in other ways.
It probably helps that I don’t live in the USA where if anything medical did happen they’d be sucked dry. And I thank God every day for that.
Shit, my married partner and I are working on getting them (my partner) gender affirming surgeries set up, which both surgeries are 100% covered by our provincial healthcare. It’ll cost us gas money and that’s it. Maybe private parking for like $20 or something.
My wife’s grandmother owned 3 houses and over a million in savings from some good stock market investments. She worked at Costco for like 30 years. Her two children are really shitty trashy people and were fighting over the inheritance.
When grandmother said she plans to give money to her grandchildren (my wife and my wife’s sister), there was a lot of resentment. My wife said, “We don’t want it. Spend the money on your retirement.” And she’s out living her life on a cruise.
I’ll be expecting an inheritance some day, but I will refuse it. I grew up with strict parents. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not bad, they’re just idiots and were strict for the sake of being strict. At least they expressed regret at how they have parented my siblings and I.
Although I appreciate providing us with material security, they did not let us be ourselves and to stand on our own two feet. I developed a psychological response not to accept anything from them that I might deem substantial on a silver platter as an act of rebellion. I even refused their attempts to match me up with any girls they considered. It is for me claiming my own agency, which includes refusing their inheritance. Besides, I have started investing and live within my means. So, I am confident that I could build my own proverbial nest on my own.
I inherited a house, and it is ruining me. I say bullet dodged.
How?
Unless it’s a mobile home on leased land, or you live somewhere property, and land aren’t valued as assets.
You can always sell it …
Taxes, maintenance, upkeep, utilities etc. Legally, I can’t sell it for some time as that is part of the will.
Can you take out debt against it to pay for those things? If you’re net negative while it’s in your possession then the math should work out if you can extract some of its future sale price against its current cost.
I am currently looking at options like this, yeah.
Sounds like it’s a problem with inheritance. Not owning a home.
Which is relevant to the meme that was posted.
You said the house was ruining you but that’s not true. What’s ruining you is the condition of the contract you accepted in order to obtain said house. The meme is about selfish parents pulling the ladder up. Not conditions set on an individual that is subject to them alone.
I never stated that the house is ruining me.
I said:
I inherited a house, and it is ruining me
The meme is about pulling up the ladder behind them.
You got a ladder installed and they bolted it to your house.
People buy houses all the time they can’t afford. Hidden costs, thinking taxes and insurance won’t shoot up, depending on the size might cost and arm and a leg to heat/cool.
There’s even a term called “house poor” when you buy a house but don’t have the money to furnish it so you just have big empty rooms.
My mother owns a house and I’d be fucked if I inherited it. Just the property taxes, insurance and utility bills for it come to over $30K a year which is more than I even make (before income tax) as a school bus driver. Selling it would require a lot of repairs first which I couldn’t afford. In theory you can sell the house for its book value less the cost of these repairs, but in my township you’re legally required to fix some things before a sale can even be approved (e.g. replacement of the entire sewer line out to the street). I could maybe rent it, but typical rents here would barely cover the expenses even assuming the tenant doesn’t trash the place.
I’d mortgage part of it to repair it, then sell. That way you’d walk out with the rest of the money.
Yeah, it’s one thing if it’s in a nice location and well maintained…
But good chance it’s got some serious issues because they haven’t fixed anything in decades and no one wants to live there, so you might be 50k in the hole for things before you can even show it to serious prospects…
Or take the hit and sell it as-is to some crappy company that will probably underpay by 200-400k dollars, even accounting for all the “repairs” (probably just blast everything with paint and hope to sell it to some sucker that doesn’t take the potential problems seriously).
They’d make it a rental property more than likely. These companies are buying up homes in general to do that.
Idk. Grandparents owned a really nice home I had fond memories of. They actually didn’t sell it, they lost it. Turns out if you just pay the mortgage by remortgaging the property multiple times that maybe isn’t a good idea. Place had serious issues, but I would have tried to buy it, had I the money at the time, before it went up for auction. Property alone was worth quite a bit due to the neighborhood. Most properties in that neighborhood now go for 1-2 mil.
Don’t bank on a windfall controlled by other people. My parents tried that and got screwed by my grandpa.
Sounds like they didnt “get screwed” by anyone – instead they counted chickens before they hatched, like fools. Maybe im wrong. I only have your vague sentence to infer from.
Yah screwed is the wrong wording. They were expecting it and it all went to my aunt instead
My father promises me things all the time, I completely don’t believe him. I plan to just disappear instead, die somewhere in peace if I can. Kill myself outright if I can’t.
It’s a class war, not a generational war. Every generation has shitty people in it.
My parents received a lot o financial support in order to afford to buy an apartment for our family.
Neither my sister, nor myself has received similar financial support to buy a place to live in.
My parents instead live in a gigantic place they don’t use fully, and own several houses and apartments they rent out for profit. Of course none the real estate they own is anywhere near myself or my sister’s family. They also love to go on fancy expensive vacations all the time and complain about the younger generations. Of course they also get pensions from the companies they used to work for. Something that just doesn’t exist anymore.
There’s a lot of overlap between generational and class war.
But this is your personal experience. There are a shit ton of boomers that are amazing and give their kids hand ups. It’s the system that is broken. Weren’t the proud boys mostly millennials? They were probably living off their parents. Gen Xers are never really shit on anymore because there isn’t enough of them to give an opinion. I can say though, there are a fucking ton of shitty gen xers too.
It’s a class war that built this system, not a generational war.
Sure the system is broken and my experience is anecdotal.
There’s a generational war if you want to call it that. Birthdates fell below replacement rates starting over the last 60 years in European countries. At the same time life expectancy increased significantly. In European countries with state run health care and pensions this has a huge impact.
So now you have lots of boomers that retired early, own real estate, receive government retirement benefits, company or government pension, healthcare, etc.
At the same time there are a big number of immigrants, who cost the state more than they contribute. On top of that the quality of infrastructure and state services keeps decreasing.
Gen X and Millenials are the workforce, who are forced to pay for all of that. Stagnant wages, high taxes, worse government services, worse healthcare, etc. All of it was caused by boomers, their life choices, and political votes.
Boomers still occupy the most powerful positions in the state, other institutions, NGOs, corporations, political parties, etc. Gen X only starts getting there.
The whole demographic crisis was known for decades. However retirees are the biggest voting block. In the end we have an alliance between retirees, capital, welfare recipients, and the state against the productive working population.
proud boys
The success of the populist right is directly caused by the decades of failures by institutions run by boomers and the policies they have voted for.
It’s a class war that built this system, not a generational war.
Class war accelerated the generational war.
So, are Millennials going to be viewed the same way?
It can be both. Some generations have a higher percentage of shitty people. The obscenely wealthy have always been shitty. AND Boomer’s grew up in circumstances where they were able to get/do whatever they wanted. Now the only way to do that is to shit all over their children. The Boomer’s parents sacrificed a lot to give them a better life without having to worry about how they got there. The Boomers in turn believe they deserve and are entitled to everything they want and their children can fend for themselves.
Yeah, the problem is that one generation keeps shitting on the others.
OK boomer
(/s)
That’s what they’re supposed to do… I’ve already told my parents to get spending. They can’t take it with them.
Exactly. I don’t really understand this post or what it’s trying to say. My parents worked hard, and then when they retire they should get to enjoy it, isn’t that the point?
My mom is almost 60 now and she is finally trying to sell the house. My brother and I grew up in it, but it’s way too big for her alone. I told her she should sell it and find some small apartment to rent somewhere, so she doesn’t have to fix/pay everything herself anymore.
Difference in priorities. My partner’s mom worked her ass off to make a comfortable life for herself but she’d rather spend her resources improving our lives while she can appreciate the impact. It makes her happy to see her family doing well so the money gets spent on education and home improvements and trips together. (She calls it a pre-inheritance.)
Sure, there is nothing wrong with that at all. All parents want to make sure their kids live better lives than they did, right? My parents also worked hard and paid for all that, my mom still helps my brother with things sometimes, helps pay for stuff when needed, but the OP makes it sound like those parents did something wrong by selling their house, and that actually they were supposed to keep it, against their will, so their kid could get the money? I think that’s complete bullshit. It’s their house, they get to do with it what they want. OP should be happy that their parents have such a house to sell in the first place, because there are a lot of people who don’t even have that.
I think there’s something morally wrong with choosing not to contribute to your family or community past your own life but that is assuming your descendants are worth a damn. “A society grows great when old men plants trees” and all that.
Nuh uh!!! The kids i raised better be ready to lift themselves up by their bootstraps. If they can’t–misery and poverty for the rest of their lives! Mwa ha ha ha!
Seriously though–it really bothers me when i see people saying stuff like “i raised you, i don’t owe you shit”… If you bring someone into this world–you better be ready to take care of em. Even if it means for their entire life! You don’t know what they’ll be like or what needs they may have, so be ready for anything. Hopefully they’ll be able to make a living for themselves but it’s getting harder and harder in this day and age.
Sure, but there’s a very large area between not contributing at all and not being allowed to sell your own home. Parents can contribute in plenty of ways without being forced to keep living in a house because their kids care more about an inheritance than their parent’s wishes/well-being.
The issue is that the way the economy is going, young people who don’t inherit a starter home or at least a down payment from their parents, will never become homeowners. It’s not quite bad yet, it’ll get much worse than it is now.
If you’re not willing to leave your home as an inheritance, don’t have children.
And people who don’t even own a home, shouldn’t have kids at all? I guess that would solve some problems…
But really, being willing to leave your home is not the only consideration. I finally got my mom convinced that she should sell her home, because she can barely get up the stairs anymore due to health issues. Am I supposed to force her to keep living there so I can get her money? Do you realize how fucked up that is? No. Absolutely not. She worked her entire life and she should be able to enjoy her retirement, and make it as easy as possible for herself, without having to worry about all the shit that comes with owning a home, and definitely without me complaining about how unfair it is that she won’t just die and leave me all her crap.
Unfortunately yes, those people shouldn’t have kids. Or rather, if they had any conscience, they wouldn’t be bringing serfs into this world.
You were probably also born early enough that you can still buy property with a loan. But we’re one or two proper crises away from that ever being an option for the younger folks.
And the system is designed for that. Expensive assisted living facilities are there so you’d have to sell your home so you can be sucked dry before death. Not just a US thing either. It’s the same in my country.
When plebs leave their property to their offspring, they’ll start accumulating generational wealth and we’re not supposed to have that.
Like I said, don’t like it, don’t have children. Not unless something significantly changes economically. I for sure wasn’t planning to have my kid without having a solid financial footing, but my ex of course lied about being on the pill since she saw how much I was earning and saw it as a way to get out of having to work herself. At least I do have my family home, built by my grandparents, that my kid will one day inherit. But of course I don’t want to die too early so I’m also trying to put together enough money for a 20-30% down payment for an apartment in 20 years or so. To kickstart the equity building process. Shouldn’t be too hard normally to do over such a long period, but my ex put me nearly six figures in debt so it’ll take me a bit lol
Look, we’re never going to agree about this, I think. Sure there are a lot of problems for young people nowadays, but maybe we can find some actual solutions? Maybe, I don’t know, vote in people who actually make life more affordable? Maybe trying to pass some laws that make it easier for people to survive. Maybe make healthcare more affordable, education more accessible, build some sort of safety nets for people, a living wage, whatever; make life better for people so they don’t have to wait until their parents finally die to make something of their own lives. Actual systemic changes in stead of just making it more bearable for some people.
But imo we shouldn’t go and try to create a world wherein parents are no longer humans but only inheritance dispensers who can’t live their own lives.
In case you were wondering, no I don’t have or want kids, and no, it has nothing to do with money.
But I’m thinking that you are American, right? Because I have never even wanted to own my own home. It has never been a requirement to live comfortably. It’s not needed as an ‘insurance’ or investment. And I have never seen my parents as some bag of money I get to spend when they finally decide to die. It’s disturbing to me that many people apparently think that’s normal? I mean, don’t you love your parents and want to see them happy? I don’t get it. My parents were very young when I was born. By the time they die, I’ll be like 60 or (hopefully) even older. I can’t imagine waiting my entire life for them to die, just because I want their money. How fucked up is that?
Maybe make healthcare more affordable
It’s free, but I probably have to pay more taxes than you do. Nearly half my income goes towards taxes and then we have 24% VAT for most things, including groceries.
education more accessible
It’s free for most people, but that just means it doesn’t qualify a good enough income anymore. I earn about a fifth of what I could in the US, while our minimum wage is not much lower than the US, for an example. And a master’s degree doesn’t qualify you a job at McDonald’s either, we’ve over-educated our population. Result is that you need plenty of experience for your first job in whatever industry you studied for.
build some sort of safety nets for people
Well, they already exist? There’s unemployment, which doesn’t cover shit because we don’t pay enough taxes yet, as well as homeless shelters if you’re sober you can go to and even social housing if you’re destitute enough and trying to get out of it, but obviously there are waiting lines for those.
a living wage, whatever
Minimum wage rises annually.
But imo we shouldn’t go and try to create a world wherein parents are no longer humans but only inheritance dispensers
But it’s only fair given that children are legally mandated to take care of their parents in old age.
My ex is not going to leave either of her kids a single euro. She will probably cost them tens of thousands in end of life care because she opted out of pension payments and took out the funds at the age of 22 or 23. She’ll have free healthcare, sure, but old people’s homes cost more than the national pension. It’s 1500€ a month currently near me and if you rely on the national pension alone, that’s well under 1000€ for most.
Because I have never even wanted to own my own home. It has never been a requirement to live comfortably
Trouble for me is when I’m eventually too old to work or AI takes my job for real, I’ll need to have something I don’t have to pay exorbitant rent for. If that’s not a concern for you, you’re incredibly privileged, being able to piss away thousands or tens of thousands of euros a year for the rest of your life. As a software engineer, I can already tell you that this ladder’s been pulled up and nobody hires entry-level engineers anymore. Same for a lot of other knowledge work. Things aren’t going to be getting any better. Most people would rather have a home they don’t have to pay every month for when that happens.
It’s disturbing to me that many people apparently think that’s normal? I mean, don’t you love your parents and want to see them happy? I don’t get it. My parents were very young when I was born. By the time they die, I’ll be like 60 or (hopefully) even older. I can’t imagine waiting my entire life for them to die, just because I want their money. How fucked up is that?
Who’s waiting for the parents to die? I’m just speaking about generational wealth being a necessity in this world, because all the millionaires and billionaires are doing it, but the poor are just selling off their already small assets to the aforementioned millionaires and billionaires so they can rent them out to their kids and grandkids.
I can tell you from looking at my friends: Those whose parents gave them money to make a down payment on a first apartment started buying them in the mid-20s. Those who didn’t, were lucky to get their foot in the door at 30, some still haven’t. 20 years from now, those who can’t get a down payment from their parents, will not be able to buy ANY home unless incredibly lucky. Parents who don’t want to royally screw over their kids and also don’t want to leave their homes as inheritance, should just prepare the funds to get their kids a foot on the ladder when the kids reach their 20s. That’s what I’m trying to do, anyway. My parents didn’t, but they never had the ability and at least I have a house I can come back to when things go to shit (so can my mom, it’s not like I’d ever kick her out, she’s just living with her boyfriend right now). Estonia is one of those countries where people have to work for a living and when you’re unemployed for a long period, rent becomes kinda hard to afford.
And let’s go back to this for a moment.
Maybe, I don’t know, vote in people who actually make life more affordable?
Who do you think voted against those people in the OP? The kid who didn’t get a house, or the boomer parents who sold the house and wanted its value to be as high as possible? The same people selling their homes instead of leaving them to their children are the same people voting against anything that could reduce real estate prices. Because they’d be out of money then. If you’re looking to sell your home for retirement, it makes sense to vote for people who block new developments so housing is less affordable for future generations. Otherwise you’re profiting less.
Things are only just starting to go to shit. They will get a lot worse. And in most of Europe, most of us don’t really have guns either to Luigi the people who are guilty. Which is why I think anyone who’s having children in 2026 without a plan for how those children are going to be afford normal life, is selfish as fuck.
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