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Agreed. I was born in the Mid-80s so I think my experiences are different than say, someone born in 1996 (the later generation of Millenial)
I understand what you're saying, the point I was trying to make was the following:
1. There are the way things ought to be; then
2. There are the way things are.
We seem to be focused on trying to make the imaginary/aspirational possible while ignoring the realities on the ground.
I don't agree that it's harder. Harder is the wrong word, it's that the strategies being employed are no longer working as well as they once did.
The housing issue in Canada is classic "law of diminishing returns" in that as more and more money is spent, the less benefit is incurred.
The old strategies employed by our Parents and their generation are no longer working, they've essentially run their course.
We have advantages and new ways of making money that our Parents never had though:
1. The Internet + Media
2. The Speed at which we are able to obtain and process information
3. Near Instantaneous Access to Global Financial Markets
4. Alternative Investment Vehicles like Cryptocurrency, etc.
5. Ability to travel and relocate relatively cheaply.
The problem is that very few people are creating new strategies to take advantage of these significant advantages, they are instead relying on what their parents and those before them did.
Again, this is just poor financial literacy and a lack of understanding of the concept of dollar value.
If you go to School for basket weaving and are willing to take on enormous amounts of debt to learn to weave baskets, are you:
A. A poor & hard done by soul that has been wrongfully robbed of their future? Or
B. An idiot who doesn't understand the value of a dollar?
You may think something is worth something, that doesn't mean it actually is.
The sense of entitlement of my generation and those younger than me seems to be getting worse as the years go by. I tell people all the time: Nobody owes you anything. The sooner you realize it, the better off you'll be.
This is actually the norm in a lot of industries. Mining, Oil & Gas, Railroads, etc all work off OJT style systems. I just drove by a trucking company the other day who was advertising paid training and starting salaries of $48.00 an hour.
Ironically, these are also jobs that pay some of the highest salaries in Canada and that nobody seems to want to do.
The only people who aren't motivated by money are again, people who don't understand the value of a dollar. My grandmother (RIP) said two things to me about money that have stuck with me:
1. I've been rich and I've been poor and rich is better; and
2. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure helps!
I don't know why someone wouldn't want to have more money? I personally want to accumulate as much of the stuff as humanly possible.
I'm willing to quit whatever I am doing and move anywhere if it means I can potentially make more of it. I quit the CAF on a whim about 6 months ago, threw most of my stuff away and moved with my spouse to take a shot at a new career. I am not done yet, this is the beginning and there will be much more to come after this.
I don't think anything motivates most Millenials and younger people. A lot of them suffer from what I call, learned helplessness.
They were coddled their entire life and now instead of their parents coddling them, they want the Government to do it.
and they are now making more than 95% of Canadians.
