Sunday, February 8, 2009

When slacking pays off

From Boston.com
WE MOVED to San Francisco and Brooklyn and Mission Hill. We jumped from job to job. Put off marriage. Never bought a place. And we never heard the end of it. We were drifters, they said. Layabouts. No respect for work and real estate or the value of a good pair of cufflinks.

But now, in the cold glare of a recession, everything looks different: We've got no house to lose, no career to dash, no school-aged children in need of pricey Wii gaming systems.

Not recession-proof, exactly, but recession-resistant, at least.

I know not all Xsters fall into the category as being "recession-resistant", but I fortunately belong to this niche. I have zero credit card debt, no mortgage, no car payment, no children and have paid off the student loans. But damn, some of my amigos are hurtin'. Many are upside down on their mortgages and others have been laid off in recent months. I kept on meaning to buy a house, but I could never justify moving from the beach to a bland neighborhood with other first time home buyers, so I've continued to piss my $ away in rent. But now, assuming I don't get canned at work, the once impossible is now happening; the home prices have come down enough where I can purchase at the beach.

Regardless of whatever happens with our economy Gen X will be prepared. Besides that 5 year span during the Roaring 90's we were never blessed with good economic times, so we've amassed the survivalist skills to pull through.

Although I do feel like I'm in pissing-blood-pain when I read my 2008 401K review.

5 comments:

Jennifer Chronicles (jenx67.com) said...

i lost a chunk and then moved it into a fixed savings acccoutn, which was unAmerican, but helped me avoid further disaster. i forgot, however, about my kids' college funds. they lost 33 percent each. i cried for two days.

i love the optimism of this post, but more than that, i love the irony. Disaffected Gen X - finally in a better place than possibly anyone.

Anonymous said...

The bad part of those amigos who are hurting -- how many of them are also ass-deep in credit card debt? But they have the big screen TV and a Wii and all the games to go with it, they eat out more than they eat in, and they've got all the latest of everything.
And they'll deny keeping up with the Jones', they're just keeping up with whatever commercial is on TV!! (Insert Shamwow commerical here.)

So, yes, YOU, sir, are riding high. And if you're interested in some beach property, it just so happens that I have some!!


Kath

Wek said...

J- sorry to hear about your kid's college $. My sister is feeling the same heat and it's eating her up.

K- believe it or not my 2 friends I was referring to actually haven't lived crazy lives of over over-indulgence. Since I enjoy hot rodding my fun car (5.0 Mustang) and motorcycle I actual have a more expensive habit than they do (I love going fast). I've just always paid with cash (or have the cash to pay off the card right away) so I've avoided the credit card debt. My amigos got in late, and the 200K homes they purchased are now worth much less.

So tell me about your beach prop....is it in the Tampa/St. Pete area?

Anonymous said...

Well, your friends are smarter than some people then.

Nope, sorry, my house is in NC. But you could buy it for an investment!!

Kath

Wek said...

Thanks Kath, but NC is a little too chilly for me. Haha!