Weak Economy - Live with Mom and Dad

[IvyRose]

Last hope in a weak economy? Mom and Dad - AP Associated Press

After being laid off from her job as an events planner at an upscale resort, Jo Ann Bauer struggled financially. She worked at several lower-paying jobs, relocated to a new city and even declared bankruptcy.

Then in December, she finally accepted her parents' invitation to move into their home — at age 52. "I'm back living in the bedroom that I grew up in," she said.

Taking shelter with parents isn't uncommon for young people in their 20s, especially when the job market is poor. But now the slumping economy and the credit crunch are forcing some children to do so later in life — even in middle age.

I don't feel so bad now. I also read that America is not the richest country anymore, Europe is. (Unconfirmed Source) I believe it though.

I'm scared.

[TKDLady]

Great, just when I thought mine were about ready to leave the nest. Well at least one of them anyway. Oh well. Can't let them starve.

[Luba]

I had heard of younger people moving back in with their parents, but middle-aged people is News to me...the positive thing is that the parents are willing and able to help out.

[IvyRose]

It's pretty bad here. There's not many jobs. A High School Diploma is nothing like it use to be 10 years ago. One must be able to have at least some College to survive now.

The house market hit rock bottom. Lots of people lost their jobs and were unable to pay for their mortgage payments and on top of that, they had opted for balloon payments, not worrying about losing their jobs.

If I had a lot of money, I would be buying up all the houses for sale right now. I think we're going to pull out of it, but it will take a couple of years.

[Luba]

In Vancouver people are buying Condos before they are built, and some Developers are going bankrupt due to higher building costs...more and more of those stories...

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by IvyRose

I don't feel so bad now. I also read that America is not the richest country anymore, Europe is. (Unconfirmed Source) I believe it though.

I'm scared.

That is mainly because the dollar is weak against the Euro. So if you do a straight conversion, the EU economy is bigger than the US economy. However, if the dollar improves a bit, the US will come out on top again.

As for the weak economy, part of the problem is exactly the inflated house prices. You almost need two college level jobs, in order to actually pay for a house (provided it is not in Nowhere Central).

[IvyRose]

Sure, inflation. I agree with that.

I also think we hurt ourselves outsourcing our jobs. Not only is our lack of job situation due to the outsourcing, but we're also seeing more and more of these jobs producing poorly made products with hazardous materials.

A lot of call centers have even been outsourced. You use to be able to pick up a job within a week, now it's taking twice as long to find one. People wonder why they can't understand who they're speaking to when calling certain company's customer service lines. It's because it's in another country.

I'm really surprised there are so many call centers in my state, but the competition for those jobs have sky-rocketed. It's dog eat dog and employers know that their employees are stuck there for awhile. So, the professionalism has turned into snide comments and poor treatment.

I'm not going to get into the American Attitude bit that this brings up, but I know in general, we're pretty snotty. I just don't want US to fall into what we were decades ago. Balance is in order, let's just not tip the scales over into the danger zone.

[Vautrin]

You can blame outsourcing. But you can also blame the companies themselves. Outsourcing seems profitable, but it does cut into the purchasing power of the consumers. Everybody knows call centers simply do not work that well - their objective is simply to comply with legal regulations more than actually caring about the customer. I know there are exceptions to that rule, though.

In order to work in a "US" call center in India, you have to be updated constantly on the US sports - it is utterly ridiculous that people in India need to know about College football, baseball and NASCAR for their jobs, but they have to.

As for the use of hazardous materials, I know the Dutch don't care if they ship out poisonous junk to the likes of Central Africa - so I can't see why the Chinese should have a better attitude when they send out crap to the US or Europe. The double standards should be done away with.

Corporate greed and fraud (creative tax evasion techniques) make it much harder to actually find some money to address social ills. I would not be surprised that relative to their income the poorest pay the highest taxes in the US, relative to their income.

Instead of creating a more and more hostile society by neglecting to address these problems, one could also invest in people, to prevent decay. As an added bonus the cost of these measures is very likely to be lower than the cost of addressing the ills later down the line.

[IvyRose]

I don't blame the companies themselves. I blame our government for passing the Bill to outsource our labor.

The companies had to do what they could to compete with other companies to stay in business. It wasn't about greed there, it was survival.

[Vautrin]

In the case of call centers you can legislate a bit. If we are talking about a service that is provided to US consumers, you can.

However when the issue is making cars, cell phones and such, you can't. Unless of course you are willing to pay substantially more for a "made in the USA" product.

As for import duties, they will not help. These import duties do not lower prices of US made products, thus hitting consumers hard.

Look how farming is dependent on subisides for their products (both US and EU), thus driving 90% of the world out of business (not to mention causing famine in quite a few countries).

The whole economic system is based on paying people as little as possible. It is an added bonus that these modern day slaves call it freedom.

[darkangelism]

The one thing is that the EU is not a country, so its not really a direct comparison. Once we get passed the election the dollar should strengthen again. Right now is a great time to invest in the stock market cause everything is undervalued.

[IvyRose]

You're right, Mr. Peacock. Europe is technically not a country, it is a continent. However, serveral of the countries on the Europe continent is unified by the European Union.

You can have the stock market all you want, I'm taking land.

[Vautrin]

True, but the EU is only slightly bigger in terms of population (the US is the most populated country after China and India). Plus the whole internal market basically operates without borders.

I agree with your assessment on the market, DA. The hard part is predicting where the fallout will strike.

[IvyRose]

Meh... I blame our government for everything. I don't trust them, nor the Corporate Business big wigs that pat them on the back.

I am a Conspiracy Theorist and yes, I'm paranoid. It's sad when so many things that are supposedly 'rumors' become true.

I hope the Next Great Depression doesn't start here anytime soon. I'd hate to be right again. Honestly...

[TKDLady]

Well now that I am thoroughly depressed .....

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by TKDLady

Well now that I am thoroughly depressed .....

hmmmm ... don't tell me your son or daughter is moving in with you again?

[TKDLady]

No, but my son's lease is up in May and the landlord isn't going to renew it. Now I have to find a place for him to live if he stays in Orlando. I was depressed thinking that once they finally do graduate I will still have to pay their rent and utilities.

[Stone]

The area where I live was voted most home forsclosures in the US ( wow we finally made the news) lol However the housing prices do have alot to do with it but I've seen people here act just plain stupis and greedy. ex. everyone that has a mortgage a few years ago refinanced, took out equity loans and 2nd morgages for nothing (new kitchens, pools ect) now they can't make the payments, and are crying poor... it was poor choices that got a majority of them in this situation ....

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by TKDLady

No, but my son's lease is up in May and the landlord isn't going to renew it. Now I have to find a place for him to live if he stays in Orlando. I was depressed thinking that once they finally do graduate I will still have to pay their rent and utilities.

At least the advantage is that you hold financial leverage over them. So you can actually force them to see you .

Stone raises interesting points as well. Recently I heard a lot of Dutch youth apparently have debts amounting to 10-20k (15-30k in US$), with nothing going for them. More often than not the money has been spent on things like cell phones and parties, so it is not like they can boast they have completed a very good education.

[IvyRose]

It wasn't that long ago that I read about a College student who killed himself because he got in credit card debts for over $20,000. He was scared to ask for help from his parents and ended his life.

Sure, some home owners do take out second mortgages for extravagant things. Your house does need updating though, to keep its value up. There are home owners that take out mortgages in order to repair their homes. Sometimes the plumbing needs to be replaced, the roof needs shingles, broken windows, etc. These things are a must to repair and in some cases, the house is not really liveable until some repairs are done.

There are times when it seems like your house is just falling apart all at once and taking out a second mortgage sounds like the right answer. Part of it is protecting your investment. If you don't make repairs or update your home, the value of your home goes down.

Another thing is, property taxes go up every year. Even if the market value of your home is no longer what you paid for it 30 years ago, you're still paying on a house that the state government thinks you should pay, according to the houses around you.

Of course, second mortages are also sometimes used for Divorce issues, Emergency Medical Issues and the list goes on.

So, I'm not going to judge the poor house owner who had nowhere else to turn, but to borrow money off of what they paid into. It's theirs...(well, the bank's.) For some home owners, it's the only investment they have for collateral.

Our governent made poor decisions, so in turn, our citizens had to. See how I blame our government? I'm so shameful, I should move to Europe.

I do agree that getting the latest iPod or Phone is really not necessary. I just try not to judge people when they do. Older people do this as well, it's not just College Students. It's also fun to treat yourself to something every once in awhile. Otherwise, sometimes life just isn't worth living.

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by IvyRose

Our governent made poor decisions, so in turn, our citizens had to. See how I blame our government? I'm so shameful, I should move to Europe.

Au contraire! We have made an art out of it. It is the best conversation starter you could have.

[darkangelism]

I think people are way overreacting, it hasnt been a year of bad economy but people act like its the end of the world and that the US is going to fall to some unimportant country.

[Stone]

I just hope everyone learns their lesson here anyways, savings is key and no one seems to do it however everyone in S Florida has a boat sitting in front of their house and have not made a house payment, no savings, retirement nothing... it's sad. Just like this $600.00 the whole country is getting soon.. Everyone should save it, however instead they will go out and buy TV's, IPod's, other unvaluable things just like the goverment wants... it's foolish.

[TKDLady]

Mine will be going toward my childrens' rent.

[Stone]

Originally Posted by TKDLady

Mine will be going toward my childrens' rent.

lol I always told my mother the best gift she ever gave me was nothing! It made me stronger in the end, she had the means to do so, but wanted me to learn to do things myself... tough love I guess..... wait this is prob another thread lol