Jay, who has lived in the Waukesha area for nearly 20 years, is an active volunteer who serves on numerous local boards and committees. He’s married to Colleen with three kids having gone through the Waukesha schools. He is the VP of a local distribution company and currently serves on several area Boards.
$3.46 a gallon for gas ??!!
A median Waukesha home price of $195,250 ??!!
A total average cost of a new car in 2006 is $27,800.00 ??!!
These numbers are stark signposts for our children and what they will face in the coming years as they live the American Dream…
“Save your money; buy/build a starter home; sell it in few years; and move up to a better one”. That used to work, but with costs spiraling upward on many other staple expenses, including rent, how will they save enough for a downpayment? Simple – get a mortgage which would have been unthinkably high only 15 years ago. Now, with monthly payments “out of sight”, get both partners to work full time and hope neither experiences a career setback.
OK, you’re in a house, but you have to get to and from your job. Do you opt for one of those 0% 5 year new car financing specials where at some point in the loan life you owe more than the car is worth? Or is it a more affordable used car where the sticker price still demands another monthly payment? Either way, you will need gas and insurance. And if gas prices maintain at their current level much longer, many tight budgets will have to charge their purchases at the pump and make monthly payments. For gasoline!
Fast forward a few years and imagine between inflation and payments you now have an equity stake in your home. Time for the home you really wanted all along, so it’s now time to build! Great – buy a lot at Pewaukee’s Broken Hill subdivision off of Capitol Drive and Hwy 164 where the lot prices begin at $180,000. Now add a home for another $250,000 to $350,000 and you too can enjoy the fruits of your labor with an investment (and loans) totaling $475,000 or, most likely, more.
Why write about something so apparently “Doomsday”? How depressing would this be if one were to include health-care and higher education costs in the equation? And are jobs really keeping pace with consumer prices? The answer is surprising…
The next generation truly doesn’t care! This is their “time in the spotlight” and they are going to go for the gusto! Why…they believe in the American Dream! The “Dream” that what got them there will keep them there. Realistically, this upcoming generation does not give a thought about 20, 30, or 40 years from now. They live for today! ...And maybe that is…OK…
But it makes you wonder – did the generation ahead of me voice the same concerns and skepticism about my peers?...Remember, they were the generation who worried about saving us from Elvis’s gyrating torso on the Ed Sullivan TV Show. Obviously we didn’t take them too seriously…
Oh heck, ignore the price of cars and vacant land – enjoy yourself! You can always learn from your mistakes the “next time around”…
