What’s the cost of having everything we want before we reach the age of 30? This is the question many young families need to start asking themselves before they get married or start having children. The spending habits of young people are out of control. We went from our grandparents getting by with very little, then our parents having a little more than them and now young people want everything right away.
Young Hispanic families must consider that their parents have accumulated what they currently have over a period of 50-60 years. They see that as too much time in order to have what they have. Yes, young people might have huge ambitions but it’s becoming challenging to keep up with what mom and dad have. There are more dual income families today than a generation ago, but most of the time, it’s required. New couples who are both working will see that as an opportunity to live in a way where they couldn’t if they only had a single source of income.
The challenge that young people are dealing with today are two-fold. One, if the couple went to college, greater is the chance that one of them is carrying a good amount of school loans. It’s also likely that there is a combination of credit card debt. Second, young couples like to start families. This is where is gets really complicated. There will come a day when the baby arrives and is looking into mommy’s eyes and mommy is going to thing and say, “I don’t want to go back to work”. The problem is that their current standard of living is composed of dual incomes. New moms end up having to take their newborns to childcare or if they live close to grandparents, have them look after the child while mom goes to work. Some go as far as researching online cash loans to see if they can borrow their way through the month. This is scary because people are receiving money they don’t have to payback.
If there are any young couples reading this, I feel your pain. If you don’t have any kids yet but are seriously considering, I would advise you to start living off of one income and save the second income until the baby arrives. This will help you make an informed decision about going back to work. You want to have the option to stay home with your baby.
My favorite finance guy Dave Ramsey said it nicely:
“”Most young couples expect to attain their parents’ standard of living within about five years. Only it took their folks 25 yearsto get there!”
We need to slowwww dowwwnnnnn. I’ve had a few friends get married, buy a house, have a child and buy a new car all within a few years time.
Life happens, but you can also have a plan.
A wise man once said that if you spend your 20’s trying to get ahead in life and be responsible, you’ll do pretty well in your 30’s and beyond. I tend to believe him! Thanks for your post!