http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/16/millionaire-millennials-avocado-property-coffee.html
My social media seems to be going crazy about the comments this guy made about not spending $19 on avocado on toast or 4 coffees a day at $4 each. Most of them seem to be strongly against his view and they’re whining about how insensitive he is to their struggles.
I’m technically a millennial but dear god is that generation fecked.
Well duh, buy your avocados from the market and eat at home. The modern day ramen noodles?
There are 2 certainties about life: People will complain about other people, people will complain about people complaining about people. The complaining about millennials trope is pretty played out tbh. Its usually self absorbed douche bags doing most of the complaining. I have also found the easiest way to get a ton of views and shares on social media is as follows:
Step 1: Be a millennial.
Step 2: Video yourself, preferably driving or walking somewhere for some strange effect complaining about anything related to millennials and discuss how lazy and worthless millennials are and how much better and harder working older generations were.
Step 3: Sit back and let said old people share and like and talk about how “this is one of them who gets it”
Ironically 1/2 the people you will see commenting “Thats right these kids today just dont get it!” are collecting a pension & full social security from the factory job they walked out of high school to get in a house they bought for fractions of the inflation adjusted salary it would go for now. So yes, while there are issues with millennials, I have yet to see how it is substantially different from any other generation complaining about later generations.
That said, I would not purchase avocado on toast. I’m personally not a huge avocado fan.
How is that even possible. Avocados are the bomb yo.
Not really sure, i dont dislike them enough that I would pick them off a sandwich, but I dont really go out of my way to eat them. I’ll still demolish some guac though
I see the avocado on toast thing more of a comment on certain lifestyle choices than a literal interpretation of ‘if you stopped eating avocado on toast you’d be able to buy a house’.
Let’s lay out a few things…the only people that eat avocado on toast (especially at a café or restaurant) are basic betches…and they’re either coming from family money, in a relationship for money, or strip. The analogy simply does not apply to the general population of people that can’t afford things.
But not everyone is a basic betch, and yet, we do all have our vices. Be it drugs, boozing too hard on the weekend or whatever, there are certain things that if we sacrificed, we could pocket the extra cash. It’s more about making prudent financial choices and sacrificing instant gratification for future (improved) reward.
i think the real reason people got all up in arms over the comment about avocado on toast is because they don’t want to be grouped into the category of basic betch. That is something i can get behind.
I don’t really care about the memes about generational divides etc but it’s the comments and ranty posts from my friends that bothers me.
For example, one person said without a hint of irony that “avocados are good nutritional bang for your buck so what’s wrong with eating them on toast at a cafe” as if the concept of not going out for brunch every single weekend is so alien to them it didn’t even enter their mind to buy one and make it at home.
Yea I can understand that, but for every 1 of this guy there are 100 people who call themselves an “entrepreneur” who do the same things and dont have the ability to make it or catch the luck involved to make millions. Im sure he thinks he made it through pure effort though, he’ll likely start touring charging 100 bucks and telling people how if they just want it a little more they can make it like him!
“The people that own homes today worked very, very hard for it [and] saved every dollar, did everything they could to get up the property investment ladder.”
Is he talking about Millennials? Majority of the Millennials I know that own homes either had a huge chunk of the deposit paid for by family, or had 0 student loans due to family paying for school. This guy is a putz. If he’s talking about older people no, home prices are a ridiculous amount higher in comparison to median wages when you look at that between generations.
People are too soft, they don’t know what it’s like to be hungry and have to hustle.
You mad brah? If someone who is not that much older than me but is worth 50x more says something, my first response should be to listen. Not everything he says has to be perfect - he’s just talking casually in some interview. However, conceptually, his message is true. People spend money irresponsibly. They pay for trendy clothes, iPhone, avocado toast, or whatever “experiences” millennials like to “invest” in. Not everyone can be a multi millionaire, but they can surely become more financially secure by being more responsible with money. Subsequently, they will have less reason to complain about not being able to afford their first world lifestyles.
This is not exclusive to millennials. Every generation of US people has borrowed to augment their lifestyles. However, this does not invalidate the advice as it applies to millennials.
but what is life if not a series of experiences? How can you claim that that one toast doesn’t derive the same utility today as fancy jacket tomorrow? What is discount factor on utility?
Everyone be twisted up in a pretzel about other people. F@ck that noiz.
Gotta agree with Ohai on this one. The construction guy’s hair is crazy looking though.
If that avocado toast puts you one step closer to eating the dog food at retirement…
The problem is since the majority of the population lives that way, it becomes a base line. Any lesser spending (aka normal live beyond your means) lifestyle gets labeled as “frugal” in a pretty derogatory way and it takes quite a bit mental effort to ignore that and be fiscally responsible. You basically need to be ok with being that “poor friend/relative/neighbor”
I think frugal people generally receive admiration. Consider how Warren Buffet is praised for living in a small house. It’s just uncommon to actually be that person who lives far beneath their means, as this requires discipline and perhaps excessive sacrifice that most people are not willing to maintain over a long time.
Regarding the value of experiences, yes I understand and appreciate that. However, we live in a society where young people complain about inequality, student loans, expensive healthcare, or unaffordable housing. So, it could be considered hypocritical when these same people spend money on the latest electronics, eating out frequently, gym memberships, or taking Uber everywhere. Maybe this would be ok if people understand and accept the consequences of their spending, but instead, they tend to blame society and the circumstances of their generation.
In fairness, it would take a lot of work for Warren Buffet to live beyond his means.
Yea he’d have to run for mayor with no intention of winning. Or finance barging an iceberg from the arctic to the Arabian desert.
It worked for Brewster.
For real though, I can get behind guac, but on toast? Toast sucks to begin with. Can’t believe no-one has said this.