I had a good chat with one of my neighbors yesterday. She is 84 years old and a retired real estate broker.
She asked me what I went to college for and and then asked me if I didn't mind, how much do you make. When I told her her mind was blown.
She was like you have a bachelor's degree and you are in your mid 30's. I was expecting at least 100k a year. That's not right. When she said I should look into large companies in Boston as they likely pay more. And when I told her that I do actually work for the largest advertising agency in Boston her mind was again blown. She was like a trade worker makes more money.
She couldn't comprehend that companies would pay so little for people with college degrees and that I should be looking to change my field to something that would make more money. I explained how white collar wages have been stagnant for 20 years now and how that some fields like mine have seen salaries shrink do to globalization. How our clients always say we are to expensive and we lose work to it being contracted out to India and what not for cheaper labor.
We also talked about how much going to college costs these days and again this blew her mind. She was like how can you making ends meet with that kind of debt. I explained to her that college is really only worth it these days if you have the money to go and don't need to take out loans.
We also talked about benefits. And I told her they suck these days. That every year it's what else are they going to cut from my healthcare and how much more out of pocket is healthcare going to cost me now.
Being a former real estate broker, of course she gave me the advice that I should be investing in property. I explained that with my student loans and current salary, I can't afford to buy a home. She said, well, you could if you were really smart about it. But you probably would only be able to afford it in areas someone like you would really not want to live. But I could rent it to turn more profit.
Then she went into her history about owning rental properties and how you have to be "heartless". She said she was raised believing that if you can't afford to pay rent or put food on the table it's your own doing. You are lazy and not motivated to get out there and work.
She has given up all her rental properties prior to covid. She said the majority of her renters could not afford rent. She would show up to demand rent from a single mother of 2 who had to choose between putting food on the table or paying rent. When this situation became the norm for her regularly each month for most renters she had enough. She couldn't be "heartless" anymore and sold her properties. She still believes their issues are of their own making. But she couldn't be the one to say you can't put food on the table for your two kids because you need to pay rent any longer.
