The New American Dream

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What’s this “American Dream” all about? Judging from movies and the ever constant article about its relation to millennials, I think it went like this: work hard in high school and get good grades, go to *the best* college, again…get good grades, graduate, find a good-paying job, get married, buy a house in a suburb with a white picket fence, have 2-3 munchkins, continue working at your job for years to collect a pension+also count on social security to support you, and live happily ever after.

Hahahaha. Sorry,just writing it is funny. It’s interesting to see the shifts in perception millennials (and even younger Gen X-ers) have when it comes to the ever elusive “American Dream”.

Buying a house or…?

When I graduated college, I kept being told by my parents friends and other older adults that I needed to buy a house because “renting is throwing money away”. The statement isn’t quite true. People are doing several things rather than buying a house young.

The first of two big things going on is a lot more people nowadays are moving back home after graduating from college. It’s a buzzkill to relive in a childhood bedroom again but hey, the rent is too damn high and Sallie Mae wants her money.

The second big thing is the tiny house movement. It’s grown a lot in popularity with many articles and shows like Tiny House Hunters and Tiny House Nation covering it. I LOVE the tiny house movement. It’s one of my near goals to be able to build one of my own. 😉

SO MANY people buy houses before they’re ready. The concept of home is changing. One of the things that boggles my mind is the lack of affordable housing. It’s a strong reason why so many are still living with their parents, renting, or living in a tiny house/RV. Why are houses so massive nowadays?!?

Jobs & Stability

What do you define as a “stable job”?

My first thought is the tech industry, many think it’s this lucrative and stable career path yet companies all around are doing mass layoffs. I’ve started to see more and more articles about having an emergency fund with 3-6 months of expenses saved up. Layoffs seem to be happening more frequently than in years past.

With stagnant wages, job security woes, and mountains of debt, side hustles seem like an essential thing.

Retirement

Many people still appear to want to retire at the traditional age of 65. Pensions are for the most part a thing of the past. Every now and then, my mom and uncle (both in their sixties and retired) nag me about how I need to get a job with a pension because “these 401k’s aren’t working for people”.

It made me think about how my generation has to reallllyyy plan for retirement, something previous generations didn’t have to focus on as much. Despite the retirement crisis and social security woes, people still aren’t actively taking charge of retirement planning (<—-amusing article, go read it, I’ll wait).

People appear to be more focused on keeping up with the norm: buying a large house, new cars (with *all* the extras), and $10-15 drinks at the bar.

Kids

So many people ask me when I am planning on having kids, how many I want and so forth. It’s strikes me as a little odd since I’m a 21 years old and single. Nonetheless, it’s worth pointing out kids are super expensive. Really, really, expensive. (#RIPwallet).

The amount of kids people are having is decreasing and some are opting to not have any at all. Whether or not a CNN Money estimate is accurate is beside the point. Raising a kid is expensive. People are becoming more aware of this nowadays.

What’s your american dream? Not sure? I’ll tell you mine…

My personal american dream:

• Be as financially literate as possible and aware of where my money is going
• Have a healthy emergency fund at all times (3-9 months expenses depending on where I am in life)
• Work a job in a career I enjoy, that propels me forward
• Not have a mortgage control me (Not opposed to buying a house, but when I do it will be something I know I can afford and manage)
• Be conscious and weighing the options when taking on debt
• Max out my Roth IRA ever year (not going to happen this year because of debt payoff but within 2-3 years I want to start maxing it out every year)
• Never let a flashy ad or society encourage me to take on debt I don’t need

There are more, but those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Plus I didn’t want the list getting too long, haha.

What do you think about previous depictions of the “american dream” vs. today’s definition? What’s your idea of “the american dream? 

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Colin // RebelwithaPlan

Colin Ashby is the writer behind Rebel with a Plan, a website dedicated to people who choose to rebel against the norm of living in debt and feeling financially unenlightened. He believes everyone has an eccentric quality to embrace and that lattes are sometimes a necessity (despite what the personal finance community tells you).

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