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Comment by Yaa101 | Hacker News Reader

Probably you are going to be mad at me, but I give it a try. My advice (genXer) to the genZer generation is, stop being so scared about what other people think of you, lay down you phone more often (leave it at home) and go do some relaxing stuff like going to concerts or festivals, spend more time outside (unless you are 365 days a year in a cold environment) and seek more people that leave their phone at home too...

Take more risks in finding out what your purpose is here on this planet, if playing safe and live a boring life is really your thing after finding out then you have all my respect, but at least explore...

Be careful with addictions of any kind as they slave you, especially smartphones, gambling, cigarettes and hard drugs, stay away from debts as well...

Try to stay free and try to define your own path as much as can...

Success, you can do it as most of us did it...

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As an early 30s millenial, I received this exact advice when I was in my 20s. I hated it then, and I hate it now.

All of those things you mention require time. Not just ANY time, but expensive time. Time spent playing video games or using your phone or browsing the internet is cheap. It doesn't require driving, dealing with traffic. It doesn't require planning months in advance and using what little time off you get already. It doesn't require spending even more energy after you come home exhausted from work.

The reality is that time is expensive. And unfortunately most of your time spent goes to a job that doesn't compensate well for it. Even as a relatively successful software engineer I'm likely never going to own a home. So I can fully understand why Gen Z feels burned out when the prospects of a future barely exist.

> Even as a relatively successful software engineer I'm likely never going to own a home

According to levels.fyi, an entry level software engineer makes 150k-200k. And from my experience and those of my friends, this seems to be true. And I also know some friends in their 20s that have already bought homes using their SWE salaries. So it does seem well within the realm of possibility. Why do you think you'll never own a home?

This is really not the case in France, for example.

When all not-fancy houses around (in a not-so-fancy Paris suburb - well you want to stay close to a job market... - and you need to be close to public transportation 'cause hey you don't want to use a car, save the planet right?) start at 450/500kEUR (with work to do on it!) and you're making 40kEUR a year as a sw engineer, and still have to pay rent in the meantime because you're not getting a 30 year loan for >50% of your salary without some kind of down-payment you're gonna have to work 10y to gather... Meh I get it.

The housing market is just stupid. And I'm sure some happy people find nice jobs and houses not not around Paris, but I also see how economic downturns made peers redundant and... Well not many possibilities when away from the main job market.

Yeah you're still better than your uber or lower paid peers, but what are you doing working 50+hours a week for that?

That's nowhere near accurate unless you're

1. Working in the bay area for one of the big tech companies

2. Working for an overvalued startup (which given the turmoil of the current stock market is not a very stable shot).

For reference as an entry level software engineer I started my career at 75k a year in a sector that's known for being very lucrative. This was in a fairly low to average CoL area and while you could scale to 120k+, that comes at around double the rent and general costs.

So 'why do you think you'll never own a home' is an incredibly loaded question, don't you think?

It wasn't meant to be a loaded question, I was asking for their reasoning behind a statement they made. Personally I know people in New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles that make similar salaries. Also, if you aren't working and planning to live in the bay area, housing prices are usually much more affordable

You can get that salary remote in a LCOL area, but you do have to be in either "big tech" or a healthcare/energy/finance company.

Addiction to emotions and addiction to thoughts are two big ones that keep people enslaved. Most people are oblivious to how much energy the thought-jumping process wastes. Thoughts have momentum, at least in the brains, so reading a newsfeed - a series of tiny thought-bites - is like driving in stop-and-go traffic at 6 pm: you accelerate to process the next post in your newsfeed, and immediately decelarate because the post has little substance. After a few hours of such "driving" we feel exhausted, yet having advanced very little. What's worse, most newsfeeds try to enflame emotions that waste even more of our energy.

I would love to live an exciting life but unfortunately I have bills to pay. I'm torn between saving up to have a decent standard of living in my 30s and beyond, or going AWOL today and hoping that I can jump back into a career with higher earning potential to make up for all the years I wasn't able to buy into the market or purchase a home. I try to carpe diem as much as I can but it doesn't help that I am switching jobs every two years and moving almost every year and am never able to find a real sense of stability. Was it the same during the 90s? I watched Office Space and found the protagonist pretty relatable.

As someone who was irresponsible in my 20s but had so much fun and made so many great memories that I can never regret it, now I’m playing catch up and it totally sucks. I don’t have any advice except generally don’t take any advice from anybody older than 40, and that is probably pushing it. They have no idea.

Seriously come to Europe, you are basically forced into 30+ days of vacation and Heathcare is free, no need to save in case of an illness or fear losing your job and having no healthcare. This means more chance of saving for a house deposit. I am in the UK and as long as you move north of Birmingham the house prices are not stupid.

I actually wanted to, but that required getting a job there first. I was able to get a CS degree and now I am making more than enough here, but I am still behind and the process of starting a new career late in life has been grueling.

The midlands are absolutely lovely, highly recommend the area (specifically Swadlincote). Had a friend show me around years ago and it was a life changing experience.

I have seriously been considering moving to Europe given the rise of fascism in the US. What does the immigration process look like for an American?

No idea. Since we divorced the EU we are probably desperate for immigration though. We do not seem to have enough people for anything.

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