Free The Drones: A Week In Review

One of the personal finance blogs I read is Free The Drones. Unfortunately, there are so many of them, I can't keep up with them daily, but I do try to read each of the ones linked on my right side bar at least once a week. This week Free The Drones had several very interesting articles that I thought, I would take a couple of minutes to discuss here.

The first article that I found interesting was about the California housing market. We all know that the cost of a home in California is expensive, with homes costing several times more then they would in other parts of the country, especially here in Kansas. His post though, was about a specific home. How much do you think a home next to a prison would cost. In most parts of the country that location would drive down the asking price, and while it still may be true in this American of the sun worshiper, he discloses the unbelievable price in, $600,000 For A House - Next To A Prison. I would have to agree that with him that it would be another arguement to move to a lower cost of living state. Although personally, I would love to escape the cold, and move to the warmer climate.

The other article I would like to write about was his post on Generation Y Isn't Doing So Well With Retirement Saving. This obviously a topic that I keep harping on. While, most American's aren't doing to well, he focuses on our young people, who are currently in college or has just graduated in the past few years.

It's no small feat getting young people - worried more about student loans, credit-card debt and Saturday night - to save for retirement. Only about a third of those in the 21-to-30-year-old group contribute to their 401(k) plans, according to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. Now, through quirky marketing campaigns featuring pizza parties, iPod promotions and even fake letters from parents, the industry is trying to get Generation Y to think about tomorrow.

This generation, like most of America, buy into the advertising and slick gimicks of Hollywood, that says everyone buys a brand new car every couple of years and charge everything on their credit cards. When infact, a wise money spender will save for their car, and then keep it for 10 years or longer.

However, the problem doesn't stop there, the article is more focused on how they are ignoring all the advertising to invest into their futures, even with the simplest of things as their companies 401k. Like him, I would say it is a fair assumption, that if they aren't saving in their companies retirement plan, then they probably aren't saving anything. Which brings me back to their spending habits, they are spending way more then they earn and if they don't curb their spending they will end up spending retirement eating crackers and Alpo.