The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by ArchtopHeaven
    It's fair to say Gen Y and Gen z are not only the most indebted generations ever but they are also the ones with the hardest squeeze on living standards for some time.
    I'm kind of getting frustrated with where this conversation has gone. Do you know why I don't have a collection of Gibson archtops? Because in 2008 when I was early career the market tanked and I lost everything I had saved until that point. Just when things start to almost look up, 2020 happens. It's not that my generation doesn't want, it's just that we have been hit with disaster after disaster. I have a few good jobs because I went to college. I have to work a few jobs because I went to college. I didn't qualify for the GI bill, so I've funded the education of myself and my wife, which has meant that things like vacations and guitars are not something I can just go have fun with. I'm in way better shape housing wise than many of my friends because of the VA mortgage, but if I didn't have that, we would never have been able to buy a house until recenty, and oh, that's right, the housing market has gone bonkers. There's no winning.

    Millenials have been unevenly hit by failing markets and job market disruptions more than once in our still early professional careers. I don't think it's fair to generalize that we don't want versus accepting the reality that the playing field has rarely ever been even enough for us to catch up.

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  3. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by JSanta
    I'm kind of getting frustrated with where this conversation has gone. Do you know why I don't have a collection of Gibson archtops? Because in 2008 when I was early career the market tanked and I lost everything I had saved until that point. Just when things start to almost look up, 2020 happens. It's not that my generation doesn't want, it's just that we have been hit with disaster after disaster. I have a few good jobs because I went to college. I have to work a few jobs because I went to college. I didn't qualify for the GI bill, so I've funded the education of myself and my wife, which has meant that things like vacations and guitars are not something I can just go have fun with. I'm in way better shape housing wise than many of my friends because of the VA mortgage, but if I didn't have that, we would never have been able to buy a house until recenty, and oh, that's right, the housing market has gone bonkers. There's no winning.

    Millenials have been unevenly hit by failing markets and job market disruptions more than once in our still early professional careers. I don't think it's fair to generalize that we don't want versus accepting the reality that the playing field has rarely ever been even enough for us to catch up.

    I don't agree with the idea that Gen Y our Z don't want things. I agree with your view that Gen Y and Z are suffering in many ways that Gen X didn't.
    I'm a prototype for Gen Y after all, being born in 1980.
    I was lucky to have bought a house very early on in life.
    If I was American I would be putting my money in bricks and mortar as fast as I could. Or maybe REITs.
    Last edited by Archie; 01-28-2022 at 09:42 AM.

  4. #28

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    Collecting was a post-war phenomenon, when middle-class people in the West had steady jobs, retirement plans and spacious suburban houses. Since the turn of the century, the middle-class has been steadily disappearing. Millennials are earning about three-quarters of what people their age earned in the eighties. Wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few. A lot of skilled labour has gone to Asia (where the guitars are now made), and a lot of professional work has been replaced by technology (who needs an accountant now we have Xero?). Younger people live in smaller places, which they are less likely to earn. Give them time, and their lives will be worse. The pandemic has ensured that.

    Happily, millennials are not interested in object culture. Things don't matter to them. They value experiences more than possessions. They probably think they are superior to their parents in this respect, but people are very good at thinking necessities are choices.

    The secondhand book market is a shadow of its former self. Nobody wants classic cars any more. Pianos are given away. Why should guitars retain their value?

  5. #29

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    As I read thru this post I see no mention of the federal tax laws. At least here in the states, (I have no knowledge of how the rest of the world has changed) The tax laws have changed in recent years making it difficult if not impossible to NOT claim sales as income along with tax to the buyer. The seller assuming they use a service of some sort (pay-pal Reverb E-bay etc.) bears the burden of the commision rates, along with a statement of sale making it reportable. Even your bank account gets red flagged if you move more than 10,000 outside of normal income. (not hard to do with the price of archtops) If you put these 2 factors together, wouldn't it stand to reason that the selling price would have to increase rather dramatically just to break even? For the people (and I'm sure there are many) that like to buy and sell gear, it's not so easy anymore. The federal government has the cure for GAS I would have to imagine that it's cheaper to keep it in many cases.