<p>It’s a tough go when you get out of college. My son needed money for clothes, car and accompanying expenses, deposit for an apartment plus first month expenses and a whole lot of other things. He did not get his first pay check for a good three months after working. We had to lend him some money for him to get started, and that was even though he had a pretty good summer job to launch him. He wanted to do some last chance travel, had some bills, bought some stuff for his apartment, going in with his roommates for a number of items. His first few months checks were gone in a flash. He had to learn to pace his spending. Working in NYC is not cheap. He needed a car, train pass and metro card which meant his transportation expenses were about a third of his paycheck with his apartment costs being another third, and he had found a very cheap living arrangement. His job paid much better than most starting pay levels and had good benefits, but he has been flat broke for years. If he did had had student loans, he would have had to live with us the entire time, and if we did not live near enough to the city, he would not have been able to take that job. Most of his peers who are not being subsidized by their parents are back home, limited by finances–both their own and their parents’ from striking out on their own. Very limiting. Even without loans, he’s moved back home to save some money in a 2 year plan to build a nest egg. It’s been very difficult for him to do so, after 7-8 years of living on his own with people his own age. Difficult for us too, but he was just not able to get ahead and do things in the city that he wanted to enjoy. Something had to go. Now with a new job, he’s thinking of selling his car which has no loan attached to it, but still has a cost. His brother who lives in NYC has no car which frees up money. Neither kid has student loans, but neither feels rich right now either.</p>