Boomer Wealth

s1ippy

Inspired by this Washington Post article and another recent one I can't find now, that said only one fifth of those in America with fortunes to pass on actually intend to do so.

I know it's a very America-centric title, but people born circa 1950 in this country also hold a disproportionate amount of the wealth and power.

Many in Ireland will pass wealth on to their children; possibly more than across the pond. I know a fair few people set to inherit dynasties and debts their parents accrued and incurred.

Ireland has always been renowned as being governed by nepotism and "the land of jobs for the boys" but I never felt any of that. My parents didn't have the right connections. I also envisage that whatever my parents leave in their will, there'll be one particular person who will definitely engage at least me, but possibly all the other beneficiaries in legal action and create a huge mire of sh!t, thus making what's set to be the worst tragedy of my life even more traumatic. Hopefully it's decades away.

Are you set to benefit from your parents wealth? Are you supporting them financially, like so many? Are you self-made or do you owe your success to your background?

James Brown

s1ippy wrote: »

Inspired by this Washington Post article and another recent one I can't find now, that said only one fifth of those in America with fortunes to pass on actually intend to do so.

I know it's a very America-centric title, but people born circa 1950 in this country also hold a disproportionate amount of the wealth and power.

Many in Ireland will pass wealth on to their children; possibly more than across the pond. I know a fair few people set to inherit dynasties and debts their parents accrued and incurred.

Ireland has always been renowned as being governed by nepotism and "the land of jobs for the boys" but I never felt any of that. My parents didn't have the right connections. I also envisage that whatever my parents leave in their will, there'll be one particular person who will definitely engage at least me, but possibly all the other beneficiaries in legal action and create a huge mire of sh!t, thus making what's set to be the worst tragedy of my life even more traumatic. Hopefully it's decades away.

Are you set to benefit from your parents wealth? Are you supporting them financially, like so many? Are you self-made or do you owe your success to your background?

Isn't the trend towards millennials and older needing support from their parents?

This is from last year.

Rising housing costs see 77% of young Irish adults living with their parents
Link

This is 9 years old.

Nearly 60% Of Parents Provide Financial Support To Adult Children
Link

s1ippy

Jesus!

I can't even imagine asking my parents for money, they'd tell me where to go. They're not stuck for it, but that's because they don't go giving it away.

I'd estimate that I know more people looking after (elderly) parents than I do people living off their parents. My siblings and I all moved far, far away by the time we were 18 in my family, so that probably speaks volumes. A few came back to help, but the parents have mellowed out a lot in their senior years.

I'm not sure that experience is even unique for people age 30+ though.

Yurt2

This is an extremely sticky and controversial one. Using the the maxim of demoraphics are destiny, the generation born around 1950-60 were blessed from a population pyramid and historical context. Blessed from the reality that in the post-war wasteland of Europe, everything needed to be rebuilt and the demoraphics perfectly suited runway economic growth. Good luck to you trying to get them to concede that much of that generation's gains was dumb luck. The nadir came in the 80s, when Thatcher and Regan (and fellow travelers elsewhere) flipped.the script on the post-war settlement and decided to lock-in the gains made from certain cohorts and demoraphics at the expense of others via the financialisation of the economy for petty electoral gain.

Kids born around the millennium and after have a shocking hand dealt to them. We've built up a reserve of structural problems too numerous to list here, and they'll be the ones footing the bill socially. I'm not optimistic for their fate to be honest.

Nepotism is alive and well in Ireland. Never proved any use to me however.


The Yank boomers were fortunate that they had FDR and his New Deal. It really set them up on the pig's back.

A Green New Deal is much needed in America as their manufacturing has been decimated and it isn't getting any prettier. We could do with our own Emerald New Deal.

Similar with Britain, their healthcare was looked after with the founding of the NHS and there was plenty of rebuilding to do post-war.


It's no surprise that the last great booms were the result of leaders with socialistic ideals in both US and UK.

Yurt!

Yurt! wrote: »

Kids born around the millennium and after have a shocking hand dealt to them. We've built up a reserve of structural problems too numerous to list here, and they'll be the ones footing the bill socially. I'm not optimistic for their fate to be honest.

Yup, definitely not looking overly hospitable for the upcoming generations.

Gregor Samsa

s1ippy wrote: »

I know it's a very America-centric title, but people born circa 1950 in this country also hold a disproportionate amount of the wealth and power.

But surely it’s no surprise that people at the end of their careers and having raised their children are financially better off than those starting out or in the middle of raising a family. If you were born in the 50s you’ll have paid off your mortgage, (hopefully) no longer be supporting children, will have had years to accrue savings, maybe a pension lump sum, but that was the same for the people born in the 40s, 30s 20s before them. And will be the same for the generations after when their time comes.

My dad was born in the late 1930s. While I don’t currently have as much to my name as he had when he was in retirement, I’m certainly doing much better than he was when he was my age (mid 40s).

hotmail.com

Boomer label doesn't apply to Ireland. We didn't have our baby boom til the 1960s and 70s.

A lot of people born circa 1950 haven't got much money at all or are living in England.

odyssey06

Passionate discussions of the "haves" and the "have nots" seem completely unaffected by growing evidence that most of these are the same people at different stages of their lives...
- Thomas Sowell

Yurt2

odyssey06 wrote: »

Passionate discussions of the "haves" and the "have nots" seem completely unaffected by growing evidence that most of these are the same people at different stages of their lives...
- Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is skilled in American partisan political rhetoric and very little else. Certainly not hard-nosed economics that stands up to scrutiny. A sad case of an African American in the Academy made into a useful idiot. It paid his mortgage a few times over I guess.

Gregor Samsa

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

But surely it’s no surprise that people at the end of their careers and having raised their children are financially better off than those starting out or in the middle of raising a family. If you were born in the 50s you’ll have paid off your mortgage, (hopefully) no longer be supporting children, will have had years to accrue savings, maybe a pension lump sum, but that was the same for the people born in the 40s, 30s 20s before them. And will be the same for the generations after when their time comes.

My dad was born in the late 1930s. While I don’t currently have as much to my name as he had when he was in retirement, I’m certainly doing much better than he was when he was my age (mid 40s).

The point is that boomers were more comfortable and better off than their equivalent today. They had solid employment and could afford to buy a house and support the family, often on one income.

Smee_Again

I’d love it if my parents left us kids nothing, it’d mean they enjoyed their well earned retirement.

Gregor Samsa

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The point is that boomers were more comfortable and better off than their equivalent today. They had solid employment and could afford to buy a house and support the family, often on one income.

Well, I think there’s more to it then that. Quality of life was very different then. My dad didn’t buy a car until I was 7. No normal families had 2 cars. People didn’t take foreign holidays, people didn’t spend money on phones, tablets, computers and so many other gadgets. My parents got a wedding present of a vacuum cleaner, and that was the one they used for 30 years. I’ve spent well over a grand on Dysons in the last 15 years alone. Basically, they could afford a house and food, but they spend hardly anything on anything else. Remember, they were paying double digit interest rates on their mortgages and loans. Credit has never been so cheap as it is now, but we have very different expectations of how life is to be lived.

hotmail.com

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The point is that boomers were more comfortable and better off than their equivalent today. They had solid employment and could afford to buy a house and support the family, often on one income.

The 1980s were pretty bleak in Ireland with high unemployment and emigration.

The American analysis doesn't apply in any way at all to us.

joseywhales

I think this is more about housing costs than any other factor, I would argue we have better health which is priceless.

Das Reich

Smee_Again wrote: »

I’d love it if my parents left us kids nothing, it’d mean they enjoyed their well earned retirement.

Strange culture on those anglophone countries. If they brought children to the world is their responsability to leave them in a better position than they had.

AllForIt

So, I'll just do noting to create wealth for myself and hope those that do will 're-distribute' it me.

Handy.

joseywhales

Das Reich wrote: »

Strange culture on those anglophone countries. If they brought children to the world is their responsability to leave them in a better position than they had.

It is strange that we leave any inheritance, it creates an un-equal system, that is less meritocratic, leading to a very inefficient workforce, where the most talented is not the most rewarded. If we had any sense we would focus on breaking the inheritance cycle but keeping just enough to incentivise retirees to maintain their businesses as they come near the end. I honestly feel we are working at <50% here.

Yurt2

AllForIt wrote: »

So, I'll just do noting to create wealth for myself and hope those that do will 're-distribute' it me.

Handy.

Yes. That's the point of the thread. Gold star

nj27

I'm rich, that's the way it happened for me. I didn't have any help from my parents either, I paid for my college myself and I have been investing online since my early teens. I learned the square root of jack **** in college on top of being half retarded myself.

I have 8 employees now and I am profoundly mentally ill, but that is not down to my past or my parents in any way shape or form. I am essentially a bad egg in the colloquial sense, but somehow I was blessed with incredible mathematical ability, if not linguistic or inter-personal skills, yet I have found my way and you can too.

joseywhales

nj27 wrote: »

I'm rich, that's the way it happened for me. I didn't have any help from my parents either, I paid for my college myself and I have been investing online since my early teens. I learned the square root of jack **** in college on top of being half retarded myself.

I have 8 employees now and I am profoundly mentally ill, but that is not down to my past or my parents in any way shape or form. I am essentially a bad egg in the colloquial sense, but somehow I was blessed with incredible mathematical ability, if not linguistic or inter-personal skills, yet I have found my way and you can too.

I'll take the money, not the mental illness hopefully if that's optional.

Tork

If one or both parents get to the stage where they need full-time care, watch that wealth start to shrink.

joseywhales

Tork wrote: »

If one or both parents get to the stage where they need full-time care, watch that wealth start to shrink.

Ah you have to give it to children you trust before that happens, let the state be the safety net with some reciprocal gifting from said children.

nthclare

My dad's retired from the top of his scale department of justice mum worked in health care and their house is paid for.
Mum and himself have a good pension pot and savings.
They don't owe a cent and never bought into the property bubble like some of their friends did.

He's a shrewd Kerry man and lives within his means.
If they pass away there's enough cash for myself and my brother and sister to retire and live quite comfortably.

I've no interest in gambling with pension funds, at 45 my house is paid for from inheritance I got in 2003.

I enjoy life as best I can.

You'll get people saving thousands and work their arses off to retire so they could enjoy coastal drives, have weekends away and maybe fish in river's and off the rocks, go hiking, visit historical sites etc and buy a camper van and tour the country side.

You can do that at a young age too, it's all an illusion of grandeur if you can break the barrier of being addicted to the rat race for the sake of what you can enjoy at a young age...

At 27 I gave up drug's and alcohol in 2003 and it's the best thing I ever did.

It doesn't make me a better man than people still drugging and boozing, but I feel much better in myself that I no longer make stupid decisions and get into self inflicted anxiety, guilt and watching my back and losing memory.

It's a long hangover kicking the drug's and alcohol but I'm living today and I really enjoy the peace of mind and self awareness.

I'm still a rogue, can be arrogant opinionated but I'm able to live with my contradictions....

alias no.9

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The point is that boomers were more comfortable and better off than their equivalent today. They had solid employment and could afford to buy a house and support the family, often on one income.

Longevity of employment was definitely there, if you could get a job and your company didn't close down, but unemployment was endemic and redundancy often meant never working again.

The private rental trap was much smaller but buying wasn't necessarily that easy and interest rates were crippling at times, the biggest difference was that social housing was provided by the state via building instead of HAP. On the house buying front, I'm going to take estates in Rathfarnham, Dublin 16 as an bellweather for the type of area that I've heard cited by people who've said their parents could afford to buy there on one income, but now they're unaffordable. The reality is that their parents bought into new estates at the extreme fringes of the city that were almost inaccessible. The roads, schools, shops, public transport, local services came after the houses. The equivalent today would be buying in Sagart, Adamstown or Charlestown except most of the local infrastructure is better developed. Their parents have houses in nice estates because they were part of the community that matured what were new estates into nice estates in the first place.

As for supporting a family, all meals were home cooked, all lunches were packed lunches, meals out were for communions or confirmations. The one TV in the house was rented and the one and latterly two channels were paid for via the TV license, the TV licence was cheaper if you had a black and white TV. Phones (landlines) were a luxury that many didn't have, even if you had the money it could take a year or more to get a phone installed (this would have been the case into the 1990's).
Many families had no car. A second car in the family was the preserve of the filthy rich or the households where two parents worked, the wife was typically a teacher or nurse. Even farmers had one saloon car that towed the cowbox to the mart and all that stuff, no 4x4's on most farms until close to the millennium. Cars were typically well worn out before they were replaced, modern cars wear the years and miles much better despite what some would tell you, a combination of rust and mechanical wear and tear would usually see cars beyond repair somewhere between 8 and 12 years.

There are certainly examples of children of so called boomers that are will not do as well in life as there parents but there are no shortage of others who have far more than their parents ever had.

nj27

joseywhales wrote: »

I'll take the money, not the mental illness hopefully if that's optional.

Me too, that wasn't an option for me unfortunately.

Gregor Samsa

Tork wrote: »

If one or both parents get to the stage where they need full-time care, watch that wealth start to shrink.

I remember my dad going through his finances with me about 3 years ago. He was 78 at the time. Fully owned a house in Dublin, had 6 figure savings and a decent pension coming in each month - more than he needed, so even at that age his savings were growing. He said that it was the first time in his life that he felt financially secure. He spent his whole working life worrying about money, and finally in his old age he could relax - and he knew that he had the money to cover any care that he would need in the future.

Little did the two of us know that night that less than a year later, he’d be paying €1200 a week in nursing home fees, as he slowly lost his independence, health and mind. He died in May - didn’t stand a chance when Covid 19 ravaged the home.

Myself and my brother stand to inherit what he left now, which is a strange booby prize for the loss of a great dad. Both of us would have gladly seen his savings decimated, and us paying for his care, to still have him with us.

But I still remember how happy and proud and fearless he was that night, when he could say that no matter what happened to him as old age unfolded, he could cover it.

nthclare

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

I remember my dad going through his finances with me about 3 years ago. He was 78 at the time. Fully owned a house in Dublin, had 6 figure savings and a decent pension coming in each month - more than he needed, so even at that age his savings were growing. He said that it was the first time in his life that he felt financially secure. He spent his whole working life worrying about money, and finally in his old age he could relax - and he knew that he had the money to cover any care that he would need in the future.

Little did the two of us know that night that less than a year later, he’d be paying €1200 a week in nursing home fees, as he slowly lost his independence, health and mind. He died in May - didn’t stand a chance when Covid 19 ravaged the home.

Myself and my brother stand to inherit what he left now, which is a strange booby prize for the loss of a great dad. Both of us would have gladly seen his savings decimated, and us paying for his care, to still have him with us.

But I still remember how happy and proud and fearless he was that night, when he could say that no matter what happened to him as old age unfolded, he could cover it.

Your dad sounds like my dad, hard working contentious and a great father figure.

Sorry you lost your dad, and as they say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. It's great to emulate our parents and have a happy upbringing.
I wish yourself and your brother well for the future.

Edgware

Deleted User wrote: »

Yup, definitely not looking overly hospitable for the upcoming generations.

Ah **** em. Any of them with a brain are in college until they are 21/22. Then they decide to **** off around the world for a few years. When they do come back they will flute away until they decide to try and buy a property with no fûcking deposit or permanent job.
I was in London 2 days after my Leaving cert and ended up in Norwich for 3 years. I came across here after 7 years working across from Norfolk to Dorset on deliveries. I got a similar job here and just got on with life

Geuze

joseywhales wrote: »

It is strange that we leave any inheritance, it creates an un-equal system, that is less meritocratic, leading to a very inefficient workforce, where the most talented is not the most rewarded. If we had any sense we would focus on breaking the inheritance cycle but keeping just enough to incentivise retirees to maintain their businesses as they come near the end. I honestly feel we are working at <50% here.

Many retired people don't / can't spend all their income, and so they inevitable accumulate savings.

The head of non-con pensions in the DSP told me that one issue they issue is non-con pensioners savings so much, that they subsequently fail the means test.

El Tarangu

Deleted User wrote: »

The point is that boomers were more comfortable and better off than their equivalent today. They had solid employment and could afford to buy a house and support the family, often on one income.

This statement doesn't stand up to any scrutiny; by the late 1980s, unemployment was at 17%, interest rates were at 15%, marginal income tax rates were at 60%.

30% of university graduates emigrated, many of whom never came back.

Obviously the current global pandemic has put a spanner in the works - but if you think that the boomers* were living the high-hog in decades gone by, you are much mistaken.


*as another poster has pointed out 'boomers' is a misnomer in an Irish context - our population was shrinking then, so the demographic benefits of a growing population didn't apply

Hotblack Desiato

Your article fails at the first hurdle - most non-farming families in Ireland don't have large assets to pass on, at best the family home split several ways - or what is left of it after Fair Deal chomps at it.

Geuze

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Your article fails at the first hurdle - most non-farming families in Ireland don't have large assets to pass on, at best the family home split several ways - or what is left of it after Fair Deal chomps at it.

https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-hfcs/householdfinanceandconsumptionsurvey2018/

See table 5.2 for household wealth by age.


Age 65+

Median gross wealth = 258k, net = 256k
Mean gross wealth = 430k, net = 420k

Dwarf.Shortage

Edgware wrote: »

Ah **** em. Any of them with a brain are in college until they are 21/22. Then they decide to **** off around the world for a few years. When they do come back they will flute away until they decide to try and buy a property with no fûcking deposit or permanent job.
I was in London 2 days after my Leaving cert and ended up in Norwich for 3 years. I came across here after 7 years working across from Norfolk to Dorset on deliveries. I got a similar job here and just got on with life

You literally haven't a clue, it's nigh on impossible to buy a house now with a stellar permanent job and a big deposit. Congrats on emigrating to the UK, you're in rarefied air achieving that.

Hotblack Desiato

Geuze wrote: »

https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-hfcs/householdfinanceandconsumptionsurvey2018/

See table 5.2 for household wealth by age.


Age 65+

Median gross wealth = 258k, net = 256k
Mean gross wealth = 430k, net = 420k

Proves my point. It's not riches unless an only child, and if it is the Revenue will take a chunk.

Hotblack Desiato

hotmail.com wrote: »

Boomer label doesn't apply to Ireland. We didn't have our baby boom til the 1960s and 70s.

We had a non-stop baby boom, it was only in the second half of the 1970s that we started to cotton on to contraception and the notion that using it might not be a trip to hell.

Hotblack Desiato

Yurt! wrote: »

the generation born around 1950-60 were blessed from a population pyramid and historical context. Blessed from the reality that in the post-war wasteland of Europe, everything needed to be rebuilt and the demoraphics perfectly suited runway economic growth.

Not in Ireland though. Plenty of opportunties, just not here. Some did well abroad, came back here and made a good life for themselves, some did well and never came back, some didn't do so well.

coinop

Can we please stop romaticising the 1940s and 1950s? Horrible, grim, depressing times to live in, especially in Ireland. Today's millennials begrudging the older generation's ability to buy a house on one income is downright disrespectful. Maybe if you sacrificed your biannual holiday trips to Lanzarote and New York, cooked at home instead of ordering Dominos pizza, and cut out your childish videogame addiction, then maybe you could afford to buy a home too. Today's youth have a massive sense of entitlement to a life of comfort. No WiFi for a couple of hours is considered an unbearable hardship (this is becoming increasingly evident too in the Direct Provision system where ungrateful (bogus?) asylum seekers turn their noses up at food they consider inferior to five star cuisine, but we'll leave that for another thread). Our grandmothers did not have washing machines and doing the laundry was a whole day affair. Modern household appliances such as the vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, microwave etc. have made life immeasurably more convenient for today's youth and they take it all for granted because they've never known a world without it. Grow up.

Yurt2

Washing machines, Lanzarote, WiFi and Direct Provision, oh my!

Wanderer78

s1ippy wrote:

Are you set to benefit from your parents wealth? Are you supporting them financially, like so many? Are you self-made or do you owe your success to your background?

Tis a complicated one, I have benefited from inheritance myself, and may again in the future, those who gave me this inheritance, worked incredibly hard for their belongings, and looked after me and my family extremely well throughout their lives, and this continued after they were gone, I would give it back, and more, just to see them again

eviltwin

I definitely benefited from being a young worker in the Celtic Tiger years. My 20 something daughter loves to remind me that her generation will not have the same ability to buy a home that I did which is true but we had our own crap to deal with.

Tldr: every generation has its advantages and disadvantages. No point thinking one group has it better.

Wanderer78

eviltwin wrote:

Tldr: every generation has its advantages and disadvantages. No point thinking one group has it better.

Completely agree, each generation has different types of sh1t to deal with, and are incomparable, but many younger generations are struggling to have some of their most critical of needs to be met, most notably housing and accommodation etc, but I believe they will force this to change, I also believe they have already begun this act of change, and best of luck to them, but they will need our support to be successful

Mad_maxx

Yurt! wrote: »

Thomas Sowell is skilled in American partisan political rhetoric and very little else. Certainly not hard-nosed economics that stands up to scrutiny. A sad case of an African American in the Academy made into a useful idiot. It paid his mortgage a few times over I guess.

You just stopped short of labelling him an "unce Tom "

The left really don't like African Americans who vote republican

Wanderer78

Mad_maxx wrote:

The left really don't like African Americans who vote republican

I'm a proud lefty, and I don't believe in your statement, I was clearly missed during your survey of all lefties, so all is forgiven

Mad_maxx

the over sixty-five segment of the population are prioritised over every other age demographic to a horribly disproportionate degree

No pension cut during the financial crisis recession despite it being extraordinarily high

Medical cards for well off pensioner's

Reduced rate of taxation on income - savings

Even the current pandemic lockdown was largely speaking about protecting the strongest voter demographic

To hell with leaving cert students

Wanderer78

Mad_maxx wrote:

No pension cut during the financial crisis recession despite it being extraordinarily high

The financial element of the financial crisis was largely based in the private sector, cuts in the public sector was never gonna work, as again, it was largely financially, a private sector issue, cuts in the public sector just exasperated the situation

Yurt2

Mad_maxx wrote: »

You just stopped short of labelling him an "unce Tom "

The left really don't like African Americans who vote republican

Did no such thing.

His economic conclusions undercooked and trite, and have been debunked up and down the Academy for many decades. The right absolutely love wheeling him out because he happens to be African American. He's cleverly made quite a career out of it.

Do you ever wonder why the Trump's of this world are desparate for minorities to come out and endorse their world view? I absolutely file him alongside useful idiots like that.

OwlsZat

The Noonan led strategy of increasing the cost of housing has created a strange inter generational inequality. People shudder at the thought of a SF Government but now that successive Givernments won't choose to end the malpractice a protest vote for next Government (which could even sooner than rather than later) seems more inevitable.

Wanderer78

OwlsZat wrote: »

The Noonan led strategy of increasing the cost of housing has created a strange inter generational inequality. People shudder at the thought of a SF Government but now that successive Givernments won't choose to end the malpractice a protest vote for next Governemnt (which could even sooner than rather than later seems more inevitable.

the issues that have caused our current housing calamity, were long at play before noonan stuck his beak in, he just happened to make it worse, so its very unfair to single him out, this could be well beyond our politicians to solve, who knows

Edgware

The 25 to 35 age bracket certainly have it difficult to purchase property. The reluctance of the older generation to downsize means that funds they could release to their children are being held back while often one elderly parent toddles around a large house complaing about the cost of heating. Smaller families now mean that when the parent dies the two or three children will get a cash injection. Even an average 3 bed in Dublin will be around the high 300 thousands. Inheritance figures allow up 360000 approx to be left to a child of the deceased tax free. That can be released earlier.
Greater availability of good quality retirement villages which offered services, social companionship etc should be developed where seniors could still have their freedom and own front door access. The present emphasis of putting Mammy into a nursing home and made sit down for the day listening to Fostrr and Allen hasnt proved to be a success particularly during Covid

Wanderer78

Edgware wrote: »

The 25 to 35 age bracket certainly have it difficult to purchase property. The reluctance of the older generation to downsize means that funds they could release to their children are being held back while often one elderly parent toddles around a large house complaing about the cost of heating. Smaller families now mean that when the parent dies the two or three children will get a cash injection. Even an average 3 bed in Dublin will be around the high 300 thousands. Inheritance figures allow up 360000 approx to be left to a child of the deceased tax free. That can be released earlier.
Greater availability of good quality retirement villages which offered services, social companionship etc should be developed where seniors could still have their freedom and own front door access. The present emphasis of putting Mammy into a nursing home and made sit down for the day listening to Fostrr and Allen hasnt proved to be a success particularly during Covid

maybe these older generations are 'suffering' with what some people could call emotional connectivity of their 'home', due to their life experiences of raising a family in the lump of materials we call houses!