As science, technological advances, societal relations, and ways of doing things evolve, advice that was excellent yesterday may be obsolete by tomorrow. While there were many great beliefs and practices from the boomer era, many don’t translate to modern times; here are several examples of said advice.
1. Always Keep a Quarter for the Payphone
Once upon a time, having a quarter in your pocket guaranteed the ability to make a phone call on pay phones on every corner. While the advice: “Always carry a quarter in case you need to make a call,” was great, my boomer parents told me to call collect from a specific payphone. However, they never accepted the charges. The drill was to hang up and trust they were on their way to pick me up at the designated phone booth.
2. You’re Not Always Going to Have a Calculator
Back in the day, the advice that you needed to learn math because you were never going to have a calculator in your pocket was sound. Smartphones have eradicated that reality, and I think it’s led to less logical and critical thinking.
3. Keep Your Spare Change in Your Car
Can you imagine having your middle console filled with change in today’s world? Absolutely not. That is the quickest way to ensure someone breaks into your vehicle. But there was a time when keeping change in your vehicle made filling up your gas tank fun. You’d be surprised how quickly that change added up.
4. Dress for the Job You Want
Has a boomer ever told you to dress for the job you want? That’s because “back in the 1900s,” as my teenager so affectionately says, that’s how it was done. Showing up, dressed in your best with a firm handshake and smile secured employment.
Today, people will send you away and maybe not give you the job because you showed up instead of going through the online process as stated on the doors of their establishments and websites.
5. Go Into the Establishment to Get the Job
Elaborating on the last point, that’s how it was done. You dressed nicely to pick up the application, and when you returned it, you always handed it to the manager. If the manager wasn’t there, you came back with it. Again, that doesn’t fly today and might irritate the hiring people if you don’t follow protocol. They can’t get around the way the company does things because you show up in a nice suit.
6. Learn How to Balance Your Checkbook
Keeping a check register was once the norm, and advising you know how to balance it was sound boomer advice. Today, people don’t carry them around. When was the last time you wrote a check? While this advice has become obsolete, tracking your spending and following a budget is still relevant today.
7. Get a College Degree to Be Successful
Boomers sold the college dream to many Gen X and Millennials who went to school for useless degrees surmounted under a mountain of student debt, primarily because they had different college experiences. College didn’t cost anywhere near what it does today, either. While this was once excellent boomer advice, many today have come to understand that college doesn’t guarantee better success today.
8. If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say
The adage, ” If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” doesn’t apply in the same way. While I hope this still applies to unwarranted negativity and gossip, people speak up today about injustices, wrongdoings, and inappropriateness in the workplace.
9. Stay at One Job
Many boomers knew the reality of being rewarded by companies when they were loyal to them. Bonuses and pension plans were common, among other incentives. However, that’s not how the workforce operates today. It’s all about the bottom dollar. Countless businesses pay the bare minimum and are willing to swap you for people willing to work for lower wages instead of paying for your experience and loyalty.
10. Save up and Buy It in Cash
My boomer parents encouraged me to save up for things and pay for them in cash. My father was a responsible credit card user who paid his balances in full to maintain his near-perfect credit score. Many people today dismiss this as obsolete advice because it’s impossible to save money to buy a new car, as cars are considerably more expensive today and wages never caught up.
However, I’d still say this is relevant financial advice on feasible purchases for people who want to maintain a debt-free or minimal-debt life. Society has evolved to instant gratification entitlement, but it is okay to save up for things. It helps instil gratefulness and sincere appreciation for what you have.
11. Buy a Home Instead of Renting
Another piece of boomer advice that is becoming obsolete is that buying a new home is better than renting. Have you seen how much it costs to buy a house in your area or compared it to that of the rest of the country?
Buying a home is not what it used to be. While mortgage payments are cheaper than rent — interest rates, home repairs, property taxes, and other home-associated fees are higher. A 20% down payment is also challenging to save, and certainly not on a single income.
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