Letter: Millennials aren’t all that different

The column “Millennials right not to buy houses” [Opinion, Aug. 26] argues that millennials are delaying marriage and as a result, home ownership. Columnist Cathering Rampell says millennials are “poor.”

When my wife and I began our careers about 50 years ago, we and most of our friends were “poor.” Why is this a revelation?

I began my career in the home-building industry in 1963. Our companies have built thousands of homes, and I learned a few lessons about home ownership along the way. The best decision any couple can make for their future is the purchase of a home.

In spite of Rampell’s assertions that no one should ever “dump all their savings into” this “single, giant, highly illiquid asset,” virtually everyone purchases a home by financing it with a 25- to 30-year mortgage.

Not all assets should or do deliver a rate of return that mirrors any set guideline or index fund. In the case of a home, it’s first a secure place to raise a family. If that isn’t an asset, I’m not certain what is.

Second, and just as important, when folks are ready for retirement, it is, for most, the largest asset they will have.

Every generation struggles with success, and millennials will be no different.

Charles Mancini, Hauppauge