Living the high life, but falling deep in debt

On MTV, a young girl with heavily lined eyes and markedly glossy
lips is explaining to me why Yves St. Laurent is her clothing brand
of choice ““ apparently because it’s lack of popularity
makes it the most conspicuously elite label.

I flip the channel.

On VH1, a deep-voiced British narrator is telling me about
yachts, bigger yachts and even bigger yachts. OK, TV time is
over.

Something strange is occurring here. In the face of rising gas
prices, increasing interest rates and a more competitive job
market, the luxury industry is flourishing. Through celebrity rags,
so-called “reality” shows and even books (albeit
written by “The Simple Life” simpletons), a peephole
the size of a boulder has been created through which the lifestyles
of the rich are excruciatingly examined and then eagerly desired.
No wonder the luxury and high-end market is now the fastest growing
segment of retail.

The exaltation of luxury goods is too expensive an attitude for
students to embrace. At UCLA, student fees have increased every
year for the past five years straight; the UC Board of Regents
approved an 8 percent increase for undergraduates and a 10 percent
increase for graduate students.

What’s more ““ it’s not like other costs have
decreased or even remained the same: housing, transportation and
health insurance fees have also risen sharply.

Take a look around; is our campus not full of luxury brand logos
such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Lacoste? I see dozens of people
wearing the latest Chanel and Gucci sunglasses, which are easily
$300 a pop.

Whatever happened to the starving student? Maybe a pair of
oversized Dior shades is being used for camouflage, because
according to statistics, the stereotypical poor student has grown
alarmingly more common.

In 2004, the median debt of college graduates from student loans
was 66.5 percent higher than it was in 1993, having reached
$15,162. To add to this, more students have credit cards these
days, with an average credit card debt of $2,169.

It won’t end there. An undergraduate college diploma used
to be enough to secure a good job, but now you’ve got to have
one of those pesky graduate degrees. Unfortunately, before getting
you into the highest income brackets, those programs will first
ironically land you in the poorhouse. Obtaining higher education
may turn out to be a good investment, but with increasing graduate
school costs this is becoming increasingly difficult.

The tuition for the MBA program at the Anderson School of
Business is $23,516 annually for California residents and $33,829
for out-of-state residents. Yearly tuition for the UCLA Medical
School is $27,418. With this as the going rate, and most programs
two years or longer, it’s easy to accrue a huge debt. And
with cost of living expenses, intense financial burdens may
snowball, especially if an attitude to live beyond one’s
means has been fostered in preceding years.

Even if some parents are currently funding students’
undergraduate education and luxurious spending habits, the abuse of
credit cards is a realistic consequence when the financial rug of
security is pulled. Without prior experience, is there enough
willpower to refrain from saying, “Charge it”?

An episode of “Sex and the City” comes to mind
““ main character Carrie Bradshaw will soon be evicted unless
she purchases her apartment. The down payment: $30,000. In
Carrie’s savings account: $957. She wonders where all her
money has gone until her friend points out that Carrie owns 100
pairs of $400 shoes. “There’s your down payment!”
her friend exclaims. Carrie then laments that she will literally be
the woman who lived in her shoes.

Having nice things can be satisfying, but are they worth it,
rising tuition and credit card debt be damned?

All signs are telling us to be frugal, but our culture is
becoming more and more obsessed with luxury. This may be
facilitated by the democratization of luxury goods, for instance
even Wal-Mart is targeting this market by advertising in Vogue, a
magazine that focuses on luxury. Internet sites such as
NET-A-PORTER and eLUXURY also make these goods much more
accessible.

A recent article in BusinessWeek described today’s
30-year-olds as possibly “the most indebted generation in
modern history.” But if fees and living costs continue to
increase, debts steadily amass and tastes become more excessive,
then that title may just go to our generation.

If you have more than five credit cards, e-mail Tao at
atao@media.ucla.edu

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