Million Stories
A Different Way to Afford the Dream
  1.  >A Different Way to Afford the Dream

They began their marriage with over $100,000 in student debt. Yikes. For Tae and Monica Kim, who were just starting a family, they also had to worry about childcare, food, clothing, the works. The very idea of owning a home seemed impossible.  “We couldn’t afford a house,” says Tae, a financial blogger. “ We couldn’t afford childcare. It kind of felt like you got one or the other.” The key, though, for them, was to reimagine the classic vision of the American Dream. You know the one, where you strike out on your own, start a family, buy a home. Instead, they decided to live their own version of the Dream. And what does that Dream look like? “I’m a 40-year old guy living with my mom,” Tae laughs.  They decided to live back home with Tae’s parents. It was an arrangement that worked like magic. They could keep their jobs, they were able to buy their own home, they had access to childcare, and they were able to share bills like for food and utilities. Families who live together can help each other, and the tight bonds cut both ways. “Monica and I, the way we define the American Dream is the freedom and flexibility to be able to pursue our version of what that dream is.” And for the Kims, and millions of others, that dream looks like living with mom and dad.

They began their marriage with over $100,000 in stude...