I missed my 20's in the pursuit of higher education as well. I was too afraid of taking on debt and being unable to repay them so it took me until age 31 to finish my degree. And now it looks like I'm going to miss my 30's too because the degree was worthless and now I'm in school again because I'm pushing 40 with no good job in sight. I don't know what your field of expertise is, but I envy you. Sure, you have to leave Vancouver but at least you've got a decent paycheck now. You'll be alright.

I am living proof that even having a great education is no guarantee of getting a great job. I spent fifteen years in school and didn't finish Grad School until I was in my late thirties...and I struggle to make my paycheque last until the next one comes. Good luck to you.

Why can't you commute from the burbs? Whalley is 30 minutes from downtown and a cheap place to live....all this "I have to quit my job and move to Winnipeg or wherever" is getting tiresome not to mention overly dramatic.

University education alone won't solve a lack of marketable experience & skills. You think employers want to hire a 30 year old applying for their first real job? I know people in their late 20s and 30s with two houses already. No parental financial backing, just street smarts. Need a few irons in the fire at once. Don't buy into post-secondary's story that they are the only way to financial freedom, or your true potential.

I quit college after a year and worked and saved money for a down payment on my first place in my early twenties. No brilliant plan. Just didn't think it was smart to waste money on rent and basically pay off someone else's mortgage. Didn't have to be a genius to figure out that buying your own home was always going to turn out favourably. Education is great if you have a plan. Seems like a lot of people bought into the thinking that if you get an education then success will ultimately follow. I would never advise someone to not get an education, but you should be aware of what is going on in the world around you and adjust accordingly. I think some people blindly follow education like it's a religion and then realize that they've been duped when it's too late.

A couple of these comments don't make sense. First, it has been about two decades since any twenty-something had enough money for a down payment, and the financial approval from the bank, to buy a home in Vancouver. I have wanted my own home in my home city since my 20's and it's just never going to happen. Second, having a university education is wonderful, too bad that it is now an overpriced mandatory high school extension program because that's really lessened the meaning of pursuing higher education. Third, it is really damn hard living in Vancouver these days - the city offers little for the amount of money that it costs to live. I could never afford any outdoor activities aside from walking, and pricing again doesn't encourage a dynamic arts and culture scene. So in short, I don't blame someone who finally has a decent career for wanting to get out, especially if they're young - it's probably a wise decision. The majority of your paycheque should be yours, not your landlord's.

I worked my ass off and spent 8 years in the best schools in Canada. followed the path they said would lead to financial success and now, as a 35-year-old, my annual earnings are approximately $200K. I consider myself very lucky. Yet, there's no way I could afford a house in this city. Additionally, out of about 100 friends from school who make a good living, I know two with a detached house. They're married and their house is in the cheapest neighbourhood in the city, near the pne. We can talk all day and all night about people making the wrong choices, but I've seen first hand that even if you dedicate your life to achievement, you still can't afford a damn house here by the time everyone hopes to have kids. That's wrong.

To continue my rant right above, for all those people who think they know someone with "street smarts" who bought something in their early 20s and now has a house at 35, you're right and wrong at the same time. You're right that it worked out, but the answer to unaffordability is not an continuously appreciating property market, the likes of which Vancouver hs set historical precedents. In any normal situation, the early 20's house guy making 70 k would not be doing better than the educated professional. This city just creates Trump-style real estate millionaires out of anyone who bought in.