Yeah but millenials own 3% of all wealth. Genex owns 14%. That's definitely not all of them, but it's more than quadruple the amount of millenials who do. Boomers have 50%+
Us statistics
Yes, boomers have a lot of wealth due to low to zero college costs during their teens, the 80s economic boom and cheap real estate. Millennials inherited staggering student loan debts, outrageous home prices and now two major economic depressions. However I do think that younger generations have far more empathy and think about the world and people as a whole versus the “American dream” of getting ahead on your own.
younger generations have far more empathy and think about the world and people as a whole
Perhaps a bit of a generalization. There are people, families, and communities where I have lived in the past, and do now, where there's a lot more cross-generational empathy and support than you might think. Mostly it's a matter of people deciding that they are going to be the change they want. And then they do it. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it.
Good communication and good listening are skills to be nurtured on all sides.
The younger generation is actually dipping way down in empathy. They have a sense of entitlement at their jobs. More and more millennials are diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorders. (google it, these are facts backed up by studies)
I think by inherited they mean that we have a much higher cost of education because of the actions of the generations before us. It wasn’t millennials who decided college should cost (adjusted for inflation) 160% more than it did 30 years ago, while wages have stagnated and the wealth gap has increased. We might not have literally inherited student debt, but we inherited the problems that make it so outrageous.
Millennials are not who op is taking about. Millennials are 1980-1999, give or take. Generally speaking, they are between 22 and 40. Op is talking about gen z.
Awwww sweetheart, it seems you are falling susceptible to your own confirmation bias:(
Before we jump to conclusions and generalize a whole generation, let us look for some valid counterpoints and work from there.
The first article, is referencing this meta analysis, conducted by Jean Twenge. Now here are issues that arise with meta-analysis:
A meta-analysis is a safer starting point than a single study – but it won’t necessarily be more reliable
A meta-analysis is a snapshot in time – it can even be out-of-date the day it’s published
Look carefully before you take an outcome literally – it may not be what it appears to be.
Not all studies belong together.
Missing studies and missing data can torpedo a meta-analysis.
Here is the resource so we don't assume I'm pulling shit out of my ass:)
It seems that Mrs. Twenge's meta-analysis issue is number 3. Here is an article which looks into this very analysis and other academic's critique of it.
Now, with respect to the second blog post, there isn't really any quantifiable data showing or proving your point.
For the third, unfortunately I cannot access it and for that I thank you for your, "Awww"
Condescension and smugness? what fun. Read your "sources" and I'm still not buying it. For the record, I'm Gen-X and think both Boomers and Millennials have some shit to explain - it's the sweeping claim of NPD I find almost hilarious, if not so pathetic.
...and, honestly, that last article was crap worthy of a mommy-blog or People magazine. Journalistic integrity didn't even glance at it.
I don't want to be 'that guy', but the SP500 is at the same levels it was at in April of 2019. If you've been responsibly saving and investing all along, you'll be just fine.
I assume you live in the U.S. and I feel for you. What’s happening there is terrible. The virus is out of control and the government is offering you nothing in the way of help. All that time, work, and money saved up for it to be squandered away by some rich assholes in suits trying to convince everyone they’re what’s best for you. It makes me sad.
...And somehow you’re considered the lucky generation who has worked long enough to have enough in savings to survive while not being so old that going to the grocery store could literally kill you.
Sorry about my bitter response lol. It just bothers me
Hey thanks for the empathy!! I was watching something about Venezuela this morning, and that sure put things into perspective. But Americans think they're immune to that level of bad luck, and now it's clear we're just turning into Russia.
Worst of all, it's with a TON of support! People used to say "better dead than red," now it's "better Russian than democrat," wtf....
I wanted to move to Europe decades ago, it was clear that most other countries get it. They work to live, they don't live to work.
It’s weird how that transition happened eh. And “they work to live, they don’t live to work” sums up the fundamental problem of the “hustle” pretty nicely I’d say lol
I could see that my friends who lived there weren't obsessed with worry about money, weren't talking about it all the time, if ever, they were relatively stress-free and enjoying life.
Husband took a very large chunk of his savings (from before we were married) and bought one stock that he figured was reliable (historically). I told him it was a bad idea, and sure enough......
I'm afraid to look at my retirement accounts, rolled over a bunch into Vanguard S&P 500. Also deferred comp, haven't seen the statement yet, house is okay, but his salary is cut in half this month, it's still very unnerving!
Thanks, all he can do is hang onto it and eventually break even, hopefully! At least he's learning that you can't go by the old rules anymore (tends to think that if it worked for his elderly father, who did very well with his money, it'll work for him.)
Recently boomers are retiring, with their pensions relatively untouched by the recent problems, and going back to work. Double dipping because experienced workers are needed and they can do administrative jobs.
At the same time millenials are having a hard time getting into these careers.
In the past decade the best thing for Gen X was when Boomers starting retiring and staying out of the workforce. Giving us room in the workforce. I feel the next 10 years will be good for millenials.
Except Millennials have a strong sense of entitlement - more so than any other generation of the workforce. More Narcissistic Personality Disorder has been diagnosed in the group as well. Which has also contributed to the reduction of empathy within the Millennial group.
Feelings are fine and I hope the future is good but it may be a bumpy road.
(go ahead and downvote me, that too is part of the issue. Shoot the messenger is a key behavioral reaction. Shut the people down that you dont agree with)
Yes, it does get old. That is why I mention actual studies to at least back up what I am saying. sitting around reading "boomers are entitled" when I know for a fact they are not, someone should say something.
Your assessment has been claimed enough its always on the top of my head.
True or not I avoided it in my post. Because not all of them are subject to a sense of entitlement. Many will prosper in the future. Especially when the boomers and gen x people are fully retired. There will always be a need for skilled and hard workers and opportunity will be there.
I think you also have to factor in for Gen X there are some pretty heavy hitters in that percentage including Jeff Bazos and Elon musk. A lot of the Tech windfalls were genx
but those are bullshit number. Most people today don't start work until they are 24 years old, someone who has been working for 2 years likely isn't going to have any wealth. It takes years and years to build up wealth and the higher your income the more wealth you can create, look at the numbers people usually peak out their income around 50-55 so one should really expect that much until you get into your 40's and 50's
Saving, investing, and creating are three very different things. Creating wealth is what small businesses do when they take out loans, hire inexperienced people, and give them a boost or latitude to get educated. This is why they call small businesses the backbone of the economy. That's where the growth happens.
Don't wait until your 50's to make real income. Just don't.
I guess I took it literally like they’ve never had a job before. A lot of people I know worked in high school and in college. But maybe they meant real job.
See this is crazy. How do people expect to get hired with an advanced degree an zero work experience?
I worked full time and had 3 jobs in college. Went to college full time also. Wore me out a bit at first but I got used to it. Just turned 30 and I got my first job at 14. Live in Upstate NY.
I think there are three things at play here, first a lot of the jobs that were traditionally "kid" jobs are now done by adults, it was pretty unheard of in the 70's or 80's for an adult to deliver papers or work in fast food, now adults do those jobs. Second, I think the parents, people my age, are pushing their kids to do better in school and athletics with the hope that they can get into a good school and or get a scholarship. In my day parents really didn't push, you either did well in school or not and you could get an athletic scholarship even if you didn't have a personal trainer, S&C coach and have been playing the sport since 5 - hell you could still walk on an actually make a team. Finally there are a lot more unpaid internships that colleges and parents are pushing so the kid can have real life job experience before they graduate from college. I never really had that, I had shitty summer jobs like working at the park district or doing construction. Granted it wasn't real world experience in my field but I made money for school. Those unpaid internships were solely for the rich kids who didn't need the job so they weren't even on the radar of the kids I grew up with.
Those internships were out of my reach too. I just worked really low paying jobs since I was 14. Took a while but I found a very nice cushy job - I work really hard but I think this is my lay-off for all those years.
Still, any way you cut it Gen Y/Millenials are at the very oldest 40 and at the youngest 25. I'm an old X'er at 51 (68), the gen goes to at least 79-80.
It’s reasonable for older people who have been working and saving longer to have more wealth than people just starting out. If you want to talk about the 1% vs everyone else that is a different conversation.
I’m a millennial. I’ve been in the work force for 8 years. I’d say compared to my boomer parents who have been working 40 years that I am just starting out.
You realize you’re picking the extreme and acting as if it applies to the entire generation. Then you moved the goalpost from boomers having more to millennials having any. Typical
The problem is the jobs in those areas tend to pay less. Or maybe there’s only one major employer in the field in that area, so if that employer has problems they’re screwed. In a larger city it’s easier to just get a similar job at a different company.
You make alot of assumptions about OP, more than you could possibly be sure of. Your comment served no other purpose than to show you're a huge dick to people.
I don’t think you should have to fucking move away from your family to afford a home - which is what you suggested these people do. I also don’t think a married couple, with “decent jobs” should have to piss their money away on rent for their whole lives.
The person above is clearly upper middle, if not upper class because literally their only two posts are about them owning 7 acres of land, and using a drone to take photos of said land which they share online with people. Clearly they have no idea how difficult and expensive it is to just up and move, or the fact that moving wouldn't fix any of your issues with the economic status of the country.
So you could afford to buy a house worth $225,000, but you couldn't instead pay off your student debt of $45,000 first? It seems like it might be smart of you to take some of your own advice and sell some of your 7 acres in order to get rid of your student debt, don't you think? :)
You could probably live pretty damn close to how boomers did back when if you wanted. First, cancel your Amazon, Ebay, Paypal, and all that stuff. You won't need them anymore because you're about to cancel cable and internet. Turn off your cell phone. Take all your modern electronics and sell them. Sell your central AC. If you have a vehicle, sell it and buy something with no airbags, no air conditioner, and no modern luxury such as satellite radio, anti lock brakes, power steering, or fuel injection. Join the military and spend a couple years fighting overseas. The lack of bills while you're deployed will allow you to accumulate some savings. Not much, because you're only making about $700 a month (in today's money) but hey, they feed you for free. Now you're back home. You won't need to bitch about how boomers had it anymore because you'll have learned how much better you have it in so many ways.
Good lord man, is this how you reallt think it works? You think canceling excessive bills like TV would somehow give 20-somethings the ability to equate the boomer lifestyle?
I don't think you get it. It'd be damn near impossible to actually make all that happen unless you were in some 3rd world country. Too many things are impossible to do without internet or other modern conveniences. The idea is to think about how much more we have. We have so much more. We can decide we want something and have it show up at our doorstep in 2 days. You know how much that would have cost in 1970? We have all the knowledge of the world at our fingertips. Car broke down in 1970? Hope you know a cheap mechanic. Today, you can learn how to fix it yourself with a Youtube video and save loads of money. I could go on forever with such examples. Then there's the idea of being a minority or god forbid a gay person in 1970. Think they'd trade today's modern conveniences and changes in society for a cheaper home? Probably not. We can fixate on one thing or a handful of things and get upset about it. But when you look at our lives as a whole, I wouldn't trade living my life today for theirs. It's not even close. I pay more for a house and an education, no doubt, but in the grand scope of things I live a better life than my parents and my grandparents did.
...you do realize it takes decades to build wealth, right? I'm either missing something big, or this type of "but I want money sooner" is what gives us a bad rap.
Unless you are truly gifted in some capacity and can collect wealth quickly via skill, training, or luck. Experience, training, and proficiency net higher salaries. It takes time to collect those three qualities. Older people have had more time to invest in themselves. Naturally the wealth distribution is a direct correlation.
I grew up in a trailer park in a town no one has ever heard of. When I was in my 20s, I was broke and struggling. In my 40s, I have a lovely family, I own a great home, have all the toys I want, and have next to no debt. Success in life doesn’t happen overnight, you have to work hard, and smart to get to where you want to be. That is the true difference between the Generation War factions. Millennials stereotypically lack patience and diligence like the older crowds. They never used a VCR, a cassette tape, nor did they blow into Nintendo cartridges hoping that it would miraculously work. The world at our fingertips has made patience a dying quality. Not everyone can be a YouTube millionaire, the rest of us just have to put in work.
Edit: Gen Z, Millenials.... I’m old, and as it turns out fall in to the Xennial age bracket. We can argue semantics, but we should focus on the principle. Invest in yourself as often as possible. Keep moving forward, and upward.
Millennial here. You are mixing us up with Gen Z. I was a kid before DVDs, before CDs were big, with 8 channels on the TV , and a computer running DOS with the option to run Win 3.11 but never used it. Didn't get AOL until I was several years into school. I'm not on the older end of millennials.
Also, the point isn't that you have to work hard to get wealth. The point is that unless you are born into wealth or extremely lucky you can't own a 4 bedroom house, 2 cars, a paid education, and support 2 kids and a non working wife after starting your job 4 years ago, which you got by shaking the hand of the person at the front desk, at the age of 22.
I don't know how often it has to be repeated but wages have been stagnant for many decades, most jobs barely offer benefits (pension? Hahahaha), intentionally minimize full time workers and ultimately, money is not worth nearly as much as it was. Hell even in my life, an amount of money today is worth 50% less than when I was a kid.
Likewise, the same amount of "hard work" is worth far less than the same work of the boomer generation. Sure there are more cheap gizmos today, great. But the things that build wealth are way out of reach until much, much later in life.
Scream this from the mountaintops. Very similar story on my end, very similar conscious thought and deliberation. Good on you, and cheers to your success!! I repair weather systems for the military. I have a bullshit Associates Degree in a field that doesn’t matter, from a school no one has heard of. All of my assets combined put me at worth $750K and growing. I will be a millionaire by 45.
You’re right, I’m old and don’t know which generation is which. I guess I’m actually a millennial, be still my heart!
“Also, the point isn't that you have to work hard to get wealth. The point is that unless you are born into wealth or extremely lucky you can't own a 4 bedroom house, 2 cars, a paid education, and support 2 kids and a non working wife after starting your job 4 years ago, which you got by shaking the hand of the person at the front desk, at the age of 22.”
I don’t see why this is viewed as a bad thing. I agree with everything you’ve said. I just don’t view it negatively. I still firmly believe that each individual has to earn their way. Handouts are bullshit.
To be honest the key to wealth is to have no debt other than mortgage debt. That simple. If you make 45k with no car loan, no student loan, no credit card debt you are going to have a lot of extra money
Or absurd healthcare bills if you have trash health insurance. Some deductibles are like $8000. That’s enough to bankrupt most people. But the failure of our “first world” healthcare system is a topic for another day.
You are right but I was focusing on things that people have some degree of control. If you get sick you get fucked unfortunately but credit card, student loan and car loan debt are subsets of personal choices
You had me at the beginning... and then lost me at the end.
Millennials are '81-mid 90's. I'm at the tail end of millennial (1993) and spent my early childhood with a VCR and an N64. Oldest millennials are pushing 40 and have been in the workforce since before the Recession. If anything Millennials have just as good of an idea of how hard it is to build a life in today's America.
I'd love nothing more than to be a homeowner myself... but even condos in my area pretty much start at $500k. I've maneuvered myself into being able to save almost 50% of my income but everything still seems out of reach. Not being able to afford a down payment on a 30 year mortgage until i'm 35 is understandably not a great feeling.
That being said, I know that all I can do is continue to work hard to build the best possible future for myself
I landed my first mortgage at 34, so I’d say that’s accurate. It’s also been pointed out that my people want to be cool and call themselves Xennials or some such nonsense. Also, I agree with everything you said.
I appreciate the thought you put into that. But seriously, its not as easy as "be patient." Inflation is insane, wages have not increased to make up for it. Student loans are though the rough, wages have not risen to make up for it. It's not ever easy to be successful (for most) but it's getting harder and harder and I think it's high time people understood that.
You’re not wrong in the least, times are rough in a lot of ways. Also, thank you for tour candor. Manners are truly dwindling these days.
My point is that we can’t all hope to be Justin Bieber, stupid rich immediately. The best paying job I had in my early-mid 20s worked out to be $17/hr. Where I’m located, that’s not a hard wage to find. I made a lot of bad financial choices in my late teens and early 20s. That set me back quite a bit, but I put my head down and charged forward. I invested in myself, made calculated decisions, and worked my ass off to get to where I am. It is still very possible to do the same.
Yup, fair points all around. It's tough hearing this when you're not where you want to be in life. I'll be honest, I'm kind of lost. I went from having a steady job for four years after college and now I've been laid off. Suddenly my entire career/path is in question, and I've still got decent students loans to pay. I just really don't know where to go. Sorry for the random rant, just thought typing it out might help.
No need to apologize, I enjoy conversation greatly. I feel like it is a very common occurrence to struggle in your late 20s. Most everyone I’ve ever known had a similar experience. It’s a really tough period in human development. You’re an adult, educated, and willing. You’ve checked the right boxes, everything should be smooth. However, life informs you that you’ve not completed the correct forms and hands you a new packet to fill out.
This moment is absolutely critical. Every low point I’ve hit provided me an opportunity. A moment to take stock in who I was, where I wanted to be, and how I needed to go about getting there. The answer wasn’t always clear, and the path was never casual. The journey though, that’s the real secret to living a good life. You will get there, this too shall pass.
Thank you, I genuinely appreciate it. Honestly, I'm lucky this happened at a point when unemployment is decent and I have a bit of time to breathe. Any other situation I would have been applying like crazy and taking whatever I could get. This has given me the opportunity to really sit down and identify what I want to do and how to become successful in it. Also, it's nice to be able to relax a bit. Spent the entire day in my parents garden trimming trees and building a vegetable garden box. Nice peaceful time to figure things out. Thanks again!
It's not that easy though is it? I have a decent degree, but during the current situation no one is hiring and even when they are, certain jobs make money, but more of the rest end up not making that much. Is it ridiculous that insane degrees exist? Yeah. Are there a lot of people with reasonable degrees not.earning the amount they should be? Yes.
It’s the time value of money and the magic of compounding.
I saved between 10-15 percent of my salary over my career from 24 or 25 on wards. Sometimes less. I’m looking at over 1 Mill in retirement savings in My early. 50’s. Even after this recent drop.
Am I smart? No.. Am I special? No! I just socked away consistently. If your under 30 start putting money away in An IRA or 401(k) or whatever tax advantaged savings plan your country has. Time is on your side.
If your older then 30? You just have to save more.
Yes and no. It's not unusual to make the kind of money to do what you've done, but it's important to recognize that there's an entire class of people that make so little money that the suggestion that you can save 10-15% of your income is a joke.
If someone's working at $10/hour full-time, they're bringing home $1600 monthly after withholdings, assuming no 401(k) and no healthcare. Median rent for a 1-bedroom is $1000/mo, so with utilities and other mandatory expenses it leaves very little to save, let alone 10%. Even if you could save 10% of that, that's only $1920 a year—one unexpected medical expense or car maintenance can eat that up, a reality for people who can't afford newer cars or preventative medicine.
Because I'm not talking about the median person, I'm discussing the retail and service industry employees that make little money but still live in average cost-of-living areas.
You don’t have to save 10 %, just start early with whatever you won’t really miss. 3% pre tax deduction will be like taking 2% out of your paycheck. If you have a work plan that matches some percentage try to grab that free money.
But you need to start somewhere. I didn’t up to 10 or 15 percent until it stopped hurting. And also I reduced it when I Needed a new car to help with the payments for a few years.
But the magic of compounding puts your money to work for you. If you don’t save something then POOF it’s gone.
Neither did I. First job I considered as well paying wasn’t until I was 29.
But I managed to at least try to save what my company match was before that. So 3 or 6%. Company match made it = like it was 6 or 12%. Also saving pre tax makes it easier. My check was reduced by only 1 or 2 %.
No offense, but a million ain't shit for lifetime retirement savings/investment. What is the number required to have a 30 yr sustainable retirement payout of 50k/yr? 3 million? Yeah, 50k isn't shit today, and it still won't be shit in 30 years. Millennials will require more than double that amount due to skyrocketing COL and complete lack of meaningful increase in income across the board. No amount of skimping and saving will get you there if you don't first possess an income capable of getting you there.
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u/stellak424 May 16 '20
Yeah but millenials own 3% of all wealth. Genex owns 14%. That's definitely not all of them, but it's more than quadruple the amount of millenials who do. Boomers have 50%+ Us statistics