The wealth gap between generations in the US has nearly doubled in the past 20 years

a reply to: DanDanDat

So I fall just outside the millennium range at 37, however those millennials I know who didn't pick a liberal arts degree are doing very well for themselves in the tech, finance, healthcare, etc. sectors. Those that decided to pick up a liberal arts degree are struggling with multiple part time jobs and student loan debt. The ones who didn't go to school at all are actually in better shape than the ones who went for liberal arts.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: DanDanDat

I think there are a lot of different reasons for it, and some of it is actually good.

A lot of younger generation are less materialistic in general. They don't have collections, they don't care about name brands as much, or shopping at the mall.

They seem much more interested in experiences, in food, in culture.

I would say the exact opposite. There is more pressure than every on young people to have the right brands. Take the insanity wit

Over having the latest apple product. Or to use whatever brand of cosmetics are being pushed on Instagram.

Things are so bad now that kids are spending a small fortune buying clothes for their video game characters. Itching enough that you have the latest pair of brand name sneakers, but your torture character has to have them too.

There is an often forgotten generation here that shows a trend that didn't start with Mills.

Gen Xers have fallen $26,300 when compared with Boomers median net worth. Millennials only fell $1,200 in median net worth from the Gen Xers.

So why is it that Millennials get the press? It seems most of it is politically driven.

There are so many factors here besides housing and student loans but those two are easy to politicize.

a reply to: DanDanDat

Simplistic buy this is a message board, to further discussion; maybe its time to cut off social security for boomers. If they had such a great leg up as you described, maybe its time to let the less fortunate next generation keep more of their earnings to make up the difference.

Whoa there, we cannot group all boomers into the catagory of having wealth, a large portion of boomers are just scraping by with their SS as it is. Cut it off and it's out into the street for a large portion of them, us. I'm on SS with a modest pension but never managed enough to make investments on my own.

Already the retirement age to receive SS has gone up and increases are very stagnant. As well, many boomers are taking care of their WW11 vet parents and unable to pay for senior care facilities.

a reply to: DanDanDat

And this slides into my last point above. For boomers who are old who need care themselves it is not uncommon for their children to move back in with them and subsidize their own mediocre income by caring for their parents and combining their income with their parents SS for all to survive.

a reply to: Hypntick

I also miss the Millennial cut off by a year or two.

I work in the tech industry; and yes I and my tech counterparts are doing much better than our friends who decided to pick up a liberal arts degrees. For example I make twice as much money with my BSEE as my wife does with her BA. So you are completely right in your point.

But that is not the point of this artical; a better comparison would be to compare a millennial with a BA to a Boomer with a BA and see if their life trajectories would be the same.

It is just an anecdote, so take it as you will, but I can tell you that if I compare myself to my older colleagues in my industry its not as good starting out as an Engineer today as is was starting out 20-30 years ago. All my boomer counterparts live the same basic life I do; we all have the same number of children; the same education; live in the same basic area ect ect. When they bought their homes in their 20s they were able to buy homes 2 to 3 times bigger than the home I bought in my 20s. Their home values went up after buying their homes, mine went down. They have accumulated assets that I can't even dream of having. They were able to pay for their kids education out of pocket; I'll be taking loans.

If I had to find a direct comparison; my life's trajectory in wealth building will be on par with that of my fathers. He was a blue collar worker. The day I got my first real professional job I was making just as much as he was when he retried. Unfortunately the gains he tried to make for our family by supporting me and my siblings while we got an education have resulted in no forward momentum; at best we've held the line.

Sure everyone's individual mileage will vary; but if the article I linked to in the OP is correct; this is more than just about liberal arts degrees.

a reply to: Bluntone22
I think you are right in pointing out the credit syndrome. But we cannot let boomers off the hook when it comes to over use of credit cards. If boomers had not been so ready to support the credit industry it never would have gotten off the ground. Now it is embedded in our culture and for that I blame the advertising industry that the boomers who allowed themselves to be turned into consumers.

Mys self, I never had a credit card until I was 52 and that was twenty years ago. But I am not a typical boomer. I watched huge swaths of my friends and co workers going on big vacations and buying boats and new cars while I got by on old cars and camping in national parks for vacations. I was debt free while they were burdened with those damn payments.

a reply to: DanDanDat

This is great progress!!!! I am firm believer in trickle-down economics. It's only a matter of time before the billionaires start sharing all their wealth.

originally posted by: DeepImpactX
I feel bad for the millenials. They always get a bum rap. People point out things like wealth disparity and end it all by saying it's the millenials fault.

No it's not.

This is simply the way the times are changing and the millenials are catching the brunt of it.

Sucking on the hind tit of the sow of life is just not a good place to be. The baby boomers will take it all and destroy what's left for those who are following.

No, I agree with you. This is nothing but simply the way the times are changing. I think George Carlin characterized it right by saying, "There's a reason:"

a reply to: DanDanDat

I agree it's more than degree choices, I do however think it's a big part of things. When it comes to being on par with parents I can't relate, on my own I bring in about 4x what both of my parents combined did at their highest earning years. Even after my parents split up and my mom remarried to a guy that was reasonably well off, I still do multiple times better than he ever did.

Both of my parents would be considered boomers, neither of them went to college, in fact no one on either side of my family did. None of my aunts, uncle, cousins, etc. I'm the first one, so I know there's a good bit of a divide there when it comes to what's possible. The closest relative I have that I could compare myself to is my granduncle who was an EVP at a fairly large company when he retired. If I keep up on the same trajectory as he did I'll be right around that area myself when I retire.

My counterparts when it comes to boomers, or really even those 10-15 years my senior are at the same level as I am currently, so if my level of growth is any indication I'll be far ahead of them in the same time frame.

I think my situation is a bit different because honestly it was a class jump, and not a small one. However I have a BS, MS, MBA, and over a dozen professional certifications, all of which most of my peer group doesn't even have. I've paid off over 70k in student loan debt with another 25 to go, which should be gone in the next two years. I just purchased 10 acres and am having a custom house built, my cars are paid off, my credit card utilization is single digits, and yes if there's something silly I want, I usually just go buy it. I have a couple of investment accounts that are doing well, my 401k is doing well, the "American Dream" is a reality for me.

I know wages haven't kept pace with rising costs, aside from a few industries, so I know that's a good bit of the issue. The bar to entry for a good job is higher than ever before, the bar to entry for a good degree is higher than ever before, the bar to entry for home ownership, having a child, etc. is high. The only answer I have for anyone is work your ass off, invest smart, if your field needs a degree get a useful one, and as always live below your means. Other than that, I don't think there's any easy fix, I think it's due for a collapse and a rebuild, but I can't even begin to fathom what that's going to look like. I do believe that politics are not going to be the solution for any of this, maybe a revolution could be cultural or physical, I think the next 20-30 years will be interesting however...as they say "may you live in interesting times".

a reply to: DanDanDat


Capitalism at it's finest!

a reply to: DanDanDat

Simplistic buy this is a message board, to further discussion; maybe its time to cut off social security for boomers. If they had such a great leg up as you described, maybe its time to let the less fortunate next generation keep more of their earnings to make up the difference.

So take away SS from the people who have paid into it the longest?

No.

The answer is to cut SS off from anyone under 55 and let them invest their own money how they see fit.

Anyone under 55? Just cut them a check for what they have put into it thus far.

Anyone over? Pay it out till they all die off.

Let SS wither and die.... and let the the ones coming up the food chain take care of themselves.

originally posted by: dfnj2015
a reply to: DanDanDat

This is great progress!!!! I am firm believer in trickle-down economics. It's only a matter of time before the billionaires start sharing all their wealth.

Such a stupid comment.

Do you think that billionaires keep their money in a vault like Scrooge McDuck?

No... it is money that is re-invested... from growing their businesses (which means more jobs) to investing in smaller companies (the 70% of actual jobs in America) to investing in the stock market (if you have a 401K and it's making money, thank a billionaire).

Didn't Marx teach you anything about actual economics?

Or did all you get out of it was the envy part that you and people like you need to feel to fuel the Revolution?

If you want to put your money where your mouth is, you should probably boycott billionaires and don't use their products.

Oh wait... that would mean you wouldn't be online anymore...

a reply to: Identified

No one cares about us Xers. We're the true forgotten generation, and when programs like SS and Medicare go, we'll be the ones shafted by it too and no one will care because they'll be busy crying for the poor Millennials who will actually still have time to make adjustments before they retire while we likely won't.

a reply to: dfnj2015

You keep posting the same tired George Carlin video...

A guy that used nothing but his brain and his mouth to become a multimillionaire by living in a Capitalist country.

If he lived in the Hegelian paradise that Marx dreamed of, he would have been hauled off and shot before he got anywhere in his career.

For the good of the People, of course.

a reply to: Lumenari

I could seriously get behind that. I don't know what I've paid into the system thus far as the site is undergoing maintenance, I would imagine I could get a heck of a return compared to what the government is supposed to provide when I'm almost dead.

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: DanDanDat

Simplistic buy this is a message board, to further discussion; maybe its time to cut off social security for boomers. If they had such a great leg up as you described, maybe its time to let the less fortunate next generation keep more of their earnings to make up the difference.

So take away SS from the people who have paid into it the longest?

No.

The answer is to cut SS off from anyone under 55 and let them invest their own money how they see fit.

Anyone under 55? Just cut them a check for what they have put into it thus far.

Anyone over? Pay it out till they all die off.

Let SS wither and die.... and let the the ones coming up the food chain take care of themselves.

I did say I was being simplistic; just quickly starting a conversation around the topic.

I don't have an objection with your plan; I would only question if its feasible. If you drop people under 55 out of the system, will it be able to fund payments to those over 55?

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Identified

No one cares about us Xers. We're the true forgotten generation, and when programs like SS and Medicare go, we'll be the ones shafted by it too and no one will care because they'll be busy crying for the poor Millennials who will actually still have time to make adjustments before they retire while we likely won't.

I'd say its not a new issue; GenXers should have made adjustments a while ago. It's not right, but it was evident for a while.

originally posted by: DanDanDat

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: DanDanDat

Simplistic buy this is a message board, to further discussion; maybe its time to cut off social security for boomers. If they had such a great leg up as you described, maybe its time to let the less fortunate next generation keep more of their earnings to make up the difference.

So take away SS from the people who have paid into it the longest?

No.

The answer is to cut SS off from anyone under 55 and let them invest their own money how they see fit.

Anyone under 55? Just cut them a check for what they have put into it thus far.

Anyone over? Pay it out till they all die off.

Let SS wither and die.... and let the the ones coming up the food chain take care of themselves.

I did say I was being simplistic; just quickly starting a conversation around the topic.

I don't have an objection with your plan; I would only question if its feasible. If you drop people under 55 out of the system, will it be able to fund payments to those over 55?

SS payments go to the General Fund.

There is no lock box with your name on it.

So it would be an "unfunded liability", just like welfare.

Put simply, the people under 55 who pay SS doesn't matter.

What's going into the General Fund matters.

Here is a fellow who worked his way through University in the 1980's, and compares the costs and wages to now. He kept the receipts! Just one case, but not hearsay.

www.seattletimes.com...