The Wealth Gap Between Young and Old

[Flopper]

The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.

While people typically accumulate assets as they age, this wealth gap is now more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly five times the 10-to-1 disparity a quarter-century ago, after adjusting for inflation.

CBO: Top 1% getting exponentially richer
U.S. middle class facing a lost decade
U.S. poverty rises to 15.1%

U.S. young-old wealth gap worse than ever - CBS News

 

[Liberty]

 

[oreo]

The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.

While people typically accumulate assets as they age, this wealth gap is now more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly five times the 10-to-1 disparity a quarter-century ago, after adjusting for inflation.

CBO: Top 1% getting exponentially richer
U.S. middle class facing a lost decade
U.S. poverty rises to 15.1%

U.S. young-old wealth gap worse than ever - CBS News

So now it's the old farts fault that college grads can't get a job-- Has nothing to do with government though--

 

[uscitizen]

The young must have patience, they will inherit their parents money and waste it in short order.

 

[Liberty]

The young must have patience, they will inherit their parents money and waste it in short order.

which is exactly why the death tax is so important right? Leviathan government FOR THE WIN! Right?

 

[Political Junky]

The young must have patience, they will inherit their parents money and waste it in short order.

which is exactly why the death tax is so important right? Leviathan government FOR THE WIN! Right?

The inheritance tax doesn't affect anyone with less than $10,000,000.

 

[WillowTree]

The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.

While people typically accumulate assets as they age, this wealth gap is now more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly five times the 10-to-1 disparity a quarter-century ago, after adjusting for inflation.

CBO: Top 1% getting exponentially richer
U.S. middle class facing a lost decade
U.S. poverty rises to 15.1%

U.S. young-old wealth gap worse than ever - CBS News

and this surprises you why? eggaxctly?

 

[alan1]

The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.

While people typically accumulate assets as they age, this wealth gap is now more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly five times the 10-to-1 disparity a quarter-century ago, after adjusting for inflation.

CBO: Top 1% getting exponentially richer
U.S. middle class facing a lost decade
U.S. poverty rises to 15.1%

U.S. young-old wealth gap worse than ever - CBS News

It's amazing how quickly ones wealth accumulates once they stop supporting their children.

 

[waltky]

Dat's what Uncle Ferd always sayin' - Granny got alla money an' she keeps hold on it tighter'n Dick's hatband...

U.S. wealth gap between young, old widest ever
Sunday, November 6, 2011 - Baby boomers weathered the economic storm considerably better than younger Americans, leading to the largest wealth gap on record.

Households headed by those 65 or older had a median net worth 47 times greater than those headed by a person younger than 35, according to an analysis of 2009 U.S. Census data by the Pew Research Center. That amounts to a median net worth of $170,494 for those 65 and older, compared with just $3,662 for those in the younger generation, according to the analysis.

Saddled with debt and stagnant wages, the younger generation tends to be marrying later and entering job markets later. They're also more likely to be minorities and single parents, experts said. “We don't know what the future will bring, but things are happening much more slowly for this generation,” said Paul Taylor, director of Pew Social & Demographic Trends and co-author of the analysis. “If this pattern continues, and this difficult start plays out and slows this generation down, then you start to call into question the basic tenets of the American Dream, which is that every generation does better than the one before.”

While the recent recession has hurt both the young and the old, the older group has been much better sheltered, seeing its median net worth drop just 6 percent between 2005 and 2009. It has increased 42 percent since 1984, when the Census Bureau first began measuring wealth broken down by age. The median net worth for the younger-age households is down 55 percent since the recession and 68 percent from a quarter-century ago. Net worth includes the value of a person's home, possessions and savings, minus any debt such as mortgages, college loans and credit card bills.

Thirty-seven percent of younger-age households have a net worth of zero or less, nearly double the share in 1984. That percentage remained at 8 percent for households headed by a person 65 or older. “It makes us wonder whether the extraordinary amount of resources we spend on retirees and their health care should be at least partially reallocated to those who are hurting worse than them,” said Harry Holzer, a labor economist and public policy professor at Georgetown University who called the magnitude of the wealth gap “striking.”

Read more: U.S. wealth gap between young, old widest ever - San Antonio Express-News

 

[hortysir]

Greedy old bastards

 

[editec]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-20125589/cbo-top-1-getting-exponentially-richer/

CBO: Top 1% getting exponentially richer
U.S. middle class facing a lost decade
U.S. poverty rises to 15.1%

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-20125589/cbo-top-1-getting-exponentially-richer/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-20125589/cbo-top-1-getting-exponentially-richer/

There's the outcome of nearly 40 years of our supply-sider policies, folks.


The collapse of what was formerly the wealthiest consumer driven economy in the world.

 

[Katzndogz]

Trust liberals to state the obvious as if it were a brand new catastrophe. Most older people have paid off their homes too.

It should not be a surprise that someone that has had a lifetime of working, saving and investing has more money than someone who has never done any of those things. Trust libs to use it as a point of class warfare.

 

[rdean]

That's because most of that wealth was accrued before fundgelicals got into power. Reagan was awful for the country. But his right wing invented legacy was far worse. Republicans gave that invented legacy such traction that under Bush, they were placed into effect full force. Before Reagan, the right wing fundies stayed pretty much on the sidelines. Republican polices came from their policies.

Tax cuts for the rich.

Moving jobs to China means "market rules".

Demeaning that "dumb", unneeded and overrated education (all rich people started in their garage. Oh brother).

The constant push for legislated social values.

We are seeing the influence of the right wing conservatives on the country. Yet, somehow, without education, they insist it's the right wingers who are behind the advancement in science and technology. "Magical creation" anyone?

 

[editec]

The wealth gap oughtn't to surprise us much.

AFter a large part of one's lifetime of working and saving back when the economy was at least functional, older folks are likely to have driven their total wealth up, somewhat.

Kids obviously just starting out haven't had time to prepare for their futures yet.

 

[Katzndogz]

Perhaps what libs want to promote is that parents should use their assets to maintain children who don't want to work. After having prepared for a comfortable retirement, parents should spruce up that basement.

So how many kids have moved back in with parents, sometimes dragging their own families with them?

 

[Douger]

Trying to be cool costs big money. Ask any murkin who needs scuba gear to enter his house that he paid $500 a sf for.

 

[hortysir]

The wealth gap oughtn't to surprise us much.

AFter a large part of one's lifetime of working and saving back when the economy was at least functional, older folks are likely to have driven their total wealth up, somewhat.

Kids obviously just starting out haven't had time to prepare for their futures yet.

No it shouldn't.

Why the constant reports that seem to serve only to divide us?

 

[WatertheTree]

The young must have patience, they will inherit their parents money and waste it in short order.

Yea so says the encylopedia of bullshit. Right next to trickle down economics.

The reality for people under 35 is very different then people over 35. A person under 35 must constantly change jobs just to keep up with inflation, the idea that income rises as you get older is just not true. I dont know of a single industry that isnt paying new workers substantially less then what existing workers made. I have experianced this myself, with my last career. New owner, and a 50% slash in pay right down to just over minimum wage.

The truth is this is another sign of a failing economy, and another sign that things are just going to keep getting worse untill there are fundimental changes to how we operate. You status quo assholes that dont want anything to change can shove your patience up your ass. This is our future, and our lives.

No suprise that the old is not sticking up for the young. Americans are mostly selfish ***** who care about nothing but there own bottom line, even if it sacrifices the future of the nation.

 

[WatertheTree]

The wealth gap oughtn't to surprise us much.

AFter a large part of one's lifetime of working and saving back when the economy was at least functional, older folks are likely to have driven their total wealth up, somewhat.

Kids obviously just starting out haven't had time to prepare for their futures yet.

35 year old kids have family's of there own. Most with teenagers who are supposed to be getting ready for college. They are supposed to have morgages, and be working to pay off there homes and planning for a retirement. 35 is supposed to be the prime earning potential for an adult.

Labeling this demographic as kids is misleading and false.

 

[Flopper]

The wealth gap oughtn't to surprise us much.

AFter a large part of one's lifetime of working and saving back when the economy was at least functional, older folks are likely to have driven their total wealth up, somewhat.

Kids obviously just starting out haven't had time to prepare for their futures yet.

35 year old kids have family's of there own. Most with teenagers who are supposed to be getting ready for college. They are supposed to have morgages, and be working to pay off there homes and planning for a retirement. 35 is supposed to be the prime earning potential for an adult.

Labeling this demographic as kids is misleading and false.

The fact that there is a wide disparity is not troubling. What is troubling is the growing disparity. College debt is a big part of the problem. It's rare these days to find a young college graduate without at least a $10K college loan. Jobs are scare and those without good job related education find themselves behind the counter at McDonald's with a $40,000 college loan.

Everyone seems to use the government as a scapegoat. Government is not the root cause. The facts are American wages are 5 to 10 times what they are in less developed countries. The engineer that you hire in the US for $75k can be hired in India for $35K. The $15/hr factory worker in the US cost $1 to $2/hr in China. In the past the wage differential could be justified based on higher worker productivity but not any more. The same technology available in the US is being used abroad. Education has been slipping in the US and improving elsewhere.

Government cannot solve the problem, but it can help. First, we need to cut corporate taxes and provide incentives for hiring in the US. We need better trade treaties. Lastly we need a sensible approach to regulations.