Young Americans Seen Failing to Match Baby Boomers’ Wealth Gains

[Dragonlady]

I'm sure the government will find a way to take it from them

Give them a little time.

It’s not the government that’s taking their money, it’s the oligarchs and the corporations. 80% of the wealth goes to the top 20%. This is not sustainable

Before Reagan, it was 40%.

 

[alang1216]

An epic four-decade boom in housing and stock prices made Baby Boomers the richest generation in US history. A new study shows just how difficult it will be for younger Americans to copy that success.


The wealth boom since 1980 widened the gaps between rich and poor and young and old to record levels, the research finds. While the gains were concentrated at the top, bypassing the poorer half of the age group, the average older Boomer reached retirement age 65% richer than the generations born before World War II.


Millennials and other young Americans now face a steep climb. Even before stock markets tumbled this year, younger generations were lagging behind Boomers. In the working paper's most recent data, the wealth gap between adults over 60 and those under 40 has more than doubled since the 1960s and 1970s.

Young Americans Seen Failing to Match Baby Boomers’ Wealth Gains.

My take:

Boomers (like myself) were working and earning and SAVING since their early teens.

This new generation can barely get out of bed for a part time job.

So pardon me all to hell for doing well for me and mine.

It may be that boomers had the opportunity to get union jobs and enter the middle class even without college. Alas, that door has since been closed.

 

[1srelluc]

It may be that boomers had the opportunity to get union jobs and enter the middle class even without college. Alas, that door has since been closed.

I never held a union job.

 

[alang1216]

I never held a union job.

I did for a very short time but it gave me a great start.

 

[rightwinger]

It’s not the government that’s taking their money, it’s the oligarchs and the corporations. 80% of the wealth goes to the top 20%. This is not sustainable

Before Reagan, it was 40%.

Corporations have drastically reduced the percentage of profits that they share with those who produce it.

Millennials have born the brunt of reduced wages and benefits and no job security

 

[The Duke]

An epic four-decade boom in housing and stock prices made Baby Boomers the richest generation in US history. A new study shows just how difficult it will be for younger Americans to copy that success.


The wealth boom since 1980 widened the gaps between rich and poor and young and old to record levels, the research finds. While the gains were concentrated at the top, bypassing the poorer half of the age group, the average older Boomer reached retirement age 65% richer than the generations born before World War II.


Millennials and other young Americans now face a steep climb. Even before stock markets tumbled this year, younger generations were lagging behind Boomers. In the working paper's most recent data, the wealth gap between adults over 60 and those under 40 has more than doubled since the 1960s and 1970s.

Young Americans Seen Failing to Match Baby Boomers’ Wealth Gains.

My take:

Boomers (like myself) were working and earning and SAVING since their early teens.

This new generation can barely get out of bed for a part time job.

So pardon me all to hell for doing well for me and mine.

No shit! They don't have the same opportunities and have to pay twice as much for housing and now it's looking like everything else, too!

That's what MAGA is about, getting them those opportunities for everyone back to America. For centuries we had these opportunities, and now it's all fucked up. Big banks and the government are making more and we're keeping less.

 

[sealybobo]

Millennials have an advantage their parents didn’t have.
They will inherit more wealth

Yea but what about the next generation? Those parents won't be able to retire and will have to move in with their kids when they retire.

Millennials are the most educated generation in American history—and also the most broke.
-Millennials hold just 3 percent of American wealth. When they were the same age, Boomers held 21 percent.
-The average older Millennial has $15,000 in student loan debt. The average Boomer at the same age? Just $2,300 in today’s dollars.
-Millennials are paying almost 40 percent more for their first homes than Boomers did.
-American families spend twice as much on healthcare now than they did when Boomers were young parents.

OK Boomer, Let's Talk

“Particularly relevant in an election year...This book is full of data—on the economy, technology, and more—that will help millennials articulate t...

www.simonandschuster.com

“OK, Boomer” isn’t just a sarcastic dismissal—it’s a recognition that Millennials are in crisis, and that Boomer voters, bankers, and policy makers are responsible.

The Boomers who ended pensions have pensions themselves. They went to college when it was affordable. They got paid a fair share. We sure sent a lot of good paying manufacturing jobs overseas. All those old retired Big 3 Auto workers who voted for Bush or Trump should be ashamed of themselves. Republicans have made cuts in public funding for schools, they won't reform healthcare costs, they argue against unions because they were brainwashed by Republicans to believe they were the problem.

And Millennial's are liberal. This is going to be a problem for Republicans moving forward. But they don't get that.

 

[sealybobo]

Corporations have drastically reduced the percentage of profits that they share with those who produce it.

Millennials have born the brunt of reduced wages and benefits and no job security

And us wise Generation X'ers saw it coming as far back as the Reagan years. It all ties together. The war on unions was just one front on the war on the American middle class. Now those jobs are coming back at $15 hr. Not what they once paid. And so companies say they can't find help. Now they are suggesting we let more hispanics in to fill those jobs.

I love it how Boomers told us

a. We can't afford to have pensions like they had.

b. Don't count on your social security being there.

Boomers suck. Their lives didn't change when the covid lockdowns happened. So why did we give them stimulus money? And why give them COLA raises? If social security is running out of money, freeze the payments. Tell them there will be no more cola's on social security. What you get is what you get.

 

[rightwinger]

And us wise Generation X'ers saw it coming as far back as the Reagan years. It all ties together. The war on unions was just one front on the war on the American middle class. Now those jobs are coming back at $15 hr. Not what they once paid. And so companies say they can't find help. Now they are suggesting we let more hispanics in to fill those jobs.

I love it how Boomers told us

a. We can't afford to have pensions like they had.

b. Don't count on your social security being there.

Boomers suck. Their lives didn't change when the covid lockdowns happened. So why did we give them stimulus money? And why give them COLA raises? If social security is running out of money, freeze the payments. Tell them there will be no more cola's on social security. What you get is what you get.

No question
Your generation got the short end of the stick
Overpriced educations
Low paying jobs
No benefits
No job security

 

[Dragonlady]

Yea but what about the next generation? Those parents won't be able to retire and will have to move in with their kids when they retire.

Millennials are the most educated generation in American history—and also the most broke.
-Millennials hold just 3 percent of American wealth. When they were the same age, Boomers held 21 percent.
-The average older Millennial has $15,000 in student loan debt. The average Boomer at the same age? Just $2,300 in today’s dollars.
-Millennials are paying almost 40 percent more for their first homes than Boomers did.
-American families spend twice as much on healthcare now than they did when Boomers were young parents.

OK Boomer, Let's Talk

“Particularly relevant in an election year...This book is full of data—on the economy, technology, and more—that will help millennials articulate t...

www.simonandschuster.com

“OK, Boomer” isn’t just a sarcastic dismissal—it’s a recognition that Millennials are in crisis, and that Boomer voters, bankers, and policy makers are responsible.

The Boomers who ended pensions have pensions themselves. They went to college when it was affordable. They got paid a fair share. We sure sent a lot of good paying manufacturing jobs overseas. All those old retired Big 3 Auto workers who voted for Bush or Trump should be ashamed of themselves. Republicans have made cuts in public funding for schools, they won't reform healthcare costs, they argue against unions because they were brainwashed by Republicans to believe they were the problem.

And Millennial's are liberal. This is going to be a problem for Republicans moving forward. But they don't get that.

I'm a boomer with a Millennial daughter, as well as two Gen X kids. The Gen X kids benefitted from cheap education and lots of available jobs. The Millenial came of age during the Great Recession, and she really had to scramble to get good paying work in the gig economy. She's good herself a good paying job with a future now, but it's been a tough slog for her. Much tougher than I've ever had it.

 

[sealybobo]

No question
Your generation got the short end of the stick
Overpriced educations
Low paying jobs
No benefits
No job security

Well I'm a Generation X so I've been on both sides of the coin. Back in the 70's companies in America had a social contract with their workers. You could expect to retire for the company you were working for. Today that's unheard of. Working for one company for 30 years? And they make you sign a non compete too now! Did you hear Democrats are thinking about making non competes illegal? Some times they are necessary but I've worked for companies where it was ridiculous they were asking us for them. And this sort of hurts workers because now I have to wait a year before I can go work for the competitor? Sort of ruins my worth to them. In 1 year I won't have the power to demand a good wage.

This shit is all done by design. I love it when people say class warfare doesn't exist. They don't realize it's been going on since the minute we ran the Brits out and started our own country. Right from the minute we formed a new country the rich were trying to take over. They didn't like democracy. Plutocasy maybe. LOL.

Anyways, I lived through the destruction of the greatest middle class the world had ever seen before. Even blue collar Ford factory workers were making a lot of money. And Ford and GM had record profits all the way up to 1999. Google it. Ford Record Profits 1999. Google Ford Record Profit Sharing 1999. You'll see. My dad worked at the Ford Lincoln Plant. That plant created a BOOMING town outside Detroit and the cities around it. Every 3rd house worked for the big 3.

Anyways, imagine those fuckers got pensions after 10 years. They didn't have to work 30 years but every year they got bigger pensions. A lot of old timers had great easy jobs driving hi lows so they worked 40 years. They purchased vacation homes up north and went to florida every winter. The Boomers had it the best. I know because I saw it and I saw how the jobs I got after college sucked compared to what my dad got. Worse healthcare. No pension. No job security.

Class warfare exists and it's happening all the time. And always will.

 

[sealybobo]

I'm a boomer with a Millennial daughter, as well as two Gen X kids. The Gen X kids benefitted from cheap education and lots of available jobs. The Millenial came of age during the Great Recession, and she really had to scramble to get good paying work in the gig economy. She's good herself a good paying job with a future now, but it's been a tough slog for her. Much tougher than I've ever had it.

I feel like us Gen Xers, or a lot of us, got fucked in the Bush years. The 2000's. But that's just my perspective. I'm in MI. We saw hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs disappear. And even though it wasn't one of my jobs, this slowed down Michigan's economy and it affected me too. I'm in sales. The 2000s was a tough decade for sales people. At least in Manufacturing.

And we knew that no way in hell would those blue collar 50 year olds who lost their jobs would ever find jobs as good as they had. And you can't really tell them to go back to school right? Their too old. So we saw a huge portion of our middle class take a huge pay cut and flood the market with people looking for jobs. Employers loved it.

I saved my ass off in the 90's. I didn't save much in the 2000's. But at least I paid off my home.

And the other thing a lot of us Gen X'ers will get is our parents inheritances. I will probably get $400,000 from my dad when he dies. That will help with my retirement.

My nephews got it good. They'll get everything I leave behind. Probably money, a condo on a lake and a pontoon boat on that lake. I told them they could rent my place out for $1500 and the bills are about $500 a month. Take the $1000 a month and have it put into an account that pays for the boat storage, maintenance, gas, insurance and annual dues to keep the boat at the docks in front of the condos. So $12000 a year to pay for the boat and if anything goes wrong in the condo of course as landlords they have to fix it.

My nephew told me he doesn't care about anything I have. He doesn't even care about what his parents have except for one portfolio which I guess is the big one. The multi million dollar portfolio. He says as long as he gets half of that he'll be happy.

 

[Dragonlady]

I feel like us Gen Xers, or a lot of us, got fucked in the Bush years. The 2000's. But that's just my perspective. I'm in MI. We saw hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs disappear. And even though it wasn't one of my jobs, this slowed down Michigan's economy and it affected me too. I'm in sales. The 2000s was a tough decade for sales people. At least in Manufacturing.

And we knew that no way in hell would those blue collar 50 year olds who lost their jobs would ever find jobs as good as they had. And you can't really tell them to go back to school right? Their too old. So we saw a huge portion of our middle class take a huge pay cut and flood the market with people looking for jobs. Employers loved it.

I saved my ass off in the 90's. I didn't save much in the 2000's. But at least I paid off my home.

And the other thing a lot of us Gen X'ers will get is our parents inheritances. I will probably get $400,000 from my dad when he dies. That will help with my retirement.

My nephews got it good. They'll get everything I leave behind. Probably money, a condo on a lake and a pontoon boat on that lake. I told them they could rent my place out for $1500 and the bills are about $500 a month. Take the $1000 a month and have it put into an account that pays for the boat storage, maintenance, gas, insurance and annual dues to keep the boat at the docks in front of the condos. So $12000 a year to pay for the boat and if anything goes wrong in the condo of course as landlords they have to fix it.

My nephew told me he doesn't care about anything I have. He doesn't even care about what his parents have except for one portfolio which I guess is the big one. The multi million dollar portfolio. He says as long as he gets half of that he'll be happy.

My FIL died last summer. He was 94 and despite being a high school dropout, he was blessed with good union jobs all of his working life, and he died a millionaire. A child of the Depression, he was tighter than bark to a tree, but he did invest wisely in real estate and stocks.

Dad invested his entire life's savings in GM stock in 2009, when GM was emerging from bankruptcy. A lifetime GM worker who had retired in 1994, he said he was "protecting his pension". When he died, his $70,000 investment, made when the Canadian dollars was at par with US dollars, was worth north of $400,000 Canadian, with US dollars being worth $1.33 Canadian. And that's down from just over $600,000 a year ago.

My FIL also benefitted from a health shot of capital from both his parents' estate, and my MIL's inheritance from her parents. Nothing near what they're leaving for their kids.

When I was my Millenial Daughter's age, I was a single mother of two children, just as she is, but I was living in a newer, 3 bedroom ranch house, with a 2-car garage and a finished basement, with a brand new Datsun in the garage. I had a full time nanny/housekeeper, and a membership in the local ski club.

My Millenial daughter is living in a rental home, with an older Jeep in the garage, and a neighbour who picks up her kids. She jokes that she's finally got her first "grown up job" - with good wages, and benefits, and a union even. She's taking courses to upgrade her skills. She's almost ready to buy a house. Her inheritance from her grandfather's estate will be more than enough for a down payment. She'll be able to catch up to where I was at the same age, but I was able to do it without any money from family.

 

[sealybobo]

My FIL died last summer. He was 94 and despite being a high school dropout, he was blessed with good union jobs all of his working life, and he died a millionaire. A child of the Depression, he was tighter than bark to a tree, but he did invest wisely in real estate and stocks.

Dad invested his entire life's savings in GM stock in 2009, when GM was emerging from bankruptcy. A lifetime GM worker who had retired in 1994, he said he was "protecting his pension". When he died, his $70,000 investment, made when the Canadian dollars was at par with US dollars, was worth north of $400,000 Canadian, with US dollars being worth $1.33 Canadian. And that's down from just over $600,000 a year ago.

My FIL also benefitted from a health shot of capital from both his parents' estate, and my MIL's inheritance from her parents. Nothing near what they're leaving for their kids.

When I was my Millenial Daughter's age, I was a single mother of two children, just as she is, but I was living in a newer, 3 bedroom ranch house, with a 2-car garage and a finished basement, with a brand new Datsun in the garage. I had a full time nanny/housekeeper, and a membership in the local ski club.

My Millenial daughter is living in a rental home, with an older Jeep in the garage, and a neighbour who picks up her kids. She jokes that she's finally got her first "grown up job" - with good wages, and benefits, and a union even. She's taking courses to upgrade her skills. She's almost ready to buy a house. Her inheritance from her grandfather's estate will be more than enough for a down payment. She'll be able to catch up to where I was at the same age, but I was able to do it without any money from family.

I don't know why we argue. My dad didn't reach a mill. He's worth about $800,000. But he was way too conservative and never did stocks. Plus he only worked at Ford 20 years. But you know what? He retired before he hit 60 and he's still healthy as a horse at 79. So 20 years of comfortable retirement so far. How's that for the greatest generation? The greatest middle class the world has ever seen. Thank you for giving unions credit. Without unions, my dad never got those wages, pension, healthcare and A plan on Ford cars. NEVER. So god bless unions. But even he agreed the unions were too much. Let's not argue that. They were. That doesn't mean send their jobs overseas.

Notice they didn't send those jobs to the South where there are no unions? They bypassed Georgia and went straight to Mexico. To be honest, I don't blame them. Much cheaper to manufacture in Mexico. So NAFTA was coming no matter what.

So millenials will not be getting the inheritance we get. A lot of them will be taking their parents in when they retire because the parents are broke. My poor grandmother had $50,000 in the bank and was living off the 10% interest and social security. Those days are gone.

Things need to be fixed. College, day care, student loans, wages, healthcare, inflation. It seems capitalism isn't perfect and needs to be properly regulated. This is why I like Biden. He's trying to help the poor and middle class. Then Republicans say his policies caused inflation. Well then that too needs to be regulated. Remember the government is the referee. I don't want over regulations or unnecessary regulations. I want proper regulations. Let the free market decide isn't the answer.