When I was in my twenties I felt the same way. Now in my forties I have more than enough saved for retirement, I have a pension in place, and living debt free minus house and a car payment. Things will change as you age to a point where retirement is a possibility.
Things changed quite a lot in the last 20 years. You and I are fortunate in that regard. On top of (presumably) having other advantages including good paying jobs.
I bought my house in the Denver suburbs about 20 yrs ago on a mid-career IT salary and it was affordable (well within my means) at the time.
The house is now worth about 3X what I paid. I seriously doubt mid-level IT salaries have tripled. Hell, my own salary hasn’t even tripled from raises in 20 years. I can’t imagine how people can afford housing in major cities like this unless they’re on the higher end of the middle class.
Not everyone gets a 401k. Not everyone can cut their budget any further and still save. If you can save, if you have a 401k, max it out. Max your Roth if you can. In 20 years you will have a lot more money. But if you are living hand to mouth the system we have basically says “fuck you”.
The middle class has been squeezed ever tighter for some 40 or 50 years now. Wealth has been gushing from the bottom to the top since the 80s.
Gen X was in the same boat until 2010. As a generation we dealt with constant setbacks and a 20 year war. As GenX takes over things the barriers will crumble and Millennials will start becoming successful as well. Gen Z and Alpha might be screwed because of the population size of the Millennials, but the path won’t be as difficult as it is right now.
The biggest barrier is wage stagnation so boosting wages across the board by 20% will help matters.
When I was in my twenties I felt the same way. Now in my forties I have more than enough saved for retirement, I have a pension in place, and living debt free minus house and a car payment. Things will change as you age to a point where retirement is a possibility.
Things changed quite a lot in the last 20 years. You and I are fortunate in that regard. On top of (presumably) having other advantages including good paying jobs.
I bought my house in the Denver suburbs about 20 yrs ago on a mid-career IT salary and it was affordable (well within my means) at the time.
The house is now worth about 3X what I paid. I seriously doubt mid-level IT salaries have tripled. Hell, my own salary hasn’t even tripled from raises in 20 years. I can’t imagine how people can afford housing in major cities like this unless they’re on the higher end of the middle class.
Not everyone gets a 401k. Not everyone can cut their budget any further and still save. If you can save, if you have a 401k, max it out. Max your Roth if you can. In 20 years you will have a lot more money. But if you are living hand to mouth the system we have basically says “fuck you”.
The middle class has been squeezed ever tighter for some 40 or 50 years now. Wealth has been gushing from the bottom to the top since the 80s.
Gen X was in the same boat until 2010. As a generation we dealt with constant setbacks and a 20 year war. As GenX takes over things the barriers will crumble and Millennials will start becoming successful as well. Gen Z and Alpha might be screwed because of the population size of the Millennials, but the path won’t be as difficult as it is right now.
The biggest barrier is wage stagnation so boosting wages across the board by 20% will help matters.
You have a lot more confidence in the Reagan generation than I do as an elder millennial.
Lucky you. It won’t be that way for many (I’m only not saying most because I don’t have a source to hand to back it up on my phone).