Something Terrible Is Happening To Boomers

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHgs-1bGhNk

Yep. Similar story in Canada. People either have money, or they don't - there's not very much middle ground.

Younger generations aren't working the same job for decades, so fewer pensions. Job to job, gig to gig, high cost of living = very low savings/retirement investments and the majority of regular working class younger people are going to rely on inheritances from their parents estates in order to carry on as older adults.

I'm not certain if I'll accumulate much wealth on my own. Hard to say. I haven't stuck with any job path for long enough to have a high income or pension or even government pension contributions. I've also had a very autistic employment record.. lots of different jobs, many years of not working full time through an entire year etc. But some jobs that lasted years and some years I've worked full time+. I still don't have a firm plan or direction I Know I'm going to stick to - a few different employment options and some dreams about a different path entirely that would involve higher education.

In the long run, whether I succeed with a professional path and stick with that, or I carry on as a worker bee building stuff for the next few decades, I'm somewhat relieved of stress and pressures because I know I Can earn enough to get by as long as I'm working AND I have no intentions of ever fully retiring - really, truly. If I made a bunch of money and quit working at 55yo I'd get fat and lazy and die young. But if I keep a regular commitment to do some work, even part time or only part of the year, I'll stay healthier and live longer for it for sure so it'd take some sort of injury or medical event to force me to stop working for some sort of paycheque.

Also, ngl, I a Beyond Blessed that my parents bought their first house in 1983 back when they cost about 2x annual income (house was $89k) and my mother's house (where I have very inexpensive rent) is mortgage free (current value $1.8M) so eventually when she passes and her estate is sold off and divided by 4 I'll inherit what's likely to be around a half Million dollars or so. (unless the housing market and other things change dramatically, who knows?) In any event, even if I just rent a room forever and never own a home, thanks to my father's work ethic, sacrifices, and unwavering commitment to being a provider for his family, I'll likely never face homelessness. I may live a very simple life compared to some in my generation who've earned Millions of dollars and have jet setting lifestyles, but I'll be Ok. Hell, my current lifestyle is pretty "first world," with multiple vehicles, motorcycle, kiteboarding, regular beach days.. I live a pretty rich life for someone with such low income at the moment. For this region and Especially compared to global standards.

Blah blah blah. I wouldn't say the system is rigged.. I just dislike how everyone has to become experts in so many different things in order to thrive. Like f**k, it isn't enough that people put their time and energy into working full time or longer.. they've also gotta learn the ins and outs of investing - another job, and many people aren't cut out for it at all. It's little wonder why people just ignore it and go to the beach/pub for a beer and pray they kick it before their body doesn't let them work anymore.

lower to lower middle income all our lives, while our friends and neighbors were going out to eat, we carried peanut butter sandwiches to work for lunch, cooked at home stuck to a budget for food and bought the least expensive options, clipped coupons for years ( still do, though coupons are mostly not in existence any more) , didn't go out to eat. Lots of smaller things over the years added up.

We bought used cars and never traded in, or bought off the lot new ones. Learned about interest, finance, how to safely and sanely use credit when needed, learned about investing, even though we started with just a little savings, they grew over the years.

We bought used furniture and used clothing (except underwear, socks, and shoes) we stuck scrupulously to a budget, didn't smoke, drink, gamble, or go on vacations.

We saved and invested the best we could and have been able to live in a small house, have food, pay our bills on the proceeds.

Now into our 10th year of retirement and we could go quite a few years yet if the economy does not collapse.

Some of the trouble people are in today is because they did not think and plan ahead.
We have been lucky, as well, no doubt, but for some of us the ability to survive in old age is because we worked toward that goal all our lives before retirement. Your mileage may vary.

This is also the reality in Canada. Reality bites. I fear for the futures of me and my fellow Canadians.

I worked as an engineer and lived in a cheap little apartment for ten years. Saved for down payment.
Then I got married and bought an affordable house and continued saving in a tax deferred retirement account.
We quickly paid off the mortgage!
I could save even more money now that the mortgage was paid off!

Now is the time for taking the money out of the retirement accounts to minimize on taxes.

Boomers on a whole were very privileged compared to today's generation, economically.

You could buy a house for 2 to 3 times a yearly salary in the 1960's and 1970's versus today's property market where houses are typically between 7 and 12 times the yearly salary for the average person.

That alone is enough to ruin a person's financial opportunities. But on top of that we have had crisis upon crisis in terms of western economies in the past 15 or so years since the 2008 financial crash, culminating in an near-unprecedented cost of living crisis.

The rich have also gotten a lot richer in the past 50 years or so, astronomically so is the case, whilst the poor have gotten poorer, relatively.

Not only did I ride out the 2008 crash I also put in a large pension disbursement into stock in 2009!
Sometimes doubling down is a good strategy!

Yeah.. something like that. Except the average detached house in the suburbs is now more like 30x or so the average income, so something like that except Far more extreme. Yes, there are cheaper forms of housing (condos) but even even they are ridiculously priced. For those that don't move away, many will never accumulate much wealth at all and will only have money in retirement when they inherit their parents real estate wealth after they pass.

So simple of older generations to suggest everyone just live below their means, buy a house, save/invest etc.. but not so simple when regular monthly life expenses consume All of your household income just so scrape by.

Older people can be a bit ignorant of the struggles of younger generations, it would seem.

100%.

My aunt was educating me about how difficult it was for her to buy her house.. mortgage rates were 18% & it took one full paycheque (of two) each month to pay her mortgage.

Uuuh.. so it cost 50% of a single income to pay for an entire house and property..?

She quickly realized how ridiculous it sounded to suggest that she has a more difficult time. That house and property are now worth probbaly $2.5-3M+ (property value, house would be torn down if sold) and would require more than 100% of two typical incomes to pay the monthly payments for. Probably more like 100% of 3+ full time incomes. At least.

Times are way different. Younger people are earning tens of thousands of dollars per year, not per month. They’re not just irresponsibly wasting their incomes. They don’t have incomes that will purchase anything near what prior generations could buy with their paycheques.

Yep!

If you have autism is it worth devoting the energy into learning about the issues of other generations?

Maybe we should just focus on what we need to do for ourselves?
Maybe it would be worthwhile if you wanted to be a leader or manager?

Many of us here need accommodations at work.
Does your boss really need to understand why?
Would it be OK it they just gave you what you needed even if they remained clueless about autism?

In the USA it can be very useful for the wealthy to understand tax brackets to turn paper profits into money that can be spent. The system is set up to allow those with long term capital gains and low earned income to pay minimal taxes if they understand the game or pay someone who does.
A lot of people don't understand USA taxes. They just pay someone and trust they get what they paid for.

If you understand the rules it is a lot easier to play the game!

ASD or not, older generations expect younger generations to achieve certain things.. but learning the differences between then and now explains why achieving those same things are pipe dreams for younger people.

Yeah, that reminds me of a meme that occasionally appears on another social media platform. It points out that the Simpsons owned their house, a couple of cars, three kids, and went on vacations, on just Homer's income. Good old days.

Class of thirty in early 1970s. Three out of thirty or 10% had stay at home moms.