re: Are you as wealthy as your parents were at your age ?

I make more money adjusted for inflation, but my grandfather gave them 20G's towards the purchase of their home which was 40k in the early 70's. So their house note for 20 years was like $150/month. Mine is 9X that much for 30 years And my house is smaller. My Dad was a college professor with simple tastes, so he retired early with a pension that pays almost as much as he made in salary.

My dad was a broke arse college student in Vietnam. I'm a broke arse college student in the US so I guess I can say I'm doing better.

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I hate to sound judgemental, but if that's not the case you're doing something wrong. Your offspring should exceed what you've earned, not 10 out of 10 times, but by and large, one should earn more than their parents.

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You mean literally? Or bringing inflation into account?

Because if you mean the latter, that is fricking stupid.

Wealthy parents give their children more time to "find their career" or "find their passion". My dad is very proud of the fact he could provide for me and I didn't have to be stuck in a career I hated and could try a couple different jobs before I found one I could form into a career I enjoyed.

And its a totally different career. Screw being a corporate litigation attorney like he is

So if two parents are both hugely successful doctors, you're saying their kids should 10/10 times be making more money than them when they were the kid's age? That's so absurd. There are so many variables in life.

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gen y is going to be the first generation in a long time to (on average) have a lower quality of life than their parents.

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Not according to Warren Buffett, but what does he know...

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It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course,
only they can solve). As a result of this negative drumbeat, many Americans now believe that their children will not
live as well as they themselves do.
That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history.
American GDP per capita is now about $56,000. As I mentioned last year that – in real terms – is a
staggering six times the amount in 1930, the year I was born, a leap far beyond the wildest dreams of my parents or
their contemporaries. U.S. citizens are not intrinsically more intelligent today, nor do they work harder than did
Americans in 1930. Rather, they work far more efficiently and thereby produce far more. This all-powerful trend is
certain to continue: America’s economic magic remains alive and well.
Some commentators bemoan our current 2% per year growth in real GDP – and, yes, we would all like to
see a higher rate. But let’s do some simple math using the much-lamented 2% figure. That rate, we will see, delivers
astounding gains.
7
America’s population is growing about .8% per year (.5% from births minus deaths and .3% from net
migration). Thus 2% of overall growth produces about 1.2% of per capita growth. That may not sound impressive.
But in a single generation of, say, 25 years, that rate of growth leads to a gain of 34.4% in real GDP per capita.
(Compounding’s effects produce the excess over the percentage that would result by simply multiplying 25 x 1.2%.)
In turn, that 34.4% gain will produce a staggering $19,000 increase in real GDP per capita for the next generation.
Were that to be distributed equally, the gain would be $76,000 annually for a family of four. Today’s politicians
need not shed tears for tomorrow’s children.
Indeed, most of today’s children are doing well. All families in my upper middle-class neighborhood
regularly enjoy a living standard better than that achieved by John D. Rockefeller Sr. at the time of my birth. His
unparalleled fortune couldn’t buy what we now take for granted, whether the field is – to name just a few –
transportation, entertainment, communication or medical services. Rockefeller certainly had power and fame; he
could not, however, live as well as my neighbors now do.
Though the pie to be shared by the next generation will be far larger than today’s, how it will be divided
will remain fiercely contentious. Just as is now the case, there will be struggles for the increased output of goods
and services between those people in their productive years and retirees, between the healthy and the infirm,
between the inheritors and the Horatio Algers, between investors and workers and, in particular, between those with
talents that are valued highly by the marketplace and the equally decent hard-working Americans who lack the skills
the market prizes. Clashes of that sort have forever been with us – and will forever continue. Congress will be the
battlefield; money and votes will be the weapons. Lobbying will remain a growth industry.
The good news, however, is that even members of the “losing” sides will almost certainly enjoy – as they
should – far more goods and services in the future than they have in the past. The quality of their increased bounty
will also dramatically improve. Nothing rivals the market system in producing what people want – nor, even more
so, in delivering what people don’t yet know they want. My parents, when young, could not envision a television
set, nor did I, in my 50s, think I needed a personal computer. Both products, once people saw what they could do,
quickly revolutionized their lives. I now spend ten hours a week playing bridge online. And, as I write this letter,
“search” is invaluable to me. (I’m not ready for Tinder, however.)
For 240 years it’s been a terrible mistake to bet against America, and now is no time to start. America’s
golden goose of commerce and innovation will continue to lay more and larger eggs. America’s social security
promises will be honored and perhaps made more generous. And, yes, America’s kids will live far better than their
parents did.


-WB in letter to shareholders released this past weekend

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We shall see.

My wife and I are far ahead of where both sets of parents were at our age. Both of us have degrees and great jobs that are high paying. Neither of our parents had degrees and they all struggled to make enough to put food on the table.

It's really remarkable when I think about where we are and where we came from.

Ahead of where my dad was at the time. I have graduated college and have a job. Plus, work for my wife's family business which We'll be taking over in the near future.

Definitely, I probably make 3-5 times more than my parents when my dad was my age. My mom was a stay at home mom that that point.

When my wife starts working next year the gap will widen.

I phrased my post very poorly.

I do not think my generation (y) will be able to provide for our children as well as our parents. I don't think as many of us we will be able to live in 400k houses and pay for our kid's college education like so many of our parents did considering skyrocketing healthcare and education costs coupled with stagnant wages and decreasing benefits.

Buffett is almost certainly right about the future for the average American, but i'm focusing on the (upper) middle-class.

My dad didn't finish 8th grade and mom only finished high school. Dad was a correctional officer and mom a secretary. I'm no Richie Rich but we make way more than our folks ever did. This includes my brother and sister as well. All three of us make six figures. Folks are very proud of us.... Or so they say.