re: The Average Retirement Savings By Age

Neither can I

The difference between median and mean is telling. Two different worlds.

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This is just false ... the actual equation that says it’s harder for younger generations to buy a house, have a family, and build wealth

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This has been discussed many, many times. The premise is "It is not worth my time to invest less than $20,000, and I only have $10,000. So instead of saving/investing that $10,000, I will spend it on something that I can enjoy in the moment, like a car, vacation, eating out, etc."

ZIRP offered some of the most affordable housing in generations. That is just a fact. The opportunity unfortunately, coincided with well documented GenY preferences for social experiences rather than traditional relationships and home purchase. As a result, comparable age GenY travel & leisure experiences dwarf those of any other generation in American history.

Social media pictures of beautifully prepared meals at upper end restaurants with great ambiance were uniquely millennial, as were friends on vacation in Europe, doing kissyface poses for selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower. The thought of buying a fixer-upper home in disrepair was anathema in that social "glam" world.

There are also cofactors involved in presentations like the one you've cited though.

E.g., In your chart, if an unmarried partner is living in a home owned by the other partner, they are (rightfully) classified as non-owners. Considering differences in generational cohabitation, can you see how that consideration would create a generational statistical skew? That anomaly would be additive to the predictably better economic productivity of a partnership (marriage) vs two individuals.

The importance is, when considering married cohorts, the graphs narrow dramatically. E.g., Adjusted for the marriage discrepancy, at age 30, Gen Y lags Boomer home ownership by 5pts, not 15. Until age 25, and after age 40 Gen Y leads Boomers in ownership when corrected for marriage differences.

Here is an illustration:




And the corollary:

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The ‘birthday lottery’ is a real thing.

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Of course it is. Neither of us have dysentery from drinking water from aqueducts, I hope! Kidding.

Change is constant. Building wealth as a priority ‘mindset’ can be, too. Dare I say, it should be and can be.

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It's way to high.

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Unfortunate truth

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It's way to high.
Unfortunate truth

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It amazes me how many employees do not take advantage of their companies defined contribution plans.

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amazes me how many employees do not take advantage of their companies defined contribution plans

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My company matched 3% and gives 5%, so I tell all mu employees, at least put in 3%.

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My company matched 3% and gives 5%, so I tell all mu employees, at least put in 3%.

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They should, it's a no brainer but a lot will not.

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The boomers actually stole our prosperity though.

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This is retarded.

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It’s pretty easy to see. You can look at inflation adjusted income over last 30 years, or % of income needed to buy a home over last 30 years - objective statistics.

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Does this "objective stat" take into account the changes in homes? Size, features, etc? I don't think so.

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Or while less reported, the lack of upward mobility for millennials in corporate America due to boomers delaying retirement and holding down upper management roles for far too long. I can go on.

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JFC


It's crazy to see so many fortunate Americans convinced by the Left that they are economic victims.

Yay socialism! It's what you're going to get if you don't pull your head out of your arse.

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. You can look at inflation adjusted income over last 30 years

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Dude, damn, the internet is not that hard.
Do better!

Here is what " inflation adjusted income over last 30 years" looks like.



Regarding housing, housing is now in a post-Covid bubble. Coupled with post-covid loan rates, it is a tough market. But that is looking at a convenient excuse snapshot. In fact, had millennials followed home purchase prioritization of previous generations, by the time covid hit, they'd have already been homeowners, and beneficiaries rather than victims of the price run-up.

Here are the ACTUAL FACTS:

Home purchase in 1990 cost nearly 40% of monthly income.
Home purchase in 2020 cost roughly 17% of monthly income.

In 1990, buying a median-priced home (~$149K) with a 20% down payment at 10.1% interest consumed roughly 39% of median monthly income on principal and interest alone — well above the conventional 30% affordability threshold.

By 2020, even though the median home price had more than doubled to ~$320K, historically low mortgage rates (~3.1%) meant the monthly payment consumed only about 17% of median income.

The only folks who "stole millennials' prosperity" were millennials themselves in deprioritizing traditional 20-30-something life choices.