Boomers' Billion-Dollar Bonanza: The Unseen Hoarding Behind Millennial Struggles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://fortune.com/2023/10/28/great-wealth-transfer-baby-boomers-bank-of-america-millennials-government-policy/amp/

Wow, I just came across this shocking article from Fortune which reveals that the so-called "great wealth transfer" is not the $72 trillion we've been hearing about, but rather a whopping $129 trillion. And guess where most of it went? Yup, straight into the pockets of baby boomers, thanks to government policies over the last 40 years.

We've all heard about the economic challenges millennials face today, especially with the housing market and student debts. But to think that the government has been so instrumental in enriching an entire generation, predominantly boomers, is mind-blowing! This massive wealth transfer is arguably a result of policies from when boomers were in their prime working years. The research shows that two-thirds of the current U.S. household net worth (around $146 trillion) is held by boomers and "traditionalists."

What's even more shocking is that while millennials struggle with high-interest rates on mortgages, most boomers were able to lock in at a low 3% rate. We often hear about boomers giving financial advice to younger generations, but it's evident they had a huge leg up due to these policies.

It's time for a change. Millennials and Gen Z are battling a completely different economic landscape, one that has been significantly shaped by previous generations. While there's hope that a pending wealth transfer might offer some relief, current projections don't seem as promising as what boomers enjoyed.

Thoughts? How do we bridge this generational wealth gap? It's evident now more than ever that we need a system that supports all generations equitably.

i dont even know what this gobbledygook means.

Sounds like a Boomer. Get a Millennial to make a PDF of it and email it to you. Then have Siri read it aloud to you (I know you like books on tape).

it's more like you're mad that you don't have as much money as you'd like, and you want someone to blame, but you're not sure why they're at fault, so you're just spouting a bunch of random words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not only were mortgage rates extremely low until recently, some of us boomers were at home buying age when mortgages were at 18%. I remember being ecstatic to refinance at 7%.

Gen-X immigrant here. Yes, our home too was purchased at 18%. We were in our early-30s, living in an apartment. We delayed having a child for 6 years after we got married because we could not afford a kid. The cost of the house was 4x our HHI. This was 26 yrs ago. We did for years without a fully furnished home.

Our wealth today is a result of years of frugal living and sound economic practices. Tell the millennial to do the same and they will have a nervous breakdown. Yes, you can have our kind of wealth if you are willing to live our kind of life. No Starbucks, no processed food, no eating out, no travel, no concerts, no designer anything, no vaping, no pets, no therapy, no electronics, no Netflix, no smartphones.

Poor babies!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only were mortgage rates extremely low until recently, some of us boomers were at home buying age when mortgages were at 18%. I remember being ecstatic to refinance at 7%.

Gen-X immigrant here. Yes, our home too was purchased at 18%. We were in our early-30s, living in an apartment. We delayed having a child for 6 years after we got married because we could not afford a kid. The cost of the house was 4x our HHI. This was 26 yrs ago. We did for years without a fully furnished home.

Our wealth today is a result of years of frugal living and sound economic practices. Tell the millennial to do the same and they will have a nervous breakdown. Yes, you can have our kind of wealth if you are willing to live our kind of life. No Starbucks, no processed food, no eating out, no travel, no concerts, no designer anything, no vaping, no pets, no therapy, no electronics, no Netflix, no smartphones.

Poor babies!!

Honestly, many of them were raised poorly by entitled boomers. There is a huge difference in the frugalness practices of the Greatest Generation, who lived through the depression and WW!!, compared to the boomers who were raised during a time of relative opulence. That mentality gets passed down to the next generation.

FWIW, no one forced you to buy a home you couldn't afford at 18% interest. Some people would be better off continuing to rent than become house poor.

[Anonymous]

Mortgages rates were only low between mid 2009 to mid 2022.

Most older boomers bought homes long long before low rates.

In fact people who own their home outright are at an all time high. It will shot up even higher soon.

My back we did a ton of 10-15 refinances between 2010-2022 and they all will start be paid off in next few years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only were mortgage rates extremely low until recently, some of us boomers were at home buying age when mortgages were at 18%. I remember being ecstatic to refinance at 7%.

Gen-X immigrant here. Yes, our home too was purchased at 18%. We were in our early-30s, living in an apartment. We delayed having a child for 6 years after we got married because we could not afford a kid. The cost of the house was 4x our HHI. This was 26 yrs ago. We did for years without a fully furnished home.

Our wealth today is a result of years of frugal living and sound economic practices. Tell the millennial to do the same and they will have a nervous breakdown. Yes, you can have our kind of wealth if you are willing to live our kind of life. No Starbucks, no processed food, no eating out, no travel, no concerts, no designer anything, no vaping, no pets, no therapy, no electronics, no Netflix, no smartphones.

Poor babies!!

So you spend your time sitting around in your house hoarding your money and gloating on DCUM? Sounds like a charmed life...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only were mortgage rates extremely low until recently, some of us boomers were at home buying age when mortgages were at 18%. I remember being ecstatic to refinance at 7%.

Gen-X immigrant here. Yes, our home too was purchased at 18%. We were in our early-30s, living in an apartment. We delayed having a child for 6 years after we got married because we could not afford a kid. The cost of the house was 4x our HHI. This was 26 yrs ago. We did for years without a fully furnished home.

Our wealth today is a result of years of frugal living and sound economic practices. Tell the millennial to do the same and they will have a nervous breakdown. Yes, you can have our kind of wealth if you are willing to live our kind of life. No Starbucks, no processed food, no eating out, no travel, no concerts, no designer anything, no vaping, no pets, no therapy, no electronics, no Netflix, no smartphones.

Poor babies!!

So you spend your time sitting around in your house hoarding your money and gloating on DCUM? Sounds like a charmed life...

Sounds to me like they enjoy good food and actually spending time together. Sounds lovely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only were mortgage rates extremely low until recently, some of us boomers were at home buying age when mortgages were at 18%. I remember being ecstatic to refinance at 7%.

Gen-X immigrant here. Yes, our home too was purchased at 18%. We were in our early-30s, living in an apartment. We delayed having a child for 6 years after we got married because we could not afford a kid. The cost of the house was 4x our HHI. This was 26 yrs ago. We did for years without a fully furnished home.

Our wealth today is a result of years of frugal living and sound economic practices. Tell the millennial to do the same and they will have a nervous breakdown. Yes, you can have our kind of wealth if you are willing to live our kind of life. No Starbucks, no processed food, no eating out, no travel, no concerts, no designer anything, no vaping, no pets, no therapy, no electronics, no Netflix, no smartphones.

Poor babies!!

So you spend your time sitting around in your house hoarding your money and gloating on DCUM? Sounds like a charmed life...

Sounds to me like they enjoy good food and actually spending time together. Sounds lovely.

Not sure how you got that, but ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My greatest generation parents did better than their parents. My boomer siblings have done better than our parents. And my millennial children are on a path where they could do better than their boomer parents. I believe the differentiators are better education opportunities and dual income households. Hard work has always been part of success for all the generations.

I agree. Pick a more lucrative career. The days of majoring in whatever you want and getting a good paying job is over.

The bolder alone is worth much more than anything else others have complained about.

+1 I have to believe the number of useless majors being offered today is significantly greater than 40 years ago. Back then we thought that sociology and philosophy were of questionable economic value but the list today is much longer.

I think back then you could major in some liberal arts degree and find a good paying office job because there were less people going to college. Not so today. We have way more college grads competing for the good paying jobs. Back then you could go to vocational school and get a job and live a middle class life. It's getting harder to do that.

You’re right about the college degree. It mattered some. A Master’s even less. I have one and no one ever cared what it was in. But it increased my salary by 50%. But you’re wrong about todays value for vocational training. Right out of school my kid was making $60k and same for my friend’s kid.

The problem is that the $60K paying job out of vocational school won't pay that much more in 20 years. Also, with automation and offshoring jobs, there are less and less vocational type jobs. My dad was a machinist, and my mom was a seamstress.

Even so, vocational training has a much better ROI than paying for a college degree in something useless and getting a job that pays the same $60k that a vocational trained person gets paid.

I was just reading about certification job training programs in the semiconductor industry. This guy had a psych degree and was working at Taco Bell because he couldn't find a job. So, he signed up for the vocational training program. Technician in semiconductor starting pay is $20 to $25/hour. What a waste of a college degree.

You can major in liberal arts if you are smart enough. Intelligent and capable people will always get ahead in their careers no matter what they major in. I’m a hiring manager who looks for intelligence and the ability to write and think critically, together with a collegial personality and drive. That’s what makes for a great employee in certain professions, way more important than specific major. I usually find those qualities in people with “useless” majors from decent schools. Then again I’m not hiring for accounting or IT positions or scientific research.

Society needs all sorts of professions and careers to function well. If everyone goes into finance, who will teach our kids, who will take care of the sick, who will sell us groceries and put out fires and keep law and order, fox our roads, build our houses, create our entertainment? And yes we need psychologists, therapists, and social workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My greatest generation parents did better than their parents. My boomer siblings have done better than our parents. And my millennial children are on a path where they could do better than their boomer parents. I believe the differentiators are better education opportunities and dual income households. Hard work has always been part of success for all the generations.

I agree. Pick a more lucrative career. The days of majoring in whatever you want and getting a good paying job is over.

The bolder alone is worth much more than anything else others have complained about.

+1 I have to believe the number of useless majors being offered today is significantly greater than 40 years ago. Back then we thought that sociology and philosophy were of questionable economic value but the list today is much longer.

I think back then you could major in some liberal arts degree and find a good paying office job because there were less people going to college. Not so today. We have way more college grads competing for the good paying jobs. Back then you could go to vocational school and get a job and live a middle class life. It's getting harder to do that.

You’re right about the college degree. It mattered some. A Master’s even less. I have one and no one ever cared what it was in. But it increased my salary by 50%. But you’re wrong about todays value for vocational training. Right out of school my kid was making $60k and same for my friend’s kid.

The problem is that the $60K paying job out of vocational school won't pay that much more in 20 years. Also, with automation and offshoring jobs, there are less and less vocational type jobs. My dad was a machinist, and my mom was a seamstress.

Even so, vocational training has a much better ROI than paying for a college degree in something useless and getting a job that pays the same $60k that a vocational trained person gets paid.

I was just reading about certification job training programs in the semiconductor industry. This guy had a psych degree and was working at Taco Bell because he couldn't find a job. So, he signed up for the vocational training program. Technician in semiconductor starting pay is $20 to $25/hour. What a waste of a college degree.

You can major in liberal arts if you are smart enough. Intelligent and capable people will always get ahead in their careers no matter what they major in. I’m a hiring manager who looks for intelligence and the ability to write and think critically, together with a collegial personality and drive. That’s what makes for a great employee in certain professions, way more important than specific major. I usually find those qualities in people with “useless” majors from decent schools. Then again I’m not hiring for accounting or IT positions or scientific research.

Society needs all sorts of professions and careers to function well. If everyone goes into finance, who will teach our kids, who will take care of the sick, who will sell us groceries and put out fires and keep law and order, fox our roads, build our houses, create our entertainment? And yes we need psychologists, therapists, and social workers.

This.

- a geriatric millennial with a liberal arts degree who makes a solid salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My greatest generation parents did better than their parents. My boomer siblings have done better than our parents. And my millennial children are on a path where they could do better than their boomer parents. I believe the differentiators are better education opportunities and dual income households. Hard work has always been part of success for all the generations.

I agree. Pick a more lucrative career. The days of majoring in whatever you want and getting a good paying job is over.

The bolder alone is worth much more than anything else others have complained about.

+1 I have to believe the number of useless majors being offered today is significantly greater than 40 years ago. Back then we thought that sociology and philosophy were of questionable economic value but the list today is much longer.

I think back then you could major in some liberal arts degree and find a good paying office job because there were less people going to college. Not so today. We have way more college grads competing for the good paying jobs. Back then you could go to vocational school and get a job and live a middle class life. It's getting harder to do that.

You’re right about the college degree. It mattered some. A Master’s even less. I have one and no one ever cared what it was in. But it increased my salary by 50%. But you’re wrong about todays value for vocational training. Right out of school my kid was making $60k and same for my friend’s kid.

The problem is that the $60K paying job out of vocational school won't pay that much more in 20 years. Also, with automation and offshoring jobs, there are less and less vocational type jobs. My dad was a machinist, and my mom was a seamstress.

Even so, vocational training has a much better ROI than paying for a college degree in something useless and getting a job that pays the same $60k that a vocational trained person gets paid.

I was just reading about certification job training programs in the semiconductor industry. This guy had a psych degree and was working at Taco Bell because he couldn't find a job. So, he signed up for the vocational training program. Technician in semiconductor starting pay is $20 to $25/hour. What a waste of a college degree.

You can major in liberal arts if you are smart enough. Intelligent and capable people will always get ahead in their careers no matter what they major in. I’m a hiring manager who looks for intelligence and the ability to write and think critically, together with a collegial personality and drive. That’s what makes for a great employee in certain professions, way more important than specific major. I usually find those qualities in people with “useless” majors from decent schools. Then again I’m not hiring for accounting or IT positions or scientific research.

Society needs all sorts of professions and careers to function well. If everyone goes into finance, who will teach our kids, who will take care of the sick, who will sell us groceries and put out fires and keep law and order, fox our roads, build our houses, create our entertainment? And yes we need psychologists, therapists, and social workers.

My Cadillac dealer is paying $100 an hour for master mechanics. They will even train you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My greatest generation parents did better than their parents. My boomer siblings have done better than our parents. And my millennial children are on a path where they could do better than their boomer parents. I believe the differentiators are better education opportunities and dual income households. Hard work has always been part of success for all the generations.

I agree. Pick a more lucrative career. The days of majoring in whatever you want and getting a good paying job is over.

The bolder alone is worth much more than anything else others have complained about.

+1 I have to believe the number of useless majors being offered today is significantly greater than 40 years ago. Back then we thought that sociology and philosophy were of questionable economic value but the list today is much longer.

I think back then you could major in some liberal arts degree and find a good paying office job because there were less people going to college. Not so today. We have way more college grads competing for the good paying jobs. Back then you could go to vocational school and get a job and live a middle class life. It's getting harder to do that.

You’re right about the college degree. It mattered some. A Master’s even less. I have one and no one ever cared what it was in. But it increased my salary by 50%. But you’re wrong about todays value for vocational training. Right out of school my kid was making $60k and same for my friend’s kid.

The problem is that the $60K paying job out of vocational school won't pay that much more in 20 years. Also, with automation and offshoring jobs, there are less and less vocational type jobs. My dad was a machinist, and my mom was a seamstress.

Even so, vocational training has a much better ROI than paying for a college degree in something useless and getting a job that pays the same $60k that a vocational trained person gets paid.

I was just reading about certification job training programs in the semiconductor industry. This guy had a psych degree and was working at Taco Bell because he couldn't find a job. So, he signed up for the vocational training program. Technician in semiconductor starting pay is $20 to $25/hour. What a waste of a college degree.

You can major in liberal arts if you are smart enough. Intelligent and capable people will always get ahead in their careers no matter what they major in. I’m a hiring manager who looks for intelligence and the ability to write and think critically, together with a collegial personality and drive. That’s what makes for a great employee in certain professions, way more important than specific major. I usually find those qualities in people with “useless” majors from decent schools. Then again I’m not hiring for accounting or IT positions or scientific research.

Society needs all sorts of professions and careers to function well. If everyone goes into finance, who will teach our kids, who will take care of the sick, who will sell us groceries and put out fires and keep law and order, fox our roads, build our houses, create our entertainment? And yes we need psychologists, therapists, and social workers.

My Cadillac dealer is paying $100 an hour for master mechanics. They will even train you.

Specialty mechanics make great salaries. Masters at anything really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My greatest generation parents did better than their parents. My boomer siblings have done better than our parents. And my millennial children are on a path where they could do better than their boomer parents. I believe the differentiators are better education opportunities and dual income households. Hard work has always been part of success for all the generations.

I agree. Pick a more lucrative career. The days of majoring in whatever you want and getting a good paying job is over.

The bolder alone is worth much more than anything else others have complained about.

+1 I have to believe the number of useless majors being offered today is significantly greater than 40 years ago. Back then we thought that sociology and philosophy were of questionable economic value but the list today is much longer.

I think back then you could major in some liberal arts degree and find a good paying office job because there were less people going to college. Not so today. We have way more college grads competing for the good paying jobs. Back then you could go to vocational school and get a job and live a middle class life. It's getting harder to do that.

You’re right about the college degree. It mattered some. A Master’s even less. I have one and no one ever cared what it was in. But it increased my salary by 50%. But you’re wrong about todays value for vocational training. Right out of school my kid was making $60k and same for my friend’s kid.

The problem is that the $60K paying job out of vocational school won't pay that much more in 20 years. Also, with automation and offshoring jobs, there are less and less vocational type jobs. My dad was a machinist, and my mom was a seamstress.

Even so, vocational training has a much better ROI than paying for a college degree in something useless and getting a job that pays the same $60k that a vocational trained person gets paid.

I was just reading about certification job training programs in the semiconductor industry. This guy had a psych degree and was working at Taco Bell because he couldn't find a job. So, he signed up for the vocational training program. Technician in semiconductor starting pay is $20 to $25/hour. What a waste of a college degree.

You can major in liberal arts if you are smart enough. Intelligent and capable people will always get ahead in their careers no matter what they major in. I’m a hiring manager who looks for intelligence and the ability to write and think critically, together with a collegial personality and drive. That’s what makes for a great employee in certain professions, way more important than specific major. I usually find those qualities in people with “useless” majors from decent schools. Then again I’m not hiring for accounting or IT positions or scientific research.

Society needs all sorts of professions and careers to function well. If everyone goes into finance, who will teach our kids, who will take care of the sick, who will sell us groceries and put out fires and keep law and order, fox our roads, build our houses, create our entertainment? And yes we need psychologists, therapists, and social workers.

My Cadillac dealer is paying $100 an hour for master mechanics. They will even train you.

Specialty mechanics make great salaries. Masters at anything really.

And my big Cadillac Dealer in Bethesda mechanics work business hours and spotless. Not junky cars. Medical, 401ks discounts on GM cars

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only were mortgage rates extremely low until recently, some of us boomers were at home buying age when mortgages were at 18%. I remember being ecstatic to refinance at 7%.

Gen-X immigrant here. Yes, our home too was purchased at 18%. We were in our early-30s, living in an apartment. We delayed having a child for 6 years after we got married because we could not afford a kid. The cost of the house was 4x our HHI. This was 26 yrs ago. We did for years without a fully furnished home.

Our wealth today is a result of years of frugal living and sound economic practices. Tell the millennial to do the same and they will have a nervous breakdown. Yes, you can have our kind of wealth if you are willing to live our kind of life. No Starbucks, no processed food, no eating out, no travel, no concerts, no designer anything, no vaping, no pets, no therapy, no electronics, no Netflix, no smartphones.

Poor babies!!

Not everyone is cut out for such an extreme ascetic existence. Sounds awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only were mortgage rates extremely low until recently, some of us boomers were at home buying age when mortgages were at 18%. I remember being ecstatic to refinance at 7%.

Gen-X immigrant here. Yes, our home too was purchased at 18%. We were in our early-30s, living in an apartment. We delayed having a child for 6 years after we got married because we could not afford a kid. The cost of the house was 4x our HHI. This was 26 yrs ago. We did for years without a fully furnished home.

Our wealth today is a result of years of frugal living and sound economic practices. Tell the millennial to do the same and they will have a nervous breakdown. Yes, you can have our kind of wealth if you are willing to live our kind of life. No Starbucks, no processed food, no eating out, no travel, no concerts, no designer anything, no vaping, no pets, no therapy, no electronics, no Netflix, no smartphones.

Poor babies!!

Honestly, many of them were raised poorly by entitled boomers. There is a huge difference in the frugalness practices of the Greatest Generation, who lived through the depression and WW!!, compared to the boomers who were raised during a time of relative opulence. That mentality gets passed down to the next generation.

FWIW, no one forced you to buy a home you couldn't afford at 18% interest. Some people would be better off continuing to rent than become house poor.

We moved close to relatives once we had a baby. No cheap apartments to rent around there. Thankfully, because of lack of an extensive credit history, we put in 40% down. In a few years, we refinanced at 8%, then 5% etc. We bought a house because that was a good location for our family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not only were mortgage rates extremely low until recently, some of us boomers were at home buying age when mortgages were at 18%. I remember being ecstatic to refinance at 7%.

Gen-X immigrant here. Yes, our home too was purchased at 18%. We were in our early-30s, living in an apartment. We delayed having a child for 6 years after we got married because we could not afford a kid. The cost of the house was 4x our HHI. This was 26 yrs ago. We did for years without a fully furnished home.

Our wealth today is a result of years of frugal living and sound economic practices. Tell the millennial to do the same and they will have a nervous breakdown. Yes, you can have our kind of wealth if you are willing to live our kind of life. No Starbucks, no processed food, no eating out, no travel, no concerts, no designer anything, no vaping, no pets, no therapy, no electronics, no Netflix, no smartphones.

Poor babies!!

Honestly, many of them were raised poorly by entitled boomers. There is a huge difference in the frugalness practices of the Greatest Generation, who lived through the depression and WW!!, compared to the boomers who were raised during a time of relative opulence. That mentality gets passed down to the next generation.

FWIW, no one forced you to buy a home you couldn't afford at 18% interest. Some people would be better off continuing to rent than become house poor.

We moved close to relatives once we had a baby. No cheap apartments to rent around there. Thankfully, because of lack of an extensive credit history, we put in 40% down. In a few years, we refinanced at 8%, then 5% etc. We bought a house because that was a good location for our family.

That's fine, but you made a CHOICE to live in an expensive area. Stop whining.