!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The myth of inheritance fixing this just won't die. These people aren't going to die like the greatest generation at 75 from smoking and leave a paid off house to the kid, they are going to hold on to 95, get Alzhymers, and drain the equity from it. The kids won't get anything.I don't think anyone is disputing that saving is still a good idea and that you should do the best you can that way. But accepting the results and not caring that you are being given a raw deal is not a good approach either. Even for things we don't directly control we need to be cognizant of how it affects us rather than ignoring it.I am not pessimistic about the future as you are, nor am I optimistic (as most here seem to be, due to recency bias). The bottom line is, I am clueless. I have no idea what the USA or the world will look like in 2050 or 2100, having been fortunate enough to have lived in post-WW2 USA through what may have been the most remarkable period of peace, government stability and economic growth in the history of civilization. I agree with OrangeKiwi and RogueEconomist that for basically any middle class baby boomer or GenXer who didn't do really stupid things with their money, it was almost impossible to fail, and very easy to succeed without really trying very hard.
The best anybody can do, while the going is still good, is find the right balance that works for them, accept the results, and not worry about things that they cannot control.
Accepting the results does not, to me, mean "not caring that you are being given a raw deal". It means not fixating on external causes for your misery that you cannot control. If anything, fixating on external causes for one's suffering is an impediment to further action, like the divorcee who blames all their suffering on their ex, rather than figuring out where they were responsible so they can do better the next time. For example, if you accept that you guessed wrong about your investments and they crashed, you are more likely to introspect and make wiser decisions going forward.
I was very aggressively invested in 2007-8 and lost a lot in the crash. I also unpredictably lost my job and marriage in 2008, right before the crash. I accepted the results and learned from them. I have been less aggressively invested since, and still made a good amount of money subsequently because of the sheer luck I referred to in my post above. I would have made a lot more if I stayed very aggressively invested, but it would have been a bad decision.
Housing prices are exorbitant these days and interest rates are high now, as you described. That said, our lucky generation will soon be dying off, and lots of children of middle class parents will soon be inheriting homes already paid off worth a lot of money. And our generation had few children to divide the spoils. Inheriting a "middle class" house worth $500K or more without having to work to pay for it is a damn good start.
If anything is true, the opportunity gap has widened for today's youth. Those kids whose parents own property and were able to afford to send them to college at today's tuition rates will, barring future unpredictable catastrophes or blatant irresponsibility, likely do just fine.
Statistics: Posted by yankees60 — Thu Aug 01, 2024 3:28 pm — Replies 137 — Views 21749