Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gen X here, just turned 40. If you compare how I'm doing with how my parents (who were solidly middle class) were doing, it's not even close. At 40, they had multiple homes, were secure in their savings and retirement through generous pensions, and practically debt free. This was on school teachers' salaries! Me? Student loan debt set me back years, crippling housing costs, and a crappy 401(k) that is probably worth…
My father was an employee of a series of banks. Nothing hugely special - earning the equivalent of about £100k today at that point - but the lifestyle they had by my age is astounding. By 34 they owned a huge house in the country, several large holiday homes abroad, three cars, private education for the kids, first class flights (for them - I always flew alone to school, economy), motorbikes, you name it. At the same…
That's the issue with this thread: it's only first world perspective, about the time when the difference in income between countries around the globe was completely radical. With globalisation, it jist evens out.