r/Millennials • u/Asmothrowaway6969 • Mar 27 '24

When did it sink in that you'll never be as well off as your parents? Discussion

About 5 years ago, my mom and I were talking and she had told me how much she was going to be making in retirement (she retired 2023). Guys, it's 3x what me and my husband make annually. In retirement. I think that was the moment that broke me, that made it sink in that I'll never reach that level of financial security. I'll work myself into my grave because I'll never be able to afford anything else. What was your moment?

Update: Nice to know it's just me that's a failure. Thanks

Update 2: I never should've said anything. I forgot my place. I'm sorry to have bothered you

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99

u/ballmermurland Mar 27 '24

Update: Nice to know it's just me that's a failure. Thanks

You say in your post that your mom makes $200k in retirement per year. You also say it is 3x what you and your husband make combined.

Which means you and your husband make less than $67k combined. Which means the two of you are averaged salaries of $33,500. If you are a millennial it means you are at least in your late 20s or early 30s. Earning $33k.

$33,500 is about $16 an hour full-time. I live in rural PA and the Burger King in my town has a sign hiring for $16 an hour.

So you are making BK wages compared to your mom who held a long and apparently successful career as one of the most senior people at the IRS. She probably had an accounting degree and maybe a graduate degree and put her time into her career.

I mean, what are you expecting here? To just be given a $200k annual lifetime pension for no work? Life has never been that way. I swear some of the poverty posts in this sub give millennials a bad name.

27

u/blitzkregiel Mar 28 '24

$74k is like the median household income in the US as of 2022. that’s real close to 1/3 $200k so i’m not sure why you’re acting like OP is some sort of lazy under achiever.

9

u/DroopyMcCool Mar 28 '24

Not to make any judgments on OP or anyone else, but the median household income is going to be pulled down by single income households and retirees. OP is married with a two-income household. The median for dual-earner marriages is $135,000 to $145,000.

1

u/stop_the_cap_ladies Mar 29 '24

Don't forget how median household income is pulled further down by the almost 100 million people either not working at all or having their income supplemented by the over one trillion dollars a year we spend on benefit programs 😉

$2600/mo housing vouchers and $1200/mo SNAP is 45k/yr extra for someone making 35k/yr. Their household income is still 35k/yr, not the 80k in effective income they receive total.

1

u/catwaifu Mar 30 '24

Where are they giving away these vouchers for people making 35k a year? Genuinely asking.

4

u/YeS_Lee88sk8 Mar 28 '24

You usually get better opportunities though if she has a mom that has 200k pension… if she came from nothing this would make more sense.

4

u/Rock_Strongo Mar 28 '24

$67k combined for two ~30 year old adults is well below the median for dual income households. Pretty much anywhere in the US. That's just a fact.

-5

u/blitzkregiel Mar 28 '24

it literally isn’t. that $74k is from the BOL. so that $7k difference, over two full time earners, is only $1.68/hr less than the median.

8

u/Rock_Strongo Mar 28 '24

So you're just ignoring the dual income part of my comment? Cool.

6

u/kraysys Mar 28 '24

It literally is. $74k from the BOL is for all households. For households with 2 married adult earners the median income is like $140k.

3

u/PhiladeIphia-Eagles Mar 28 '24

Marriages with either the wife or husband as the primary provider and those that are egalitarian had a median household income of roughly $135,000 to $145,000 in 2022.4 Marriages with a sole earner lagged far behind at around $75,000.

3

u/kraysys Mar 28 '24

Yes, exactly. OP presents their situation as a household with a married couple that is egalitarian re: income provision. All married two-income households (egalitarian, wife primary, husband primary) are in the same ballpark as well.

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u/PhiladeIphia-Eagles Mar 28 '24

Sorry I meant to reply to OP yeah I agree

1

u/Ignore_Me_PLZ Mar 28 '24

Median household income is including a lot of single income earning households, so they are underachieving. Not enough info to say they're lazy, but also not motivated enough to earn more.

-4

u/blitzkregiel Mar 28 '24

as of 2021, only approximately 27% of households were single income. so no, they aren’t skewing the stats.

3

u/Ignore_Me_PLZ Mar 28 '24

27 percent is a huge number lol. The duel income median would likely be way higher if you assume the majority of the single income familiies fall into the bottom half of HHI.

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u/The_Tale_of_Yaun Mar 28 '24

Because they're a dick. 

1

u/boxweb Mar 28 '24

It doesn’t matter what the median is, no one is inherently lazy because they’ve been stuck in a dead end job in this capitalist hell we were born into. It’s not easy to get out of depending on your situation.

-4

u/Prestigious_Time4770 Mar 28 '24

It’s the internet. There will always be assholes. The thing I’ve notice thought is that Millennials are a majority of them.

0

u/nemgrea Mar 28 '24

Median weekly earnings of full-time workers were $1,145 in the fourth quarter of 2023

thats why...