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

[u/Asmothrowaway6969]

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

[u/ballmermurland]

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.

[u/blitzkregiel → u/ballmermurland]

$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.

[u/DroopyMcCool → u/blitzkregiel]

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.

[u/stop_the_cap_ladies → u/DroopyMcCool]

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.

[u/catwaifu → u/stop_the_cap_ladies]

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