To save you a click, no one is ever happy now.
My friends all went to uni and I went straight into full time work after college. They were having a blast while i was speed running the adult human condition. They had overseas trips and big uni balls and I worked and saved.
By my mid 20s I’d bought a house and was quite advanced in my career, and now I’m middle aged I’m in a far better financial position than they are, and I’m old enough now to put aside FOMO for my youth.
But here’s the thing, I did the work really hard thing and got the pay off that was promised. This generation? I don’t think it matters what they do, they’re fucked. And that’s bitterly unfair.
If I were their age, at least in my country, I’d do a trade, travel, try and live off the grid or look into tiny homes and communal living. The system was always rigged but once upon a time there were ways you could get ahead, with some sacrifice and delayed gratification. It’s just not true anymore and it’s bullshit to tell them otherwise.
I’d counsel young people (again in my country) to learn useful skills and live it up. Don’t even try to play the game.
I think that’s just because boomers own all the assets. Assets are pretty much happinesses.
Young adults didn’t have much assets in the past either. I suspect a strong factor here is rather that due to high rents for apartments in population centers, young adults are forced to stay with their parents which can be quite miserable at that age.
People earn more as they age there’s no doubting that. However young adults now own less assets overall than their parents or grandparents did at their age. It continues that way for every age cohort too.
The baby boomer generation owns and has owned more wealth than any other generation in US history even when accounting for age.
