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Gen Z and Millenial hatred and vitriol toward boomers

I was born in 1963, went to work full time in 1985, retired in 2023. Bought our house in 1988 at 13.5% interest rate, refi'd it down and paid it off in 17 years. I'll start drawing SS when I turn 62.

Am I a Boomer, and is your life so shitty you blame me? Well, IDGAF and get back to work, you're going to have a whole lot more to pay for going forward.
In reality you should be labeled an Xer. 1960 should be the cutoff. Class sizes already dropped for 61-62 babies.
 
Pensions were eliminated for a number of reasons. For one, why should a company be forced to manage your retirement funds. Yes there are pensions that gave some people a decent retirement. My dad was one of them. But there are downsides to pensions as well. My dad worked for the same company for 30+ years to get that pension. Many Millennial's have a hard time staying at a job for 5 years. Having a 401k that followers the person, allows people to move from company to company and seek better pay and working conditions. My dad retired as soon as he could because of the working conditions and the pay increases.
Because job hopping is the most efficient way to get promotions/raises and earn a higher income. If you get 2 years out of someone in my industry, that's good. 5 is a long time.
 
Pensions were nice because workers did nothing and were included.

Now many have to actually sign up for a 401k. Damn that is sadly difficult and so many want Now vs Later they can’t stand the thought of putting away money so they don’t. Then many cry at retirement that they have nothing. Sadly lots of these people had good jobs.

those that didn’t have good jobs 40 years ago also retired with nothing, just like today. Problem is they are joined by millions of middle class people that didn’t put money into 401k. They instead chose slight bigger house and car and “toys”. They say “can’t take it with you, enjoy it while you can”.

Fortunately there are lots of part time jobs for these people to supplement their social security in retirement.

Give me a 401k any day with the benefits of decades of market growth vs a pension. Pensions work for government workers because tax dollars are also supplementing.
 
Pensions were nice because workers did nothing and were included.

Now many have to actually sign up for a 401k. Damn that is sadly difficult and so many want Now vs Later they can’t stand the thought of putting away money so they don’t. Then many cry at retirement that they have nothing. Sadly lots of these people had good jobs.

I am curious if employee turnover was a lot lower back then also, and if people stayed at one workplace knowing that there was a pension ar the end.

Now, many employers cry and whine because they think they are entitled to a workforce and dont pay enough to attract a decent workforce.
 
Because job hopping is the most efficient way to get promotions/raises and earn a higher income. If you get 2 years out of someone in my industry, that's good. 5 is a long time.
I agree. The old model of 30 and out with a gold watch and a modest pension is thankfully in America’s rear view mirror.
One of the favored ways companies hire new employees is to poach their competitors employees with the promise of a better job with a promotion and higher pay.
Win-win. The employee has already been trained in a similar field at the competitor’s expense. The new company gets an experienced hire who’s happy with their title and their compensation.
It used to be a negative back in the 80’s if your resume looked like you were a job hopping “hired gun” but that had faded.
 
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I have a minor in Economics and taught it at the high school level.
That certainly is no fault of yours. 😂

Ok so than you understand that M2 increased massively during COVID and did so almost immediately in March of 2020 and the fed was slow to increase interest rates to cool down inflation.
 
Every generation has to deal with the new circumstances of the world they live in. You can blame previous generations if you want but every generation has different challenges you have to over come and adapt to. It's called evolution. People that don't understand that just want to blame others for their problems/challenges. Put on your big boy pants and react to the circumstances that are in front of you is what people need to do. And I am not a boomer in case people think I'm sticking up for them, I'm sticking up for every generation. As for people that want to blame everyone else for their problems, boohoo.
Well said. There are always a set of rules. The rules change over time, but there are rules at any given time. With rules, there is a game to be played. Play the game by the rules and maximize your chances of success, play the game not by the rules and minimize your chances of success, or invent a new game with your own set of rules. Within that construct, I understand that everyone was not dealt the same hand. If you don't have the ability or wherewithal to invent your own game, my philosophy is that you are expected to play the cards you were dealt to the best of your ability. If you were dealt a shit hand and born with mental or physical disabilities, the game owes it to you to take care of you. The game should also have a safety net to allow people to get back into the game. But if you are not mentally or physically disabled, you have not taken advantage of the safety net, and you are willfully not playing by the rules of the game, I tend to not feel bad for you.*

*Edited to add that if you are dealt a good hand, and you willfully did not play by the rules and did not invent your own game, I REALLY tend not to feel bad for you.
 
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I am curious if employee turnover was a lot lower back then also, and if people stayed at one workplace knowing that there was a pension ar the end.

Now, many employers cry and whine because they think they are entitled to a workforce and dont pay enough to attract a decent workforce.
I don’t understand why an employer would think they’re “entitled” to a workforce? I think the recent issues with a labor shortage have receded but employers were so desperate for workers they had to raise wages pretty significantly just to staff up.
 
I don’t understand why an employer would think they’re “entitled” to a workforce? I think the recent issues with a labor shortage have receded but employers were so desperate for workers they had to raise wages pretty significantly just to staff up.
Just within the last couple years we saw so many people saying "nobody wants to work anymore." Signs on businesses saying "nobody wants to work anymore." People on the off topic board saying "nobody wants to work anymore."

The entitlement is there.
 
Ok so than you understand that M2 increased massively during COVID and did so almost immediately in March of 2020 and the fed was slow to increase interest rates to cool down inflation.
And stimulus checks sent out to everyone regardless of need by the last two Administrations played zero part in spiking demand while supply contracted…
 
I don’t understand why an employer would think they’re “entitled” to a workforce? I think the recent issues with a labor shortage have receded but employers were so desperate for workers they had to raise wages pretty significantly just to staff up.
Yeah, ive heard enough “nobody wants to work” stories from employers who cant hire anybody who seem pretty entitled and think people should just come and apply at their business.

And if you raise wages and still cant get people, thats either still a wage issue or a workplace issue. Doesnt mean that nobody wants to work. They just dont want to work for you
 
Yeah, ive heard enough “nobody wants to work” stories from employers who cant hire anybody who seem pretty entitled and think people should just come and apply at their business.

And if you raise wages and still cant get people, thats either still a wage issue or a workplace issue. Doesnt mean that nobody wants to work. They just dont want to work for you
A lot of those businesses were raked over the coals for it to, and rightfully so.
 
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I don’t understand why an employer would think they’re “entitled” to a workforce? I think the recent issues with a labor shortage have receded but employers were so desperate for workers they had to raise wages pretty significantly just to staff up.

They clearly did because a ton of them started whining about how no one wants to work anymore despite the fact that the vast majority of people of working age were in fact working.
 
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The 401k was one of the best things that ever happened for workers. Pretty easy to start young and have 2% or 3% or whatever the individual company match max is and have it automatically deducted out of your paychecks and you never miss it. Then most companies have the automatic increase of 1% each year until you are at the max. It is perfect to build retirement savings seamlessly.
 
And stimulus checks sent out to everyone regardless of need by the last two Administrations played zero part in spiking demand while supply contracted…

I'm not saying they didn't have something to do with it. However the question is had those checks not gone out would we have gone into a depression?
 
The 401k was one of the best things that ever happened for workers. Pretty easy to start young and have 2% or 3% or whatever the individual company match max is and have it automatically deducted out of your paychecks and you never miss it. Then most companies have the automatic increase of 1% each year until you are at the max. It is perfect to build retirement savings seamlessly.

Not every company offers a 401k and less match contributions.
 
They clearly did because a ton of them started whining about how no one wants to work anymore despite the fact that the vast majority of people of working age were in fact working.
On this I don’t disagree with you.

I took a part time job a year after I retired because frankly I was bored and I like having something to do. I worked there for three years and got no raise despite high praise and positive reviews.
I gave them notice and let them know I would have stayed if they met what the market was paying. We parted on good terms and they raised their pay scale a year after I left when the market finally made it clear to them they’d have to match what the competition was paying.
The facts are that most Americans are working and that as a society we still like to work.
 
I'm not saying they didn't have something to do with it. However the question is had those checks not gone out would we have gone into a depression?
We’ve been playing with a mild recession for the last year but I don’t think we would have had a depression.
That doesn’t mean we can’t walk into one but the effects of that would be a wider impact I’m not sure we’d survive in our current situation.
 
I get some of the grievances, but as a 'meh, whatever' Gen Xer, I'm curious about the tension between these generations, especially seeing as the Boomers are responsible for these generations' existence. Is it one of those things where every Boomer is evil except for my parents or grandparents-type thing?
Boomers had a tougher life.
Boomers worked for everything they have.
Boomers put work over leisure time
Boomers didn't have to start out with a new home they bought old homes and remodeled them or a new car Boomers bought used cars, Boomers bought what they could afford.
Boomers didn't need designer clothes they shopped at Sears, Kmart.
Boomers normally got a job and stayed for life with that job and scraped and saved for retirement.

These other generations live for the now, rarely save, and cry poor me, poor me most of the time.
 
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Agree. This is the crew who’s starting each day with an $8 soy latte from Starbucks.
I went to Starbucks once about three years ago.
Do I get a participation trophy?
I've truly never spent a single dollar at Starbucks. What does this millennial win?

Also, the oldest millennials might be 42 but most are in their 30s..
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I am curious if employee turnover was a lot lower back then also, and if people stayed at one workplace knowing that there was a pension ar the end.

Now, many employers cry and whine because they think they are entitled to a workforce and dont pay enough to attract a decent workforce.
My dad worked a factory job. We lived middle class for sure. Weird thing is our street also had business owners and a 2 dentists all living in very modest houses that were no more that 1,000 square feet. Heck, thinking back most houses all were fairly comparable in our town of 10,000 outside maybe 15 or 20.

Now the dentists and business owners live in huge homes that dwarf factory workers. I suspect too many are trying to keep up with those that can truly afford it.

If people were forced to put even 3% of their wages into the stock market and couldn’t touch it until 55 or a fatal medical diagnosis the country would be in a lot better shape. Also force 20% down for cars and homes and inflation would be far less as would home prices.
 
Making money is not illegal but it comes with responsibility the more you have the higher the responsibility becomes.

Well obviously....a homeless dude don't have much for responsibility. But yes...the more money I make the more responsibility I have to spend it on cool toys I might use once.

Not every company offers a 401k and less match contributions.

Get a better job....improve your situation. I mean damn...Walmart matches 6 percent.
 
Not every company offers a 401k and less match contributions.

My guess is, there is a higher percentage of companies offering a 401K than there were companies offering a pensions 40-50 years ago. The 401K allowed even smaller companies the ability to offer some kind of retirement for their employees.
 
Today was payday for those boomers receiving SS and with a birthdate from the 11th - 20th of their particular month.
 
I was still a Democrat and voted that way until the latter part of Reagan’s presidency. Hell yes there was a lot of us who voted for him. Second term at least!
We were a decade out of college, starting families, buying houses, holding down jobs and paying taxes. And Democrats were not full of “squad” types veering the party left at the time either.
We weren’t a mob of radicals that some have portrayed either.
Heck even Abby Hoffman grew up and went to work on Wall Street.
And Republicans were not full of "squad" types making a HARD turn to the right at the time either.
 
My dad worked a factory job. We lived middle class for sure. Weird thing is our street also had business owners and a 2 dentists all living in very modest houses that were no more that 1,000 square feet. Heck, thinking back most houses all were fairly comparable in our town of 10,000 outside maybe 15 or 20.

Now the dentists and business owners live in huge homes that dwarf factory workers. I suspect too many are trying to keep up with those that can truly afford it.
There waa a downsizing thread a few weeks ago illustrated that most people do not want to downsize to 1000-1200 square feet
 
My dad worked a factory job. We lived middle class for sure. Weird thing is our street also had business owners and a 2 dentists all living in very modest houses that were no more that 1,000 square feet. Heck, thinking back most houses all were fairly comparable in our town of 10,000 outside maybe 15 or 20.

Now the dentists and business owners live in huge homes that dwarf factory workers. I suspect too many are trying to keep up with those that can truly afford it.

If people were forced to put even 3% of their wages into the stock market and couldn’t touch it until 55 or a fatal medical diagnosis the country would be in a lot better shape. Also force 20% down for cars and homes and inflation would be far less as would home prices.
Most boomers who have yet to downsize live in houses they had to buy before the law changed that forced them to buy a home that was a dollar more than one they might have sold in order to avoid a big capital gains tax bill on every penny of gain they might have made.
We moved several times and in fact in a couple of instances bought more house than we needed so we didn’t get stuck with capital gains. It started when we moved from the NY area to SoCal and then to Louisville Kentucky where the big profits put us in a price range that landed us in a Tudor mini-mansion with rooms we didn’t need. Each move after that put us even higher.
In the long run it did help in creating “wealth” on paper at least. And rolling over profits helped fund down payments so that by the end we were putting down at least half the purchase price as the down payment.
Boomers have also benefited from a transfer of this so called wealth from our parents who accumulated their own assets after we left the nest.
They had us early in their marriage and were empty nesters by their 40’s. They then had twenty plus years to pay off their mortgages and save for retirement.
It seems as though some of you aren’t keen observers of post WWII history or societal history. We Boomers have made money too and we’re going to pass it on to our kids. We didn’t spend all of it on soccer and tee ball trophies so we have some left.
 
Boomers had a tougher life.
Boomers worked for everything they have.
Boomers put work over leisure time
Boomers didn't have to start out with a new home they bought old homes and remodeled them or a new car Boomers bought used cars, Boomers bought what they could afford.
Boomers didn't need designer clothes they shopped at Sears, Kmart.
Boomers normally got a job and stayed for life with that job and scraped and saved for retirement.

These other generations live for the now, rarely save, and cry poor me, poor me most of the time.
Not exactly 100% accurate. I did go to Sears years ago but KMart was for lawn and garden.
I did shop at TJMaxx. Marshall’s, Burlington Coat Factory and Ross too. Heck I still shop there.
Clipped coupons cause everyone did back then.
A two year old car still makes sense. Shopping for sales and deals is just smart.
We learned this from our Depression baby patents.
I worked with millionaires when I managed million dollar oceanfront condos. They stay rich because they’re tight with a dollar.
 
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Not exactly 100% accurate. I did go to Sears years ago but KMart was for lawn and garden.
I did shop at TJMaxx. Marshall’s, Burlington Coat Factory and Ross too. Heck I still shop there.
Clipped coupons cause everyone did back then.
A two year old car still makes sense. Shopping for sales and deals is just smart.
We learned this from our Depression baby patents.
I worked with millionaires when I managed million dollar oceanfront condos. They stay rich because they’re tight with a dollar.
I agree on much of what you stated. Many of the Millenials and XYZ generations spend more than they make on worthless crap then complain they don't have much in life.
 
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I agree on much of what you stated. Many of the Millenials and XYZ generations spend more than they make on worthless crap then complain they don't have much in life.
When they’re being priced out of starter homes and competing with corporations who can offer sellers cash, they’re bound to spend their money on something.

Also, these recent articles don’t jibe with your misinformed take on Millennials:


 
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