Boomer Wealth

[joesxm3]

I was listening to the All-In Podcast this morning and they threw out some statistics that sort of shocked me, but maybe not. However, it might put some of us here in perspective (knock us off our high horse a little).

They said that all of the money injection massively pushed up asset prices, with the vast majority of it going to the baby boomer generation.

They said that American boomers have a total of $71 Trillion of assets, mostly in home value and equities.

The average ($71T / number of boomers) asset value is $1.2 Million. Of course that is not the median and I am sure that there are a lot of broke boomers to balance out those of us with more than $1.2M

They said that American boomers are 1% of the world's population but control 1/7 of the worlds wealth.

They mentioned the lack of younger people willing to work and pointed out why work if your parents will bail you out while you are waiting for them to croak.

They also pointed out that with the predicted future drop in house values and equity values, these numbers will change. But they did say that this will be the largest generational wealth transfer ever.

 

[MarieIG]

- I have six kiddos. They are all working.

- There may be more of them, but moochers are not new.

- I am more concerned about their Uncle spending money to bail them out (if they are capable of working) than their parents.

 

[Car-Guy]

They mentioned the lack of younger people willing to work and pointed out why work if your parents will bail you out while you are waiting for them to croak.

I absolutely see that happening, in some cases.

 

[Music Lover]

A generation or two ago it was common for 5 or 6 people to share a modest inheritance when their parents passed. Now it's more common to have 3 or 4 siblings with 1 or 2 kids between them. One of my friends is an only child and has 5 aunts and uncles all with paid off homes, plus some investments. He has one cousin.

 

[MichaelB]

They mentioned the lack of younger people willing to work and pointed out why work if your parents will bail you out while you are waiting for them to croak.

According to the BLS, 70% the population of age 20-24 are in the labor force along with 81.5% of those aged 25-34. Not sure what constitutes “young people” but it sure seems that most are working.

 

[joesxm3]

According to the BLS, 70% the population of age 20-24 are in the labor force along with 81.5% of those aged 25-34. Not sure what constitutes “young people” but it sure seems that most are working.

So that's 20% not working? Isn't frictional unemployment supposed to be 4%? I do realize that is 4% of those wanting to work.

 

[razztazz]

The Senior or ruling class always has all the money. They've been around the longest. It almost cannot be any other way. Aren't about half of them dead now anyway? Certainly a bunch of them. Thus concentrating these numbers. Ergo a lot of X'ers and Y'ers already got any leftovers they had coming. But first it went to Boomer Mom & Dad. Boomers also have the most gray hair and largest prostates. Who had all the bread before them? The Greediest aka The Greatest Generation. Because that's how it always goes. Don't know what picture they're trying to paint but it sounds like one of those snarky comments people always make about statistics.

As far as young people not working? Gimme a break. They make this sound like some grand conspiracy. Like the CNBC and Fox Bizz crowd believing the Great Depression was caused when one day everybody just decided to stop going to work. They all text each other and have agreed not to work, so mom and dad stupidly drag their knuckles and bail them out as if they had no say in the matter. Or perhaps they are not so stupid and actually understand modern problems and are just being generous. Wanting to help the kids. How Un-American. And bad for the economy too.

It's not true. 'Nuff said (As Stan Lee used to declare.) Not wanting to work? Now that's a real thing. Just like young people since the cave man days. Or at least the 1970's that I remember. But we all worked. (Well, people with Rich Folks didn't. They just did whatever they wanted and called it work. The Moral High Ground, ya know.) Old people bitched about how lazy they were. Employers bitched about having to pay them. What's new about that?

 

[MarieIG]

The Senior or ruling class always has all the money. They've been around the longest. It almost cannot be any other way. Aren't about half of them dead now anyway? Certainly a bunch of them. Thus concentrating these numbers. Ergo a lot of X'ers and Y'ers already got any leftovers they had coming. But first it went to Boomer Mom & Dad. Boomers also have the most gray hair and largest prostates. Who had all the bread before them? The Greediest aka The Greatest Generation. Because that's how it always goes. Don't know what picture they're trying to paint but it sounds like one of those snarky comments people always make about statistics.

As far as young people not working? Gimme a break. They make this sound like some grand conspiracy. Like the CNBC and Fox Bizz crowd believing the Great Depression was caused when one day everybody just decided to stop going to work. They all text each other and have agreed not to work, so mom and dad stupidly drag their knuckles and bail them out as if they had no say in the matter. Or perhaps they are not so stupid and actually understand modern problems and are just being generous. Wanting to help the kids. How Un-American. And bad for the economy too.

It's not true. 'Nuff said (As Stan Lee used to declare.) Not wanting to work? Now that's a real thing. Just like young people since the cave man days. Or at least the 1970's that I remember. But we all worked. (Well, people with Rich Folks didn't. They just did whatever they wanted and called it work. The Moral High Ground, ya know.) Old people bitched about how lazy they were. Employers bitched about having to pay them. What's new about that?

I do not agree with a blanket statement that people with rich folks didn't (or don't) work. I personally knew a number who did. (Not as coal miners, but yes, real full-time work.) Others had responsible parents who did not hand them everything and actually expected them to behave responsibly. Less likely to be fired of course if you're employed by one of the many related entities spawned by the patriarch. A few went into non-family professions such as teaching. Some have been utterly spoiled and beyond a complete waste of space, to the extent we have seen their transgressions in the news. People deserve to judged on their own merits, or lack thereof.

 

[yhoomajor]

Work is overrated. I applaud those who have kicked societal expectations of work to the curb! I also applaud those who produce real stuff. And everyone else in between.

 

[MichaelB]

So that's 20% not working? Isn't frictional unemployment supposed to be 4%? I do realize that is 4% of those wanting to work.

They could be studying university or technical school. Some could be ill or handicapped. They could be volunteering. There are many possibilities.

Employed or lazy are not the only options, and a conclusion that young people don’t want to work and are happy to live off of the largess of mom and dad needs evidence. The fact that is has been repeated for hundreds of years makes it looks more like a curmudgeonly gripe of oldsters.

 

[finnski1]

They could be studying university or technical school. Some could be ill or handicapped. They could be volunteering. There are many possibilities.

Employed or lazy are not the only options, and a conclusion that young people don’t want to work and are happy to live off of the largess of mom and dad needs evidence. The fact that is has been repeated for hundreds of years makes it looks more like a curmudgeonly gripe of oldsters.

+1

 

[NW-Bound]

Both of my kids in their mid-30s are working. Both have a professional job, and my son is a fairly well compensated engineer. Their employers make them work too hard, in my view.

It is likely that we will leave them with a 7-figure inheritance each.

But I just now figure out that our current asset divided by 2 at the 4% WR generates less than what each of them is making. A lot less in the case of my well-paid son.

Because my kids don't need my money, I should be BTD, but I would be just squandering it on things I don't need or want.

Anyway, I don't think having more money than you spend is a problem. It does not bother me that I spend less than I can. Perhaps I should increase my donations.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

They could be studying university or technical school. Some could be ill or handicapped. They could be volunteering. There are many possibilities.

Employed or lazy are not the only options, and a conclusion that young people don’t want to work and are happy to live off of the largess of mom and dad needs evidence. The fact that is has been repeated for hundreds of years makes it looks more like a curmudgeonly gripe of oldsters.

Old people have been saying nobody wants to work any more since at least the 1800's. There's a compilation on twitter of newspaper headlines saying exactly that, or something very similar, called "A Brief History of Nobody Wants to Work Anymore" -

https://twitter.com/x/status/1549527748950892544

.

 

[razztazz]

I do not agree with a blanket statement that people with rich folks didn't (or don't) work. I personally knew a number who did. (Not as coal miners, but yes, real full-time work.)

See, they're doing what they want because they can. That's what Rich means. It might actually be contributory and even laudable. But that's a different subject. That's not what I was saying. You made my point.

Yes, we all should be judged individually. I wasn't judging individuals. Or judging at all. Of course most conclusion about people and groups are always arrived at en masse because we can't get to know everybody individually then fashion policy. Hence all the sturm und drang about "Millenials" and "Boomers."

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We started having the labor shortages right after 1 million people, and counting, in the U.S. have died from Covid, others retired early to keep from dying of Covid, and many more have long haul symptoms or are caregivers. What are the odds that is a coincidence and the labor shortage is do to young people's laziness. Average unemployment rate in the U.S. is 5.74% and we are at 3.7%, so by historical standards the employment rate is high.

ETA - Covid caused huge shortages in US labor market, study shows, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/13/us-labor-shortage-long-covid, Long Covid is keeping millions out of work, https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-out-of-work-and-worsening-our-labor-shortage

 

[Dtail]

Work is overrated. I applaud those who have kicked societal expectations of work to the curb! I also applaud those who produce real stuff. And everyone else in between.

Work can be overrated, but between my DGF and I, there will not be any bailouts for the 5 children.

 

[Delawaredave5]

When / Will the baby boomers start selling off inflated assets ? (houses, cars, etc)

Watched this land plot in town I grew up: First farm, then developed in 70's into Middle School to accommodate the boomers. Then there were excess school buildings after boomers, so it was sold. Then became office space. Now it is a nursing home housing the boomers.

At some point all the nursing homes won't be needed, nor all the 2nd homes, nor all the collector cars, nor boats.....

And if they are still needed, the next generation won't be able to afford it - have read:

"When boomers were around the same age as millennials today, they held roughly 22% of the nation's wealth compared to Millennials' 7%"

 

[RobbieB]

That's because there are more of us.

Woo-hoo, war is over and I didn't get killed, let's procreate!

 

[aja8888]

Woo-hoo, war is over and I didn't get killed, let's procreate!

Same here.

 

[joesxm3]

I'm surprised that everyone fixated on the comment about young people not working. Maybe the last item stuck in their mind.

I was more impressed by the $71T of assets held by the boomers and the average $1.2M. I guess having $2M or $3M is not that impressive if the average is $1.2M. Then again, it is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[rk911]

A generation or two ago it was common for 5 or 6 people to share a modest inheritance when their parents passed. Now it's more common to have 3 or 4 siblings with 1 or 2 kids between them. One of my friends is an only child and has 5 aunts and uncles all with paid off homes, plus some investments. He has one cousin.

our NW is mid 6-figures. no kids, 1-married nephew with no kids. they will inhert a portion but the bulk of our estate will be going to charity.

 

[street]

One son and family will get everything we leave behind. We don't know what the future holds but they should acquire a pretty healthy sum plus a ranch.

I'm not sure they will need it to live a comfortable life. Between the two they make over 325K a year. Son has a great pension to boot, and they have 401K's they are maxing.

He has 20 years in already with his company.

 

[Koolau]

Work can be overrated, but between my DGF and I, there will not be any bailouts for the 5 children.

Ditto. In fact, I'm much more inclined to help out the kids that w*rk the hardest. You would think they need it least, but I look at it as encouraging good behavior rather than bad behavior. YMMV

 

[Koolau]

I'm surprised that everyone fixated on the comment about young people not working. Maybe the last item stuck in their mind.

I was more impressed by the $71T of assets held by the boomers and the average $1.2M. I guess having $2M or $3M is not that impressive if the average is $1.2M. Then again, it is nothing to sneeze at.

If you have $2M to $3M, you are doing well in comparison to the median NW of Boomers which is a better measure of "typical" net worth. Here is a site that suggests the median NW of Boomers as around $200K. The average is inflated by those boomers with outsized NWs (heh, heh, like some of us.)

https://www.businessinsider.com/typical-baby-boomer-net-worth-debt-real-estate-retirement-2021-12

 

[GravitySucks]

So that's 20% not working? Isn't frictional unemployment supposed to be 4%? I do realize that is 4% of those wanting to work.

College students.
Stay at home mom/dad.

This myth of the lazy kids is getting old.