are you wealthier than your parents?

kaiserkarl · May 4, 2010

say at 45 are you welatheir than when they were 45? lifestyle wise and financially? of course money then is not money now but just IYO. i think i am at my mid 30's compared to when they were my age since i own my home already (not american so wasn't an effect of the bubble). i probably will not be wealthier than my grandparents though since there were many opportunities for them to be firsts in their fields.

Blackhood · May 4, 2010

I come from a poor background but my dad worked hard and made something of himself. My parents have always told me that I need to build on what they have done; my dad always worked hard to earn in Â£k what his age was. My aim is to earn my age untill 30, then transition into earning double my age.

If you aren't wealthier than your parents, or grandparents then somwhere the advantage wealth and sucess has has been squandered. Whats the use of doing well if it isn't just a platform for your kids to go higher?

sho'nuff · May 4, 2010

it's a bit different i wouldnt know how to compare. at 37 i think i am making slightly more than my father did when he was at 37 , but it was different times. i dont have kids. he already had me and my brother. we had a house back then. i cant even fathom owning a house like they did back in the 80s , now.
things are alot more expensive these days of course you should know that.

Fuuma · May 4, 2010

Originally Posted by Blackhood

I come from a poor background but my dad worked hard and made something of himself. My parents have always told me that I need to build on what they have done; my dad always worked hard to earn in Â£k what his age was. My aim is to earn my age untill 30, then transition into earning double my age.

If you aren't wealthier than your parents, or grandparents then somwhere the advantage wealth and sucess has has been squandered. Whats the use of doing well if it isn't just a platform for your kids to go higher?

That's something you really have to reflect on...

HRoi · May 4, 2010

i am much wealthier now than my parents were at my age, but a lot of that is because they worked hard to give me opportunities (i.e. education and such) that they didn't have.

Tangfastic · May 4, 2010

Originally Posted by Blackhood

I come from a poor background but my dad worked hard and made something of himself... my dad always worked hard to earn in Â£k what his age was. My aim is to earn my age untill 30, then transition into earning double my age.
If your dad always earned his age in Â£k and assuming he had a normal length career and no unusual dependencies you are from a rich background. 90% of people in the UK earn less than Â£40k pa.

bluemagic · May 4, 2010

Originally Posted by Fuuma

That's something you really have to reflect on...

He's just expressing the mainstream view. "We" value growth for growth's sake.

Piobaire · May 4, 2010

In many ways, my parents were wealthier. My mother was a stay at home parent. I envy her the free time and lack of job related stress. My father was a union man, working his straight eight and receiving OT for any hours beyond that and never brought his work home nor received emergency calls/pages about his job. He had a defined pension plan and Social Security.

I am happy only having to do 50 hours in a week, am on salary, and have neither a defined pension nor the expectation of ever collecting SS. I am also on call most of the year.

Make of that what you will.

bluemagic · May 4, 2010

^ Yeah, I think that American (and Canadian) living standards are slowly regressing to the mean of the rest of the world. The immediate post-war period seems like a historical anomaly. I mean the rest of the world was basically bombed out, no? (Of course, this is all just funny talk, since I'm not quoting studies or anything like that. It's just anecdotal.)

Piobaire · May 4, 2010

Originally Posted by bluemagic

^ Yeah, I think that American (and Canadian) living standards are slowly regressing to the mean of the rest of the world. The immediate post-war period seems like a historical anomaly. I mean the rest of the world was basically bombed out, no? (Of course, this is all just funny talk, since I'm not quoting studies or anything like that. It's just anecdotal.)

Think you might have missed my point.

Stazy · May 4, 2010

Originally Posted by Fuuma

That's something you really have to reflect on...

Why?

robbie · May 4, 2010

I am wealthier in certain ways (more education, less debt) but less wealthy in some ways (don't own a home, etc)

-rF

swaggerisaliability · May 4, 2010

Not yet

JoyDiffusion · May 4, 2010

Originally Posted by Blackhood

If you aren't wealthier than your parents, or grandparents then somwhere the advantage wealth and sucess has has been squandered. Whats the use of doing well if it isn't just a platform for your kids to go higher?
Some choose lower-paying careers in public service, social work, or the like, because the work means something to them more than financial wealth. I'm not exactly one of those people, but I have to take issue with your statement all the same. Far be it from me to criticize someone's choice of career based on its high income potential, although I think a career choice based on passion for the work, and not the money it brings generally results in greater happiness. That said, I have a great deal of respect for people going into lower-paying fields than their parents were in, if those careers are important for our society. We need as many good public school (U.S. style) teachers as we can get. To answer the question, I just finished grad school, so it's yet to be determined in my case.

darkdream · May 4, 2010

I am dependent on my parents (college student living in one of their condominiums and I will be dependent for my PhD/MBA time too). My mother makes around 400k from her career alone (and this is her taking a safe job for the big family for financial security since she make much more than my father). I do hope to make more than my mother does within 10 years after I finish my education to make her proud and to pay her back.

are you wealthier than your parents?

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