Wealth Gap Between Young & Old Largest Yet! (Yahoo)

lol Time for the 99%'rs to picket the old folk's homes?

Or will Nana and Papa start dying under mysterious circumstances with newly printed wills nearby?

One reason for this is that perhaps we oldsters saved better because we didn't have to HAVE EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW ! ! ! I see this in my own children.

Some of the other reasons:
1) Bought homes before the real estate bubble.
2) You just tend to spend more in your 20's and 30's raising kids, buying vehicles, etc.
I know I have cut back now that I am in my 40's.
3) Better job market, some industries, like automotive have two tier wages, with older veterans making 3 times what new hires do.

47 times more in wealth than their kids. Amazing numbers.

I'd expect my father to have more than me ---- he's been saving for 30 years longer.

HOWEVER - the difference between his assets and mine are really amazing ---- especially given that I have 3 degrees, compared to his no degree.

I found a few primary causes of this gap:
- I had 4 kids (he had 2)
- He had fully subsidized health care (I pay $500/month)
- His portfolio had more ups (and larger ups) than my portfolio (he has a state pension ---- my portfolio was churned by a self-serving money manager)
- He paid a much lower housing cost - even after adjusting for inflation than I did (my home is smaller)
- he had a single employer over his 40 years career (I've had 4 over the last 20 - and I moved 4 times)
- he bought his first home with a VA loan ---- I bought mine with a zero down ballon loan (it worked out --- barely)

What's my conclusion --- it's at least partly choices (I made different choices).

Two factors are beyond the choice difference:
- housing prices (today, homes are priced for two incomes)
- insurance costs (his insurance was mostly employer paid)

I figure the first factor adds about $350/month to my bills, and the second factor adds about $500/month. That's $850/month difference (about $10,000/yr). Had I invested that difference - my savings would be on par with my dad's.

And one big thing I would like to point out. American workers had little competition from other countries driving up their wages after WWII. Japan and Europe had been destroyed and it would take until the 70's for Japanese skilled labor to make equivalent autos. China, Korea, India? They were having trouble just keeping their bellies full, much less competing with the 1st world economies.