Re:The death of the ‘Millionaire Next Door’ dream
by candybar on Wednesday August 11, 2021 @04:42PM
(#28147481)
> A little-noticed marketing report released last month by U.S. Trust contained the disturbing statistic that while almost a third of Baby Boomers worth more than $3 million claimed to have grown up in lower-middle-class homes, the number fell precipitously for younger cohorts, with 18 percent of Gen Xers and a mere 6 percent of such Millennials saying they came from working-class stock.
Millennials: age 18–32
Generation X: age 33–48
Baby Boomers: age 49–67
Socio-economic status growing up among the wealthy:
Age 18-32: 0% Poor, 6% Lower Middle Class
Age 33-48: 4% Poor, 18% Lower Middle Class
Age 49-67: 5% Poor, 31% Lower Middle Class
Age 68+: 7% Poor, 24% Lower Middle Class
This is almost entirely due to the fact being wealthy (to the tune of 3M+ net worth) is a far more exceptional outcome for younger people than it is for older people, especially given how much asset prices have gone up over the past few decades. Also these rely on self-assessments and my personal experience is that there's been a class inflation of how people describe themselves and their own upbringing. I suspect older people are more likely to describe their own upbringing as "Lower Middle Class" than younger people.
This is the 2013 report being referenced here:
http://doingmorethatmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/2...
Age Cohort Definition:
Millennials: age 18–32 Generation X: age 33–48 Baby Boomers: age 49–67
Socio-economic status growing up among the wealthy:
Age 18-32: 0% Poor, 6% Lower Middle Class Age 33-48: 4% Poor, 18% Lower Middle Class Age 49-67: 5% Poor, 31% Lower Middle Class Age 68+: 7% Poor, 24% Lower Middle Class
This is almost entirely due to the fact being wealthy (to the tune of 3M+ net worth) is a far more exceptional outcome for younger people than it is for older people, especially given how much asset prices have gone up over the past few decades. Also these rely on self-assessments and my personal experience is that there's been a class inflation of how people describe themselves and their own upbringing. I suspect older people are more likely to describe their own upbringing as "Lower Middle Class" than younger people.