Whenever I find myself following the line of thinking that OP put forward, I try and remember: I'm the first generation in my family to be able to rely on the fact that any place I'm in (read: my car and my personal residence) has air conditioning
Even though it seems like money reduces hardship and should increase happiness, I think as long as you aren't broke, relationships matter more than bank accounts.
What do you think?
Things sound like they're OK for the OP right now, and he doesn't sound incredibly troubled, just perturbed. And that's probably the right point of view; no use freaking out. But I genuinely worry for a big chunk of the US - people my age and younger - because I don't know if they'll be able to afford anything, or get jobs, 10 years from now.
Once you're able to pay your expenses and put enough money away to have piece of mind, I think the intangible things matter most. If all my friends have to move into the wilderness to afford their rent, though, I'm gonna be pretty lonely :)
If 99% of people are worse off than I am, that seems like an extremely serious problem to me. Hence my question.
Maybe it has to do with WWII. After WWII, the US was the only great economic power left undamaged. Our industries supplied the world, and they boomed. That wealth trickled down to many people in the US. Now, decades after WWII, other countries around the world have developed their own industry, driving down global prices and wages. As a result, perhaps the average global worker is better off, but the average US worker is worse off. This may partly explain why median wages have been stagnant in the US since 1974ish.
I wonder how much of comfort is attitude or perspective. I also happen to be a single man living in a high-rent city (Palo Alto). My income is about $30,000. Rent is my largest expense by far, but overall I feel quite comfortable. I manage to contribute $5k each January to my Roth IRA. No doubt if I had children or medical expenses, my $30,000 income would be strained, but right now I feel relatively comfortable on it. My needs are met.
I live in a shitty small apartment in a run down part of SF, and my annual rent is $20,000. Either you're talking net income, PA is way cheaper than I've been led to believe, or there's some factor I'm missing
What I'm getting at is it's easy to get by on simple jobs like that when you live in Nowhere, WY. Then, later, when the town booms people are incredulous about how you were ever able to afford living there.
That's exactly my point though, then & now are almost certainly not apples to apples, and "Well I couldn't afford their house today" is exactly the thing that I am saying is a mistake to think.
Older generation, especially those through the hardsihps of war, are happy to live, period. Jobs we consider shitty today (like cashier or truck driver) are much better than infantry man in war torn Europe.
Today's people are much more spoiled, not just in consumerism, but the idea of being above manual labour, freedom to chase your unprofitable goal, not settle until you found a dream job are all quite new.
It sounds like you're doing better than 99% of people. Six figure income, no huge expenses. I think the question isn't 'what's the problem with the economy' - really the question should be 'what's the problem with our expectations?'
I think for all of human history the Joneses have looked more financially comfortable and happy than they really are. Perhaps the comfortable people you envy are not as comfortable as they appear. Or maybe comfort is more a state of mind than a state of finance.
Those are my two cents, at least. I'd be happy to hear more about your situation and where you're coming from.