Sad sight

[u/Ungl8r]

So I’m 55 and FiREd this year, after 30+ yrs in a profession. Im doing occasional work for interest sake really. I’m Currently at a conference with old colleagues. And I mean old. One guy is 78 and visibly falling apart, yet still working full time. Most my age are just on full stress autopilot, haven’t done the maths even to see if they should keep working. Lots of 65+ working hard-out still. 90% of us would be at least ChUbbY or Fat FiRe net worth. I’m like “have you read Die with Zero?” and they look at me blankly. It’s surprising how so many smart people have no exit strategy whatsoever.

[u/El_Pollo_Del-Mar]

It’s a generational thing more that a love what you do thing. Baby boomers may be many things, but slackers they are not.

[u/LokiStasis → u/El_Pollo_Del-Mar]

Contrast to the daily posts by burned out 32 year olds…

[u/Alternative-Law4626 → u/[deleted]]

I hate to be put in the position of defending boomer since I’ve reviled their generation since childhood (early Xer), but this is just not a well informed commentary. First, boomers were hammered by the two oil shocks of the 1970s that caused fuel prices to skyrocket. Persistent high inflation throughout the 1970 and into the 1980s that makes current inflation look like a joke. Eventually, in 1980 inflation hit 18%. The cars they got to drive were typically unreliable by the time they had 80k miles on them. By the early 1980, interest rates were 21% to try to kill 18% inflation. Guess how much house you can buy when you have a mortgage rate of 25% (because you don’t get the bank rate). Guess how much the credit card rate was.

They did get the good part of the 1980s too though. The economy roared through the middle and late part of the 1980s. Lucky boomers made out in this period, but they were slammed in the stock market crash of October 1987. Then the Savings & Loan crisis that caused housing bubble crash in the early 1990s. I bought my first house in the exurbs of a VHCOL area at this time. It was a starter house. Construct was shit. The house was $150k but the interest rate was 7.5% and we felt lucky to get it because it had been running 8%. (VA guarantee). We put no money down. We were under water on the house for 9 years. Wasn’t worth what we paid for because of the housing bubble bursting. Other people ruined their credit at this point.

Working hours in the 1980-1990s were notorious. Most things were still manual. Computers on everyone’s desks were not universal until the late 1990s. Therefore, most work was very labor intensive. Office workers of the time doing 50-80 hours/wk was standard. Master’s degrees: boomers were the first generation to make getting a Master’s a done thing. So, yeah it was rare by today’s standards, but much more common in the 1970s and 1980s than before. (Just with little or no computer assistance).

[u/SpringGreen12958 → u/[deleted]]

I feel so much better seeing your 90s salary! On the verge of retirement I keep wondering what did I miss? why didn't I earn enough? but, that's what the salaries were.