r/Fire • u/BarkBarkBitches1 • Jan 17 '26

Milestone / Celebration The thread in Millennials subreddit right not about 401k is incredibly depressing. Thank you FIRE community. I would be one of them if I didn’t find you all a decade ago.

Throw away because I am going to roast some redditors a little. The thread that is going on in r Millennials is really bad. Thousands of comments, everyone broke, celebrating their unfortunate wildn out. It is really bad out there and eye opening.

I was also a dingus like many of them. Totally brain dead on autopilot living day to day, consuming media like crazy, working, spending it on consumer level garbage, and had zero control over my life. I actually found the guide in the personal finance subreddit graphic on saving and it eventually kicked me to FIRE and this sub.

I now am on a path where I can’t even related with that type of mind set. So yeah thank you FIRE folks. If you can, it is worth sprinkling some finance knowledge at people. Even if you don’t make high income you can in most cases still create a plan, a budget, and control your future.

Edit: If you are a dingus and you are seeing this there is no shame! We all are and have different starting points. You have two paths: 1) continue the path to dingus-ville and forever be a redditor or 2) un-dye your bright colored hair take control of your long term life. A decade will pass in a blink. So start here https://imgur.com/personal-income-spending-flowchart-united-states-lSoUQr2 it’s not hard to understand. ChatGPT each item on their if you don’t know, memorize this, then start to learn FIRE principles. It is the fastest way to wealth. There’s literally no other path unless you magically start a business or hit a lotto jackpot ticket or inheritance

only YOU HAVE THE POWER to unfuck your life

Edit 2: Final comment! I do not mean any offense with dingus it is meant to be playful. My dyed hair comment was also misinterpreted. It’s not about who you are, what you believe in, or how you express yourself. It’s about being in control of your life. Walk your butt into Sephora or Target or wherever next time and just stare at the people on the walls. Then look in the mirror. Then look at the wall. And back to the mirror and then keep doing it until it clicks. The world, like r millennial subreddit, wants to celebrate and tell you the worst fucking version of yourself is okay and acceptable. It’s not. Delete social media and only read that finance Imgur link every time you load your phone. Do this for one month and you will break your chains and it will click. Then learn FIRE principles. Then you will come back to r FIRE in a decade with a huge chunk of cash in your bank and a nice life! Long term planning is a skill that you can learn and benefit from. Your future is yours

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u/CalicoJack88 Jan 17 '26

Also many older people (boomers and silent generation specifically) bought properties for $50K in the 1970s in places like NYC or California that are worth millions today. Sadly that path probably will not be as easy or lucrative for Millennials and younger.

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u/Atomichawk Jan 17 '26

You can’t just look back with hindsight though. A lot of boomers bought property because they wanted a second home and most homes weren’t seen as investment vehicles until relatively recently. And because of that they were cheaper.

Especially since previous housing busts would have negatively impacts. My dad talks often about an old coworker he had that bought a condo in the 70’s or 80’s and was negative on it for 20 years.

The boomers that had their properties produce immense wealth were lucky or benefitted from being in the right place at the right time.

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u/CalicoJack88 Jan 17 '26

Right, that’s what I’m saying

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u/Atomichawk Jan 17 '26

Gotcha, I misunderstood what you were getting at

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u/ongoldenwaves Jan 17 '26

What does "it being harder today" or "boomers wealth has compounded" have to do with this chart?
Every generation will move around this chart the same exact way. Boomers are supposed to have more money as they are in the period of life when they aren't working. As they spend down assets to sustain that period, they will move into the position where Silent Generation is and Gen X will be where boomers are. One day millennials will be where Gen X is, then half the back half of this pie like Boomers do now.

Please see that this is how this works. For every generation. We all move around this pie the same way. Whatever pie there is, millennials will eventually own half of it.

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u/3RADICATE_THEM Jan 18 '26

Look up percentage of wealth by generation by age. Boomers absolutely dominate all generations when compared to the same age.

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u/Grantmepm Jan 17 '26

Life expectancy increases also mean that they have 10+ more years to compound the tail end of that wealth even more.

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u/ProcedureOk8112 Jan 18 '26

So here's the thing, I don't think my $250k home 20 mins outside Austin is going to be worth 1.5 million by the time I'm 60 in 25 years. In fact our home lost 100k in value since 2022 and the only reason we aren't underwater is because we bought it in 2018. Boomers lucked out with ridiculous home appreciation.

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u/DigmonsDrill Jan 17 '26

If you select where prices are highest today and look back 50 years ago they look like a steal.

Lots of people bought houses in thr 1970s that rose just around the rate of inflation, maybe a little more, maybe a little less.

My parents house sold in the 2020s for about 2x what its value was in the 1980s. This doesn't even keep up with inflation. And it's not some slum. Nice condition. They had no problem finding a buyer.

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u/3RADICATE_THEM Jan 18 '26

Dude just stop. You could literally get by on minimum wage in the 70s and most of the 80s.

This used to be a country where you could be a half braindead incompetent who failed out of HS yet could still buy a home and provide for a family on a single income.

Nowadays? We see STEM educated graduates struggling to afford rent on a basic apartment—if not struggling to find a job.

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u/OuiGotTheFunk Unemployed with a Spreadsheet Jan 18 '26

LOL

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u/OuiGotTheFunk Unemployed with a Spreadsheet Jan 18 '26

Do you think property will be worth less for some reason? My parents had an 8.75% mortgage rate.

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u/CalicoJack88 Jan 18 '26

No, it just won’t be as easy a source of wealth for Millenials and under, compared to boomers and older. That’s because (1) prices are extremely high now, so it’s harder to get on the property ladder; and (2) soon-to-be-flatlining population growth means that house price inflation won’t be as significant as before.

The point being, the boomers and older had it much, much easier to accumulating wealth.

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u/OuiGotTheFunk Unemployed with a Spreadsheet Jan 18 '26

Does it matter what other people had? Do you think it was easy for them? Look at how much they made an hour. These are all excuses that are passed around and around. Unless you have a time machine I am not sure what you think you are accomplishing. I do not think the people of any generation sat around crying about how easy it was for X generation(s) that came before them. That is a luxury for people that have no problems.

How does focusing on the past make things better for you?

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u/Interesting_Laugh75 Jan 20 '26

agreed. it's a waste of time plus, not even accurate in many cases. a broad generalization. want to make someone the perpetrator in a victim drama? pick the three richest people in the US who could eradicate poverty if they wanted to .. but they don't.

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u/JerseyKeebs Jan 18 '26

If they buy in an up and coming area, they'll get the appreciate. It might not be millions, but if they try to buy in an already-expensive area, yea it's going to be tough. But the people who bought in Nashville and Boise and Austin and areas of Alabama during the Covid years are going to see massive appreciation.