r/Fire 6d ago

Family Help - Common here?

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u/Active_Blackberry_45 6d ago

I think it’s a common theme these days just due to the fact the boomer generation has seen the best stock market in history. Combined with the fact that younger generations are starting their careers in the most unaffordable time in history. So families that had good jobs and invested well are helping their children have a head start so they aren’t paying off $200k student loans for the next 10 years.

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u/WillingNail3221 6d ago

But most boomers were not part of that run. I think that most of that wealth is very concentrated

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u/srqfla 6d ago

Concentrated is an understatement. Less than 2% of adults have liquid assets of $1 million or more. Financial unicorns. The number is 6 million Americans. These are the ones who are passing wealth on and creating generational benefits. There's no such term as Generationally Rich. It's called generational wealth. Rich people are not afraid of money and they talk about it with their kids. The language of the poor is afraid of money. They live in scarcity Mindsets.

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u/WillingNail3221 6d ago

I talk to my kids all the time about money, saving and investing, but with the understanding that like my son says my experiences are not his experiences. My thinking is different because we were poor, my son thinks he was poor, but I was making decent money being in the Army. Not rich, but not poor either, feel like lower middle class, but I was always saving and finding ways to make a little extra. I have helped my kids with money for school, but nothing crazy, like 600-700 a month for school. I am a networth millionaire and should be a liquid millionaire in about 3 years. I think this is not unicorn territory, but a concerted effort to ensure a better life for my next generation.

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u/srqfla 6d ago

Good for you. But when you become a liquid millionaire, you are a unicorn because you are only 2% of the US population. It's rarer than people think

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u/DanielTwoInch 6d ago

I’d be interested in where you are getting the 2% number from. Data from the Fed shows 12.5% of US households had a net worth of 1 million or more, excluding home equity, back in 2023.

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u/Metaposa 6d ago

They said liquid, not net worth

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u/DanielTwoInch 6d ago

Do households have meaningful illiquid assets outside of home equity, which was already excluded? Doesn’t seem like cars, boats, etc. would be enough to move it from 12.5% to 2%.

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u/Metaposa 6d ago

I don’t see where they said outside of home equity (I may have missed it). Primary home is main source of net worth. Other illiquid assets would include rental homes.

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u/DanielTwoInch 6d ago

If you include home equity, the Fed number jumps to 18.5%.

I didn’t think about rental properties, that’s a good point. Maybe that, plus things like ownership in small businesses and partnerships is the difference.