While taking my clothes out of the washing machine at my local laundromat, I happened to overhear some nearby senior citizens talking about their retirement. Then they started talking about how kids these days have no work ethic. That’s when I chimed in with how “kids these days” do work hard (in my case a full-time job with a side gig), but we also are saddled with student loans, inflationary prices on most goods and stagnant wages. They didn’t have much of a response to me. Gee… I wonder why?!

A lot of those people in the Boomer generation (by no means all) are under the impression that it was through their hard work alone that the persevered, but they forget those other external factors that made it easier for them to thrive on less as mentioned above. College could be paid for as you went. Houses were affordable. The nuclear family survived and even thrived on one income. Mothers could stay at home to take care of her children while the husband worked.

Times have changed. Life no longer works this way. If you read any research article about wealth by generations, it shows that young people are losing ground compared to the older generations at similar phases in their lives. This is disheartening news. But, it is not based on the younger generations lack of trying as assumed by the Boomers. Systemic issues are holding them back.

It’s no wonder “Ok Boomer” has become a catchphrase. It represents how out of touch some boomers have become with the current financial reality of the generations after them.