8 Financial Milestones Boomers Achieved That Feel Impossible for Millennials
Once upon a time, the American Dream felt like a checklist: Buy a house in your 20s, work a stable job with a pension, pay off your mortgage before retirement, and ride off into the sunset debt-free. Boomers made it look easy. But for Millennials? That checklist reads more like a fantasy novel. The cost of living has skyrocketed, wages haven’t kept pace, and once-standard job perks — like pensions and affordable health care — are now rarities.
These financial milestones that were once the norm are now the exception.
1. Buying a House in Your 20s
The median home price in 1985 was a modest $84,300 ($159,000 when adjusted for inflation), while the median household income was $23,620. These days the median home price is $400,000 and the median household income is $74,600. In other words, when Boomers were in their 20s, their income was about 28% of what they’d need to buy a house outright, and now that number has dwindled to a bleak 18%.
2. Having an Employer-Paid Pension
Very few jobs these days provide their employees with a pension. If you are lucky enough to have one, you’ve probably also got an army of people around you telling you to never quit such a lucrative job. While pensions were common and no big deal in the ’70s and ’80s, they’re among the most rare job perks nowadays.
3. Retiring at 60 or Earlier
The days of getting hired at an auto manufacturing plant right out of school, putting in a solid 30 years of dedicated employment, and retiring before your first gray hair are long over. Social Security’s full retirement age these days is two months shy of 67 years old.
4. Paying Off Your Mortgage Before Retirement
If you’re able to buy your house before you turn 40, there’s still hope you can leave your 30-year mortgage behind you when you retire. That once attainable milestone has become more of a hurdle in recent years.
5. Buying a New Car With Cash
In the 1980s, you could get a decent, brand-new vehicle for less than $15,000, so it was feasible to save your pennies to pay cash for a new set of wheels. Today, you’ll spend closer to $50,000 for a brand-new vehicle. We’re willing to bet that most millennials don’t have that much dough in their savings account.
6. Affording College Without Crushing Debt
The average annual tuition in 1980 was only $738, so most students could save up money from their jobs to pay for their own schooling. Today’s college students can expect to pay a little more than $11,000 a year for an in-state, public school; the average cost of a private college costs $43,505. Either option often leads them to seek alternative financing options like student loans — and the lovely interest that comes with them.
7. Living Debt-Free in Retirement
There was a time when, once you reached retirement age, you could coast through your golden years without a worry in the world, completely covered by your fixed income with no looming debts harshing your mellow. That time has passed.
8. Building Wealth Through Long-Term Stock Market Growth
Boomers benefited from decades of strong market growth, affordable investments, and employer-sponsored stock options. Millennials face market volatility, student debt, and less disposable income to invest.