The NY Times reporting:
Ms. Brady has plenty of company. A new study from the Urban Institute finds that Ms. Brady and her peers up to roughly age 40 have accrued less wealth than their parents did at the same age, even as the average wealth of Americans has doubled over the last quarter-century.
An interesting situation which I'm not entirely surprised about. Not to pick on the woman at the head of the post, I want to use her story as an example of why I the NY Times has missed the major reason for this.
Pearl Brady has a stable job with good benefits and holds two degrees, a bachelor’s and a master’s. But despite her best efforts, she has no savings, and worries that it will be years before she manages to start putting away money for a house, children and eventually retirement.
“I’m in that extremely nervous category,” said Ms. Brady, 28, a Brooklynite who works for a union. “I know how much money I’m going to be making for the near term. I hope in my 30s and 40s to be able to save, but I have no idea how. It’s scary.”
She's 28, wants a house and children and save for retirement. Not a single mention of marriage.
She "hopes" to be able to save in her 30's and 40's.
I see.
Marriage, particularly for women is the best way to increase net worth. This is true across race. I have
written about this on my other blog so I wont repeat it here.
It does not surprise me that at a time where this generation is deep in debt, it also the least married generation (in terms of age of first marriage) and the generation with the most single parents.
Single parenting is a huge drain on resources yet and still it is taboo in certain circles to mention that being a single mother is a bad idea and that getting (and staying) married is one of the best financial decisions a man and woman can make.
Of course landlords love the perpetually single younger generation because the longer they are single, odds are the longer they will need an apartment. High demand = high rent.
Entertainment companies love it too, since single men and women spend money entertaining themselves rather than worrying about mortgages, education and the stuff that adults of a generation ago concerned themselves with.
For now, millions of younger workers are on their own. “We both had vanilla lower-middle-to-middle-class lifestyles,” said Christopher Greer, a 32-year-old who works in astronomy and lives in Arizona, referring to himself and his girlfriend. “I’m not sure how that’s going to play out for us.”
Here's my advice: Stop dicking around and get married. Move in with each other and split the bills equitably. Look at all your now collective debt and make a plan to pay each one down one by one and/or one partner pay the debts while the other does the savings.
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