18 People Share The Financial Differences Between Them And Their Parents

While some people are thoroughly optimistic about their future, personal growth, and technological progress, others are far more skeptical. One major worry that younger generations have is that they might never achieve the same level of financial security and stability as their older relatives.

Prompted by redditor u/Asmothrowaway6969, the members of the r/Millennial online community shared their thoughts about not being as well off as their parents, and revealed the differences between their financial situations. Scroll down for their opinions and experiences, and let us know whether or not you're in a similar boat.

We wanted to learn more about these financial worries, so we reached out to the author of the thread, u/Asmothrowaway6969. Meanwhile, Bored Panda was also interested in what Millennials can do to create more financial security for themselves, so we got in touch with personal finance expert Sam Dogen, the founder of ‘Financial Samurai' and the author of the bestseller ‘How To Engineer Your Layoff.' 

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Millennials (aka Generation Y) are people born between 1981 and 1996. Meanwhile, members of Generation Z (aka Gen Z or Zoomers) were born between 1997 and 2012. Anyone born after that is currently considered a member of Generation Alpha (Gen A).

So, even though many Millennials are still relatively young, many of them are hoping to settle down, own a home, and get promoted to higher positions. But similar to members of Gen Z, some Millennials find that they’re stretched thin financially.

The World Economic Forum found that a whopping 42% of Millennials and 35% of Gen Z rank the cost of living as their top concern. In the meantime, 23% of Millennial respondents see climate change as the second biggest concern, followed by unemployment (20%), healthcare (19%), and personal safety (18%).

For Gen Z, the second biggest concern, according to the WEF, is unemployment (22%). Climate change ranks third (21%), followed by mental health (19%) and personal safety (17%).

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As reported by Business Insider, the staggering rent that many young people pay has left them concerned they might never be able to afford property of their own in the future. They’re venting about the unfairness of it all on platforms like TikTok and elsewhere on social media.

Statista points out that based on the data from the third quarter of 2023, 51.3% of the total wealth in the US was owned by the Baby Boomer Generation. Millennials owned just 9.3%. While this might sound unfair to many young people, things might not be as financially grim as they might first appear.

CNN recently reported on the findings in The Wealth Report about how American Millennials are getting ready to inherit a whopping $90 trillion in assets by 2044. In short, in a relatively short span of time, they’re going to become the most wealthy generation. However, this doesn’t mean that every Millennial is going to pop the champagne in celebration: whether or not you stand to inherit anything is all down to luck. 

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Bored Panda asked the author of the thread about the biggest financial challenges that they think Millennials face these days. According to them, it’s having to “rely solely on 401ks and not have access to pensions.”

“It’s proof that loyalty doesn’t mean what it used to, but we all grew up with the same advice: that loyalty is key and would be rewarded. I know people who started working somewhere at 18 and got raises and promotions and never even considered leaving. They took care of the company and the company took care of them. That doesn't happen anymore," u/Asmothrowaway6969 said.

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Though they don't think that it was easier to earn money in previous generations, every dollar used to go further. “Dollar for dollar, people make more now, but they struggle more, too.” A major problem, in their view, is "making twice what your parents did and not being able to achieve half of what they could."

The redditor finds the entire situation very disheartening. "We followed the advice we were given, but we're not getting the same rewards. Corporations have taken all that they gave to those before us because they were allowed to. When will we demand better? From them, from our government, from everything? Millennials are often accused of thinking they are owed certain things. I think we are just demanding what everyone before us got."

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Bored Panda also reached out to personal finance expert Sam Dogen to hear his thoughts about building up a sense of financial security, as well as how Millennials might be affected as they are set to inherit a vast amount of wealth from the older generations.

Dogen urged Millennials to cultivate a stronger relationship with their parents. "They are the ones who have likely accumulated wealth during a prolonged bull market and purchased homes at lower prices than today. Naturally, parents desire to assist their children in owning homes and achieving financial independence. However, they may also fear spoiling their children and fostering a sense of entitlement," the founder of 'Financial Samurai' told Bored Panda in an email.

“For mature adult children who approach the situation thoughtfully, they can effectively rely on support from ‘The Bank of Mom & Dad’ to help with significant expenses like buying a home, purchasing a car, or starting a family. It’s essential for adult children to develop emotional intelligence and navigate this dynamic with sensitivity. It's worth noting that parents are often wealthier than their children realize, and their primary goal is to provide the best opportunities for their children."

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According to Dogen, Millennials "must be ready" for the generational wealth transfer that will happen in the coming decades. "This readiness involves consulting with an estate planning lawyer to minimize taxes and fees and to ensure the continuity of their parents' legacies," he said.

"Beyond legal preparations, adult children should foster stronger relationships with their parents while they are still alive. Moreover, they should educate themselves about various financial matters, including investing in stocks, managing real estate, and taxes of all types."

Dogen warned that "it's crucial not to let decades of sacrifice and asset accumulation go to waste after inheritance." He added: "Luckily, most Millennials inheriting significant assets will be in their 40s and older, meaning they should have the maturity to make better decisions."

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My dad just retired at 76, he has a great pension was making 150k and they asked him to retire this year for a 1 years pay. his replacement is making 45k, no retirement package and actually has more duties than my dad did, so overall is doing the job of 2 people that were paid 150k each... so ya good luck with that.I was raised by my aunt and uncle. My uncle casually said he bought their house (valued at 1.5 mil now) when they were 28 at $28,000. THAT was the moment.This latest birthday, #37. My parents built a huge house on an entire acre of land, on 1 income in their early 30s. I just turned 37, have been renting since I was 19, have an education and a good career myself, and will probably never be able to afford a house. Sad.For me personally, it depends on what metric I’m using for a comparison. I’m 33 and make far more money than either one of my parents ever have. But because of vastly increased cost of living, I don’t “have” as much as they did at my age. Namely, a house. At my age, my parents had already been home owners for years whereas it’s still really not on my horizon at all. .My wife makes more than her mom ever did working part time, from home. I passed my dad's income at around 35 yrs old. Our net worth exceeds both sets of parents, put together. Our house is worth more than both of theirs put together as well. That said, they invested in us. They paid for my college and her college, at least what wasn't covered by scholarships. Her mom gave us cash to help with a down payment on a stater home (long since paid back). We plan on doing the same for our kids and invest heavily in 529s, and our retirement. I watched my parents struggle at times as wife watched her mom work 3 jobs. Luckily for all of us, everyone turned out well (except for my dip s**t sister...). It's not all bad out here.My parents had the typical middle-class lifestyle and I have had to earn double what they did to obtain it. Now I just need compound interest to do its thing.My mom pulled me aside when I was in college to be a teacher. But I knew it. I'm not dumb and my mom was a director at a Big Pharma Co. Before she retired, she was pulling in ~250k USD a year.  I have never planned on having kids or even pets and therefore plan to live generally smaller than my parents did. Smaller house, fewer cars, etc. I make decent money teaching (union state!) and I'm comfortably saving for retirement. That's enough.My parents ask me for money. They brooooke.I'm 100% more well off than my parents. They are immigrants from Mexico and by going to the US I've been able to take advantage of more opportunities than I'd ever be able to get at their hometown.My mom is an addict and my father is stuck doing backbreaking work at a retail chain making half of what I do. My parents aren’t better off. They got cheated just like most of us. Despite my relative success life remains more challenging than you’d anticipate at this income level, not because of some personal failing, but because our society has simply changed so much. We CAN do better. I think that requires us to be real about who is responsible for our challenges. I’ll give you a hint—it’s more specific than “boomers” or “parents.” .Mom was a dope addict and dad a career criminal. I was literally conceived in a federal penitentiary. I'm now a 38 year old software engineer, living with my wife of almost 10 years who practices anesthesia at a large and highly respected children's hospital. We have a million dollar home in a MCOL area on over 20 acres of land, 6 figure savings, loaded retirement accounts, and everything we could possibly need. F**k my parents. I am and always will be better than them.Yeah no, I am far better off than my parents. Biological mom died when I was young, step mom has a solid career so she'll be fine when dad passes. But dad spent way too many years getting paid under the table (and saved none of it) before getting into an above board job so his Social Security is like $1k a month max. They're doing okay-ish but only because stepmom still works.I grew up on food stamps and now earn over 100k. I will never have this feeling.Clawed my way out of poverty so I never had this moment.My parents weren't very well off, wasn't hard to achieve more than them.My mom has a nice pension, school teacher at the height of public pensions in a city, but I already make more than she ever did, my husband makes more than my dad did at that age not sure where we’ll be at retirement compared to them but I think probably ahead we are both savers by nature and have a lot invested, though my dad ended up doing quite well in his career probably more than either of us will ever make so who knows. If we were willing to work harder / more hours / more high pressure jobs we maybe could but we like our work / life balance and spending time with our kids.>Update: Nice to know it's just me that's a failure. Thanks You say in your post that your mom makes $200k in retirement per year. You also say it is 3x what you and your husband make combined. Which means you and your husband make less than $67k combined. Which means the two of you are averaged salaries of $33,500. If you are a millennial it means you are at least in your late 20s or early 30s. Earning $33k. $33,500 is about $16 an hour full-time. I live in rural PA and the Burger King in my town has a sign hiring for $16 an hour. So you are making BK wages compared to your mom who held a long and apparently successful career as one of the most senior people at the IRS. She probably had an accounting degree and maybe a graduate degree and put her time into her career. I mean, what are you expecting here? To just be given a $200k annual lifetime pension for no work? Life has never been that way. I swear some of the poverty posts in this sub give millennials a bad name.I'm pretty sure I'm better off than my mom.