One worrisome trend is the fact that more homeowners are retiring with large mortgages. The days of the mortgage burning party are over. Banks seem happy to do cash out refis on homeowners soon to retire.
This has been a workable strategy for a number of decades, although it isn't historically so.
And some of us went further. We didn't have kids.
It's up to those throwing rocks to put the rocks down.
> Facts are facts
Aside from ascribing some kind of universal evil intent to people simply based on when they were born, which is idiotic, those are cherry-picked facts that do not accurately sum up the economic reality of how the US got to where it is now.
For instance, why not include the fact that the older generation was responsible for the most prodigious productivity growth the world has ever seen? Or that they've overseen massive increases in longevity, decreases in morbidity and childhood mortality, huge increases in number of people achieving higher education, etc?
They overcame the enormously damaging economic situation of the 1970's, which the younger people have absolutely not a clue about, and many have suffered decades of decreasing employment and wealth as a result of economic shifts in manufacturing and resource production.
There are economic challenges in every generation. The ones facing young people today are not the same as the ones that faced their parents and grandparents. It does no one any good to try to stir up hatred at a sub-group to gain political power, which is what the generational warfare is about. Leave that for the Fascists.
It's the counterfactual basis of your argument that makes it absurd. It is undoubtedly true that this describes some people in that age cohort, but it doesn't describe it generally. They are much wealthier than both their ancestors and their descendants. While every generation faces its particular challenges, only one living generation faced those challenges by intentionally impoverishing the future.
As for the remainder of your points -- morbidity, mortality, educational attainment, and whatnot -- it is the case that the USA has underperformed all other advanced nations in these measures. You'll excuse me if I don't credit Boomers for falling behind countries like Cuba, Portugal and UAE.
Why is there an expectation for kids to inherit?
I mean, parents have typically already spent hugely on support and education. Indeed, grown children were traditionally expected to support and care for their parents. Arguably, reverse mortgages wouldn't be so popular if they still did that. And yes, I get that the economic system is fucked up. But that's not parents' fault, for the most part.
“Cheryl Mcleod of Las Vegas filed for bankruptcy in January after struggling to keep up with her mortgage payments and other expenses. “I am 70,”
Why the heck do you have a mortgage at 70?!