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60 comments

  • Oh, no. Hella worse. They were solidly middle class with two solid careers at this point. And kids, but I don't want that part so that's a wash. But nicer house, nicer stuff entirely. But me and my husband are in a better place relationship wise so I got that over them??

  • Lol, no. They were able to have a house and multiple kids on one salary.

  • I don't have kids, so yeah.

    Edit: now that I scroll through the comments, I see this is a common theme.

  • Only because my spouse’s parents are both dead (early, accidents) and he inherited several hundred thousand dollars and life insurance money. I personally have a negative net worth, and with divorce I’d probably only break even. I basically lucked out of not living with my parents/grandparents for the rest of their life. On the flip side though, I regret the marriage because he refuses to move to a country with better social safety nets should something go wrong; living knowing that should his nest egg dry up, that we’ll be on the street in retirement, is inherently really stressful [we live in the USA].

    I have a BS, with probably no inheritance coming (I’ve been told so).

    He’s a certified accountant and makes double what I do. He controls all the money for obvious reasons.

  • I would say same standard of living but the difference is they had a kid and my wife and I don’t. We simply could not have the same lifestyle if we had children.

    • Same.

      That's partly why I never married or had a family. I wanted all my time and money to myself and to have more freedom.

    • Yeah, kids are darn expensive. I'm damn happy my parents decided to have me despite that fact. :)

      To answer OP's question, also doing better than them at the same age. Big part of it was investing early (time-value of money is a massive deal) and keeping the same car forever. My parents have spent quite a bit on cars over the years, it is probably their largest reducible expense. I bought a lightly used crossover a long time ago, and it's got a long life ahead of it.

  • Financially? No Psychologically? Also no but I've actually got therapy and taken a step to breaking generational trauma so that's something!

  • Hell no, but physical disability... I live in the USA where disability seems like a homelessness death sentence

  • Yes! But it's because our situations are very different. I don't have a child, but I was already a preteen when my mom was this age. I didn't have a deadbeat, abusive, drug addicted, , money draining spouse. I've cut off people (family) that I saw take advantage of my mother growing up. I don't have a sibling who is a manipulative, selfish, lazy, money grubbing piece of shit. Fuck, I don't have a daughter (me) that I've had to help for years while she tried to get on her feet.

    I also have a wonderful mother who did what she could to set me up for success, trying to correct the mistakes of her childhood. My great aunt left me some money that helped with school (I'm still in debt, but could have been way worse). I have a good friend that talks me out of reckless shit, not egging me on to take advtage.

    I'm also less social, so I'm not going out to lunch or parties and what have you. I live alone with one cat.

    TL;DR: Yes, but is because I have less responbilities than my mother had at this age, and it's cheaper living a solitary lifestyle with one kitty cat.

  • Yes and no. I probably am a bit better off than my parents, but they raised 4 kids and I raised none. My Mom was mostly stay at home (went back to work after all us kids moved out). My spouse has a good career, which is an added bonus.

  • Surprisingly, yes. I made some risky decisions between 2020-2022 that paid off significantly, though.

    The pandemic turned my prior job to 100% remote and I got in writing from their HR that I could move anywhere in my province. This allowed me to find a house I was able to afford buying, so that's what I did with the support of my wife. About a year after that I got a much higher paying job local to my new home, which is when I beat or matched my parent's income at the time which certainly was more than when she was my age.

    I lept into the unknown and didn't die, it's been great!

  • Gosh no, not in Canada.

    They paid 170k for a great house in one of the nicest neighborhood of Montreal in the 90s. I'll be paying 3x more for a super basic house in a shitty neighborhood. I was lucky enough to buy a house before the pandemic so I made a profit selling it, but even with that I won't even come close to their way of living.

  • Technically not since they were married, were renting small house, and had at least one kid by the time they were my age. I'm still in college.

  • Yes.

    I have a home, a good job, and am able to save enough that it's possible I may be able to retire in my fifties.

    The only responsible decision my parents made was to pay off their house. They had over a dozen kids and my dad literally roofed houses until he couldn't anymore physically. They're now in their 80's and driving for DoorDash, in a car they've "borrowed" from me for almost a year, that I'm certain I'm never getting back.

    And, somehow, despite having no mortgage or car payment, they still aren't paying their bills on time. (But, to be fair, that's also a referendum on the US economy and capitalism in general, and none of us can get actual progressives elected.)

  • Me? Yes, but I am an outlier, and it's not because I'm doing "well". It's more because my parents were both horrible with money. 2 mortgages on the house, multiple car loans, mom was part of an MLM, and we were a family of 4 on a government worker's salary. One of my dad's complaints was that he couldn't go out to eat once a week with coworkers because we couldn't afford it. In addition they were horrible with credit and loans, took out as much as they could and then paid off things routinely late. I have no idea where they are now but last time I checked their credit score (for them, because they don't know how), it was in the low 400s.

    We grew up poor. Well, I hesitate to say poor because I know there are those who had it worse, and I do blame them for their choices for a good chunk of it too.

60 comments