: Is the American Dream still achievable? 🇺🇸

My take: It’s not gone, but it’s definitely harder now. High prices, low wages, and expensive housing make the climb tougher than it used to be. People can still make it—but it takes more struggle, more luck, and more support than before.

What do YOU think? 👇🔥

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dancingtongue · 80-89, M

You left out one key ingredient it took back in my day and even more so today -- education. The big difference in my day was that public universities were essentially tuition-free. You still had to parental support or work part-time jobs (multiple part-time jobs, in my case) to pay for room & board, books, incidentals. But you didn't run up the huge student loan debts. Didn't save us from the 60 hour weeks, the high mortgage rates & gas lines of the 70's others have mentioned, but opened doors on a higher career path.

Reality today is both my grandchildren already had jobs with firms they had done internships/co-operative work/study programs with while going to college, and now that they have graduated are already doing well. They are fortunate that their parents had created 529 college funds for them while they were still in diapers, so no student loans to pay off. That's planning, not luck. Being incredibly smart may be luck, but didn't save them from working hard during the difficult pandemic years to get those college degrees.

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@dancingtongue Creating an education fund for children probably happens here too, and Australia has the same problems. Education used to be universally available to everyone, now it's only available to those who can afford it. I don't earn enough to put away money for my 8 yo daughter. My ex does because she fully paid off her house 10 yrs ago due to a lot of help from her parents and gets child support + other gov assistance payments. I bought a house 2 years ago but both my parents are deceased and I had to fight my sister to get any share of my late mum's estate. Got freakishly lucky with that.

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@zonavar68 Glad things are beginning to work out for you. To be clear, a 529 educational fund here works like an IRA retirement account (except there is no mandated employer participation, and other family members can contribute to it). Money regularly set aside from income is not taxed at that time and is unlikely to be taxed, or taxed very much, when the children begin drawing out of it for college expenses because they don't earn enough. My son and his wife were both just starting out when they opened the ones for their two kids, and were struggling to get their careers launched, buy their first home, and all that. It is a question of where you prioritize spending your limited income starting out, and avoiding those usury interest rates by carrying a lot of debt on your credit card(s) to buy non-essentials.

My uncle gave me the best advice I ever got when I was coming out of college: live within your means and set 10% aside for retirement. His explanation was that 10% sounded like a lot, but it came down to a measly dime out of each dollar. Pocket change that we usually squandered on stuff we really didn't need. I heeded his words, even in the roughest patches when I wasn't sure how we were going to pay the mortgage and put food on the table at the same time. Ten percent -- later on, the max allowed of 25% -- was deducted from my paycheck sight unseen, matched by my employer, and went into an IRA that was not taxed until I began withdrawing it at age 65.