To think, as a 'millennial', that we do have it quite good?

[kokosnuss]

Hate the term, but the common narrative amongst 'millennials' is that the baby boomers stole all the houses and good pensions, leaving none for us.

AIBU to think that yes, many baby boomers are in an enviable position (paid off mortgage, pension, savings), but only because:
(and I'm thinking only of my own working class grandparents and their friends here, others may have different experiences)

• They started working and saving early, often as soon as they finished school at 15, and had little opportunity to go onto higher education; many would have gone into jobs the millennial generation might consider 'unfulfilling' (e.g. my Grandma was a sewing machinist). They also led lives my generation might consider 'unfulfilling', e.g. simple (meat and 2 veg) food, no foreign holidays, few trips to restaurants, events, etc. Their lives were very much lived in the home i.e. very cheaply and expectations of life were very different.

Of course, many baby boomers now enjoy an expensive lifestyle, with lots of foreign trips and new experiences, but only because they're enjoying the fruits of years of careful saving. They haven't always lived that way, but there seems to be an assumption on the part of millennials that they have. So whereas my generation might only finish education at 21 or later, and then want to spend time travelling, or building up experience towards a 'fulfilling' career path, they also want to live what they consider to be a 'fulfilling' lifestyle, e.g. gadgets, subscriptions, foreign trips, going to events, restaurants, bars, the latest fashions, etc. And then are surprised when they have no savings or pension!

I'm nearly 30, renting, and only just in the position my grandparents would have been in at 18/19 - steady job, actively saving for a house, making regular pension contributions. But I don't blame anybody else for that, because I've had lots of opportunities and experiences in return that I know my grandparents (and female grandparents in particular) didn't have.

AIBU?

I think YABU. How can you not feel frustrated when you acknowledge that you're 30, and only now in the position that past generations were a decade before?

I'm 27- the only person my age I know who bought a house without help from their parents is a stockbroker, and even he lived at home whilst saving for his deposit...

Inheritance can be a myth.

My dad remarried and I won't get anything (long story). I've seen many use inheritances to pay for care homes.

My mon only has a state pension so not sure inheritance is always guaranteed!

Agree that inheritance isn’t guaranteed. I know a few families where older people have had to sell their homes to pay for their own care.

Well of course it's not guaranteed, well unless your parents are poor that is when you are guaranteed to get nothing at all.

YANBU. Not all baby boomers had it good, there were plenty of poorer, working class people who didn't manage to get ahead in this mythical time. My 'baby boomer' parents were working class and living in a deprived areas of the UK therefore we/they had sweet F.A. despite both working hard. They couldn't come near to my standard of living as a Gen X with a decent education. But I couldn't afford to buy a house either, with no parental money helping me along I paid my own way all the time.
I work with lots of Millennials who complain about, well everything. They seem to want promotions because they're due it, but aren't prepared to do the grunt work that junior staff have to do to work their way up. Half of them still have some 'becoming famous' on Youtube dreams. I don't think they know how much higher their standard of living is.
I have one I'm mentoring, has a decent salary, lives at home with parents, complains about that.
I suggested she moves out ( I left home at 18 and lived in crappy bedsits, grotty shared flats, rented a mate's room etc. but at least had my independence) and stands on her own feet. But she wants a nice place, not to worry about heating bills, wants all singing dancing wifi, parents help with her mobile bill etc. She wants a standard of life that paying her own rent would affect. It's hard to be sympathetic.

I'm a millennial and can see with my peers that one of the main reasons they struggle to buy houses is because every last thing is on credit. Buy now, pay later. Rent a flat and furnish it on credit. Have a baby and spend £1k on a pushchair on credit. Latest gadgets, sky TV, holidays. All on credit. And when it comes to buying a house they can't because the lines of credit have run out.

Yabu
I have been in full time work since I was 18.
I manage a holiday abroad roughly every 3-4 years.
I bought my first house in 2008, the financial market crashed literally 2-3 weeks later, so despite staying in that house for 8 years I had to sell it at a loss of 20K (I needed to move area and my marriage was ending) so I'm now in my 30s a single parent and while I'm very lucky to not be struggling financially day to day, the chance of being able to save for a deposit is extremely slim. I can't afford to pay into a pension and at the moment don't have any spare money at the end of the month to save. I won't have any inheritance either.
The main reason for my lack of savings are the loss on my previous property and the high rent.
Had I been a baby boomer I would have made a decent profit from my first home allowing me to move up the ladder rather than falling off completely, I would also be able to save for the future as the afore mentioned profit on the house would mean that I wouldn't be spending every penny on expensive rent.

@KnightsOfCydonia

So your house buying/selling timing was very unlucky, but the baby boomers had house price fluctuations too - there’s a theory that there’s an 18 year cycle (ie a crash every approx 18 years). I remember my parents having massive interest rates and people going into negative equity late 80’s.

yes my mom workef three jobs at one point when interest rates rocketed. I lost money on my last house due to the crash too.

I was born in 1960.. so count as a baby boomer.Being a kid then was great as we were allowed lots of freedom and only came home to eat.
Food was simple with lots of veg and carbs to fill us up.l remember having very few clothes,not many of them new.I also knowy mum struggled as there was a drawer full of unpaid bills and I had to lie at school and say I'd forgotten my home economics money as my mum didn't even have 50p in her purse.
At 18 I moved to get a job and lived in some very dodgy flat shares that were cheap until I had saved a deposit(10%)in the 80s.I had an old door on bricks as a bed and as others had an old tea crate for a table and my dad gave me an old rocking chair.I had almost saved enough to buy a bed when interest rate shot up so I furnished the spare room and got a lodger.
No phone ,no central heating,rented a television eventually.
I'm not rich now and have another 10 years to work if the goal posts don't move.
Not all baby boomers are equal,those born at the beginning of the boom also lived hard to buy a house but owning did not really become a thing until the 80s and there was a depression in the 70s.
House prices have become a bit silly in the south east but most of us don't live there or are willing to move to where we can afford housing.Rent has also become too high.We also have a shortage of houses but some of that is because single ownership is very high.
I had my DD late in life so she is gen alpha,this generation are not looking to uni so much and are certainly more stressed education wise than we were.Shell be complaining about the millennials etc.when she is older about how easy they had it.