Why millennials don't feel richer than boomers - even though they are

"The stereotypical millennial plight goes something like this: A guy or gal staring down 40 is trapped in a perpetual struggle to launch. They've finally moved out of their parents' homes, but later than their judgmental relatives expected. They're getting around to marriage and kids, but they're forever screwed on housing, still trying to shake the ghosts of the post-Great Recession job market, and drowning in student debt."

"Much of this stereotype, however, is more feeling than fact, especially when it's repeated by frustrated millennials themselves. Despite their gripes, the generation born between 1981 and 1996 is doing quite a bit better financially than their parents. It's just that they're not outpacing them as much as they expected, especially millennials on the wealthier end of the scale, who are accustomed to everything being extra great."

Millennials face delayed household formation, housing constraints, lingering recession-era labor effects, and heavy student debt, yet their real median incomes exceed those of prior generations at comparable ages. When reaching their late 30s, Gen X and millennials recorded 16% and 18% higher median real household incomes versus the previous generation at the same age, while the Silent Generation and baby boomers saw larger increases of 34% and 27%. Wealthier millennials are not outpacing predecessors as much as expected, while poorer millennials are faring better than lower-income Americans in earlier cohorts; inequality dynamics remain complex.

Read at Business Insider