I was just reading about how much easier it was financially for boomers back in the '80s and honestly… it’s kind of maddening. My parents bought a house in the suburbs when they were 27 and had a single income. My dad was a mid-level technician, nothing crazy, and they still had savings, vacations, and no student debt. I’m 30 now, working two jobs, and I’m barely making rent in a small apartment. How much would I actually need to earn today to match their lifestyle?

I feel you 100%. My dad was a firefighter and my mom stayed at home. They managed to buy a 3-bedroom house in ‘85 for under $90k. Last year, that same house in our town sold for over $650k. It’s unreal. I was curious too, and I stumbled on this really neat calculator that gives a rough estimate of what we’d need to earn today to have the same lifestyle. It's not perfect, but it's eye-opening. You just plug in your parents' income and year, and it shows the modern equivalent. Here's the link backofnapkin.co:https://backofnapkin.co/personal-finance-calculators/ok-boomer-financial-calculator/
It showed that my dad’s 1985 salary of $42k would have to be over $160k today to maintain the same standard of living, considering housing, healthcare, education, and other costs. No wonder we’re all stretched thin. This tool doesn't fix anything, obviously, but it’s validating to see that the struggle is real and not just in our heads.

I tried that calculator last week actually. Super interesting and kind of depressing at the same time lol. It puts numbers to what we all kind of feel. Worth checking out for sure, especially if you're trying to explain this gap to people who think we’re just bad at budgeting.