CNM, I agree. There is so much of a prevailing attitude of “I got mine. Too bad ya don’t got yours.”
I do not understand why there are those who cannot acknowledge that the system does not work like it once did for regular hardworking people.
Remember the old “3-legged stool” for retirement that so many of us are of an age to remember. As I recall, the 3 legs on the stool were Social Security. Pension. Individual investments and savings.
Some of us knew how to make the 401s and 403s work for us while we were still working. Many had the opportunity to tax defer more money because of not having to pay through the nose for health insurance premiums, deductibles, etc. which, now, even those with good jobs have to absorb more of.
Many of us did quite well when selling our houses, especially after the cap gains law changed in the late 90s where we did not have to reinvest primary residence profits in more expensive homes and could leave a closing table with the next house already paid for and a chunk of tax free change in our pockets. (I know that law is still in effect but I think the early Boomers and Beyond were the ones who reaped the most profits from real estate.)
We had a lot of advantages over what the next generation(s) can expect. (I wrote a dissertation about that yesterday, somewhere around here.)
Anyway, Cold, just wanted to say I, too, don’t get how people do not get it.