I was talking to a relative recently and they were commenting on how much they have in their retirement accounts. I didn’t share ours.
We have a similar amount.
They don’t feel they can retire and are still working. We are retired, have been for a few years, feel that we are in a great position and have plenty.
Perspective matters.
And genetics matter.
I had two parents die of Alzheimer’s (one with early onset, which I am told has a heavily genetic component). I am assuming that my care in the last decade of my life will be extremely costly, as it was for my parents.
I have friends- my age (late 60’s) who have active parents in their 80’s. Live alone or with the original spouse, drive, play tennis, run 10K’s. Other than a few nights stay in a hospital (a hysterectomy for her, a knee replacement for him) they have no medical expenses or issues of any kind.
It’s a sibling if that matters so genetics are generally the same
Of course genetics play a role. My folks were pretty good until late 80s/early 90s and mom needed 24/7 companions and then died in skilled nursing after several transfusions. The 24/7 companions were expensive & not great but gave us all some peace of mind. We are thinking of family care home instead of the CCRC where my folks chose.
Additional stats from the more robust SCF survey are below. As income goes up, % saving goes up, as one would expect:
As income goes up, so do assets or assets - debt. Specific numbers are below. Also note that financial assets / income rapidly increases at higher incomes, suggesting that typical high income households would have financial assets to fall back on, if they went without a paycheck for long periods. All of this seems intuitive.
Median Values by HH Income:
- Above $700k – $6M financial assets, $5.6M non-financial assets, $590k debt
- $350 to $700k – $2.2M financial assets, $1.9M non-financial assets, $310k debt
- $260 to $350k – $800k financial assets, $950k non-financial assets, $270k debt
- $180 to $260k – $350k financial assets, $660k non-financial assets, $210k debt
- $140 to $180k – $140k financial assets, $450k non-financial assets, $160k debt
- $110 to $140k – $75k financial assets, $350k non-financial assets, $110k debt
- $90 to $110k – $50k financial assets, $300k non-financial assets, $55k debt
- $70 to $90k – $25k financial assets, $210k non-financial assets, $35k debt
- $50 to $70k – $13k financial assets, $110k non-financial assets, $16k debt
- $35 to $50k – $4k financial assets, $45k non-financial assets, $11k debt
- $20 to $35k – $2k financial assets, $30k non-financial assets, $2k debt
- Under $20k – $<1k financial assets, $10k non-financial assets, <$1k debt
My grandmother lived in an adult family home for several years before she passed away. Kind, compassionate caregivers, it was perfect for her.
My friend chose a family care home in our neighborhood, owned by an ICU nurse and her H who had been a chef in a nice Japanese restaurant. They liked the care so much she’s signed herself up to be a resident there as well. He cooks personalized meals for each person who lives their & their guests.
There is a whole thread about caring for elderly parents, family and friends. Let’s please try to stay on topic. TIA!
This sounds like a huge overgeneralization.
Can’t Afford a Home. Can’t Afford a Baby. Can’t Afford Life. This Is 30.
gift link https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/25/nyregion/30-year-old-angst.html?unlocked_article_code=1.LlE.ow3s.8Qqx1CR1KMXg&smid=url-share
Having grown up around doctors, I found it to be true among the doctors I knew.
Perhaps it was because they felt they had quite secure jobs (health care is barely affected by recessions), but there was a lot of “keeping up with the Dr. Joneses”
Our kids grew up in a house where we just weren’t trying to keep up with the Joneses. Maybe that’s why they don’t do that now.
Many of the 20ish and 30ish folks we know who have houses, duplexes or condos had parents buy the place for them or SIGNIFICANT help, especially in the many expensive areas of the country. Our S rents as does D.
We’ve offered to help S & DIL buy a place but they really don’t know where they want to live. They were in DC a decade and now in NYC for several years. D is likely to return to HI. We have space in our house and a condo.
D2 is working at a large law firm and my nephew (and wife) also have high earning jobs. They are saying that they think they are going to have just one kid because they feel that’s what they could afford. They own their homes, but feel childcare and education costs would just be too high.
That makes me sad. I would be curious to see how it translates to other areas besides NYC, because the prices absolutely are crazy there. I don’t know how anyone affords to buy in NYC. I looked at prices a few years ago, one million as the bare minimum for a tiny apartment.
Not true for most of the city except for the southern two-thirds of Manhattan and close-in parts of Brooklyn.
I think NY is unique (or tied with a few other areas like SF) in housing costs. I think it’s still possible to live ok on a fairly middle class salary in NY (maybe not Manhattan but ever has that been so) but no longer possible to buy property unless you are wealthy or have significant help from wealthy family members. So if you want to stay after marriage/children you have to resign yourself to renting on a permanent basis. Which certainly isn’t the end of the world.
I honestly don’t buy the argument that someone making $500K can’t afford a kid. This generation seems more selfish than previous ones. Many people have decided to remain childless because, let’s face it, having and raising a child is one of the most selfless acts a person can undertake. It requires a lot of money and time that could otherwise be spent on vacations, houses, and having fun.
The connection between generations seems to be getting weaker and weaker. Just read some of those posts about adult children cutting off their parents because they believe they had a bad childhood because their parents didn’t buy them as much ice cream as they wanted or something.
When convenience becomes the priority and sacrifice becomes a burden, we risk gaining everything we want for ourselves while losing what connects us to one another.
That was probably where I was looking. 
16 posts were split to a new thread: Childcare costs
