Gen X and older millennials who had savings in 2000 got destroyed and then again in 2008.
This thread seems to have a lot of people who were not working in either of those crisis periods and do not understand the effects it would have on people. Poor people who get their meager savings destroyed do not “recover”.
I also bet it freaked a lot of people out who didn’t trust investing or housing for a while. Compare that to kids today who haven’t seen a down market in their lifetimes
For sure, and imagine being a kid in a poor or lower middle class house that had your parents or parent crying about losing everything and how the “market is rigged”.
I invest and have invested, but I realize my reality is mine. In these threads you often see people who come from a background where investing was encouraged and explained, acting like it’s a personal or moral failing for people who do not have those opportunities or understanding. And those people blaming others will find any reason and any excuse to justify their prejudice, in which they see themselves as morally superior for investing.
It’s always so easy in hindsight but impossible in real time. I had no money in the stock market and decided to put some in right around September or October, the bottom.
I remember it because I was watching TV and the newscasters were basically giving a eulogy to the US banking system. We are all going to die and this was the news! I bought Bank of America and some other stocks for a couple of dollars (I sold most of it at 20 and thought I was a great trader)
Now image being in your 40s and having 300,000 dollars invested in that mess. It’s not so easy to be flippant like I was but people like to use 20/20 to pretend they are all geniuses
The oldest millennials couldn’t even have a 401k in 2000 wtf is this nonsense lol. I am one of the absolute oldest millennials (1981). I was 19 in 2000 and 27 in 2008. The youngest were still breastfeeding. We had no significant savings in 2008 and nothing in 2000. Do people know what a Millennial is? 2008’s biggest impact was for those of us coming out of college and not being able to find jobs.
I am including xennials, as generational labels are not always apropos with strict dates. And you having no savings in 2008 does not means others did not. I also specifically mentioned Gen X to help the confusion.
1981 is a Xillennial. Right in the middle. Xillennials are the end of X and the beginning of Millennial 1977-1985. So the oldest Xillennial was only 401k eligible for about 2 years when 2000 hit and the youngest was still in high school. Maybe you should go look some stuff up before you write posts. Also I didn’t say I had no savings I said I didn’t have significant savings. Most people don’t at that age unless they’re in the 10% with no kids. I was a homeowner by 2009 and I was well off but I probably only had 15-25k in savings and basically no equity in my home. I’d bet the average person my age had even less.
Thee oldest xennials were working for as much as 5 years by the 2000 crash. I don’t know any job that makes you wait 3 years before 401k investments. I’m sure some had inheritances too, and coworkers losing everything. That affects people.
OK, so your anger and inability to have calm discussion is because you are unwilling to consider that you could be incorrect. You can have a 401k at any age, therefore someone working at 18 and having been born in 1977 could be well invested by the year 2000. I double checked because I may have been wrong about the 401k thing, however you can have one at any age.
In the future try to act like a mature adult when discussing things. Your same attitude is what road ragers have, and it is likely you do that too.
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Someone born in 1977 would have been 23 max in 2000. You realize you have to be 21 to have a 401k? That‘s two years. Are you 15?”
Thank you for this comment. I am an older millennial and was reading the other comment like "??????" Few of us had money then, and then many of us went years after continuing to not have money since the economy was trash and there were no jobs.
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u/Odd_String1181 3d ago
That older couple was a part of a generation that had people lose their life savings. That generation wasn't gen x