So I come from a family with money. The kind of family where my parents didn't HAVE to work if they didn't want to, but they did want to, and also made loads of money at that. They're not particularly special, my dad was blue collar who eventually started his own construction company after barely scraping by High School. My mom was a stay at home parent with expensive hobbies like architectural drafting and buying and selling properties, which she sometimes made money at alongside her gig as a part owner in the family company. They mostly made their money because of the particular market conditions they experienced during their careers. They definitely worked hard sometimes, but they were mostly at passion projects and to help them afford things like a lake property and snowbirding in Arizona IYKWIM.
Growing up in that family has given me some advantages, but it's not like there's a trust fund or annuities coming my way, it's more in the soft landing sense.
My “illustrious” career has involved a lot of retail and now being a Paralegal, and I've worked over 50hrs a week for most of my adult life, including while I had small children at home…just to barely make ends meet.
And what do you suppose I get an earful of when I try to explain to my parents why my kids can't play hockey or have a water-skiing boat to be towed around by?
“Well if your generation wasn't so lazy…”
“If you were just a good steward of your money…”
and everyone's favourite(!!)
“Nobody wants to work anymore.”
Get fucked, boomers.