[quote=CA renter]
Yes, people in the tech industry got slammed hard; but most of the techies I know were doing it during the bubble, so were making massive amounts of income (relatively speaking), and some were smart enough to stockpile that money and were able to live off it when the bubble burst. Right now, they are at or below where they were before the bubble burst. I don’t know any techies who are better off today than they were during the tech bubble. Mind you, I probably know an older set of workers than you do.
One thing to consider is age, AN. If you were only graduating in 2000-ish, then it’s highly likely the past ten years would see the greatest income increases in your career life (barring crashes and other similar events). Most of us saw great earnings increases right after college because that’s when you are most mobile and are moving up the corporate ladder. There is a point though where that pretty much levels off, usually somewhere in your 30s to mid-40s. So, I think this might be skewing how we all look at the economy today vs. 10+ years ago. It depends on whether or not we were at the beginning of our careers then, or near the peak/plateau. For those who were near a plateau, the economy would probably tend to look a lot more bleak today than it did 10+ years ago.[/quote]
I doubt most techies were able to stash away those cash during the .com boom, else they would be retired before the .com crash. Most got caught up w/ it just like most got caught up w/ the RE bubble.
I don’t disagree with your 2nd paragraph. However, wasn’t that ALWAYS been the case? If that’s the case, where income flatten out after you enter your 40s, then to those who are in the mid to late 40s, the last 10 years will look worse, since income will stop rising or not rise as quickly. I don’t know very many people w/ 30-40 years experience to ask how they feel. I wonder how those who are at the peak/plateau 10 and 20 years ago answer this question. Maybe they would say the same thing you are saying today.
I never counted on SS to be there when I retire, so it never made an impact on my personal finance calculation. I hope I’m as fortunate as you CAR and increase my asset 10x in 10 years. That would definitely be enough for me to call it quit and retire.
