>> This is also entirely leaving out that given the housing crisis and the economy, people in their 20s like me, my generation has way less trust in stocks, the

>> This is also entirely leaving out that given the housing crisis and the economy, people in their 20s like me, my generation has way less trust in stocks, the economy and the promise of the American Dream This is the same for every generation going back several decades. - In the 60's it was the Vietnam war and the feeling of helplessness fighting "the man". Political assassinations, Watergate and Kent State. - In the 1970's the feeling of being burned out from the 60's and the yet to arrive boom of the 80's. The 1970's gave them three horrible presidents in Nixon, Ford and Carter. - In the 1980's it was Generation X. The first generation to be told we wouldn't have social security to fall back on. The first generation to have it worst than their parents. Over indulgence, political and global turmoil made the Gen X'ers introverted, depressed and self loathing. - In the 1990's it was several wars in the Middle East, inflating costs of attending college, the fear of the draft being reinstated and a failing economy at home. Many of my peers before we had even graduated HS were saying they would stay in college until the economy turned around since many predicted a long, deep recession right before the election. - In the 2000's it was the Generation Y, or Millennials. An economic collapse in early 2000's, then more war, more terrorism, increasing housing costs and cost of living going stagnant. Less and less opportunity to advance in your career. So yeah, pretty much every generation has had the right to say they felt like the "American Dream" was lost. Comparatively speaking, I feel more for the Millennials because ten of fifteen years ago, the cost of living was still manageable where you could rent a place with your buds for like $300/month and then go to school on student loans, or work part-time and be completely independent. Now? There's just no affordable way to do that. The cost of living has completely outstripped the ability of the Millennials to get out and be independent without some major financial hardships. And yeah, you hear those people saying, "Aww c'mon, if I could live on Ramen, you can too!" but its not that simple. When your entire two weeks paycheck goes to your rent, and you can't afford food, or heating or internet, what good is having one or two or three jobs when you can't even keep your head above water on a month-to-month basis?