> But I keep hearing employment is great, productivity is great, stock market is great, and yet it seems like most anecdotal evidence I see and read about sugge

> But I keep hearing employment is great, productivity is great, stock market is great, and yet it seems like most anecdotal evidence I see and read about suggest this is all hollow, and things are actually really bad for the average American. Stock market and the incredible rebound of housing prices are great if you are older/wealthier and own assets. There is no denying that if you were wealthy and an asset owner, you did incredibly well. But if you are young with student loans or an average joe with a few thousand in the 401k, then it isn't going to affect you much. The years since the financial crisis was primarily about bailing out the big banks and the wealthy asset owners. If you are an young or an average person, you are doing even worse now since medical costs have increased. The ACA ( obamacare ) was about transferring the burden of medical costs from the elderly and sick to the young and healthy. If you are older, wealthier and owned a lot of assets, the past 8 years have been the best years of your financial life. The S&P 500 rose from 600s to 2500s and looks to be headed to 3000. Everyone else has fallen behind. Stagnant wages and increasing medical insurance costs.