I'll start by saying that I feel your pain. I've had lots of discussions with friends where we expressed the belief that we all thought we'd be financially com

I'll start by saying that I feel your pain. I've had lots of discussions with friends where we expressed the belief that we all thought we'd be financially comfortable by now. Almost none of us are. Some thoughts on both sides of this: 1 - My grandparents lost it all in the Great Depression. My parents never had enough money to take overseas vacation once the kids were born. They were never comfortable. This isn't unique to our generation. 2 - We have a lot of material gains that aren't factored into the equation. (Free internet, etc) But this is forcing us to compare against others a lot more. We only see the people succeeding, and don't count the failures. 3 - Once you discount the effects of obesity, we are a much healthier generation than our parents and grandparents. Think of all the major diseases (polio, flu) that used to be fatal. 4 - For better or worse, there is a "Winner takes all" mentality in the current environment. Globalization plus Technology means the best get paid disproportionally more than in prior generations. Upper Middle Class is getting squeezed. The "winners" are now earning a lot more, and are a lot more visible. 5 - In today's environment, losing a job costs A TON and is incredibly destabilizing. I don't know what advice to give, other than don't get sucked in to the consumerism, or feeling forced to keep up with everyone else.