Do you think that the American Dream is something that really is still attainable right now? Well, I’m a I’m an optimist. I think the American dream is, is and will be even more attainable in the future. Now, it’s easy for a billionaire like Jeff Bezos to continue believing in the American dream and how allegedly attainable it is. But that solid middle class lifestyle with a home, a family, two cars is becoming more and more out of reach for ordinary American workers.
In fact, according to a recent analysis by the financial site Investopedia, you’d need to make a lifetime earnings of about $3.4 million to achieve the American Dream. And that includes getting married, having two children, owning a home, having health care coverage, cars, education. But the average American worker actually makes well, the median lifetime earnings for American workers happens to be 1.7 million rather than 3.
4 million. So it shows you just how large that gap is when it comes to affording these things and doing so comfortably. So here’s the actual breakdown. According to Investopedia, they show how much it typically costs to afford certain facets of life.
Some of these numbers, I think, are a little inflated, but let’s go through it.
So. Average cost of a wedding and engagement ring $35,800. I don’t think you necessarily need to spend that kind of money on a wedding or engagement ring. But a lot of people spend way more. They do, they do.
That is true. Average cost of a home with mortgage interest $796,998. So that’s the average cost. Most homes cost a lot more than that these days, which is incredibly unfortunate. Well, you might live in an area where that seems like a high price, but in the cities that is minuscule.
Like at this point, you’d be lucky to get a two bedroom in Compton for that price. I don’t even think that exists at this point.
Like that’s how unbelievably unaffordable housing is in big cities. So yes, it’s true of Los Angeles, but it’s not just Los Angeles. Even in areas that were typically thought of as more affordable places like Austin, for instance, housing prices are astronomical now, so it is becoming more and more of a problem, which emphasizes a point that I make often on this show.
There is a lack of inventory we need to build more housing. And the fact that, you know, we have Congress and local government really asleep at the wheel on this issue is incredibly frustrating. Median out of pocket with insurance.
Cost of giving birth to two babies is $5,708. Average cost of raising two children until they’re 18 $576,896.
By the way, that doesn’t include the cost of college lifetime cost of average family health insurance premium almost $1 million $934,752. So you get the point. Wages for the first time in a long time started to kind of tick up, but unfortunately, inflation blew up as well. Simultaneously, due to a number of issues. There were supply chain issues, corporations price gouging and all of that.
And so even with the rise in wages, unfortunately that rise did not keep up with inflation.
And keep in mind with this Investopedia analysis, these costs can be shared by a two income household. But there’s also another issue at play right now where, you know, a giant portion of women who are having children are doing so when they’re not married, when they don’t have, you know, a devoted partner. And single moms have a difficult time, you know, affording everything on their own. A two income household makes this a little easier.
But even in that situation, it’s incredibly difficult for couples to pay for everything that they need to have a solid middle class lifestyle. Yeah. So, in their calculations, they only put in one year of college. Again, the big cities, these numbers are way too low. How?
Not just on housing, raising two children. Impossible for that number from the age of 0 to 18 for two kids. You’re going to raise them on that number? On the big cities. It’s not even close.
It’d have to be at least four times that number. Right? So, but the overall point is clear both on the amount of assets you need over your lifetime and on your income.
We’re got about half of what we need. So.
And then the politicians go, what? Why isn’t the status quo great? Why aren’t you thrilled with Bidenomics? Why? Why don’t you just keep voting for us?
Because the the current situation is amazing, isn’t it? No, no. Everybody’s in their own bubble in Washington. Yes. You guys make four times what the average guy makes ten times.
20 times. So yes, life is fantastic for you, but you’re not the average person. And for the average person out here in the districts, no, life is not great. And the numbers absolutely, positively prove it. You know.
One other thing I wanted to bring up about this analysis is it shows you one of the prime reasons why couples are abstaining from having children, because they don’t want to find themselves or dig themselves into a giant financial hole, knowing that it’s unbelievably unaffordable to raise kids in America. And there’s really no support system or social social safety net to assist parents in raising their kids.
And what I mean by that is, obviously you need a dual income household to make ends meet. So with both parents working, you need to pay for child care. And child care is also astronomical.
And so my issue with the conservative solution to this low birth rate issue is that they would rather use force in outlawing abortion and reproductive rights rather than create this, an environment in which couples who do want to have kids. And I know of many couples who want to have kids, but they abstain because they don’t feel that they can afford it.
So if you create the kind of society that is supportive of families and people who want to have kids, people are going to have kids. The problem is we don’t live in that society currently. Yeah.
And my last comment is about what Bezos said, look, we all want to be hopeful and believe that there’s still opportunity in the American dream. And there is. And and I don’t want you to be pessimistic and think there’s nothing that could be done. No, there is something that could be done. But is it significantly harder today than it was in previous generations?
Yes. Your eyes are not deceiving you. It is possible, but it is significantly harder. So the part that drives me crazy is when incredibly wealthy people like Jeff Bezos or, or politicians come and tell you, no, your eyes are lying to you.
Don’t believe them.
Everything is great. And we don’t have to change any of the laws. No, Bezos, if you want to create the American dream, an opportunity for the next generation, yes, you have to change some of the laws because the laws have been rigged by the rich so that they can keep almost all the money. So that is why, for example, for example, Amazon, that is a worth over $1 trillion on some years, paid no taxes. So when you give me empty platitudes about an opportunity in America, but you don’t pay your damn taxes, you’ll excuse me if I don’t believe you.
I think what you’re saying is I want to keep all $200 billion, and I don’t want to change any of the laws, and I want to keep crushing you guys. But, hey, work harder. Maybe you’ll have some opportunity. I would believe it if he then said no. I’m now going to use my money to give campaign contributions to politicians to change the laws, to make it fair so that the average guy could have an opportunity and your kids could have an opportunity, then I’d say, I don’t care that he’s rich.
That’s great. He’s using your money, his money for good things. Is he doing that? No. Instead he’s doing propaganda on mainstream media and they love it.
And they go out there and go see. Bezos says there’s the American dream is still possible, and he’s super rich. So it must be true. No, we showed you the actual numbers. If you enjoyed this video.
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