Life is what you make of it. I've been guilty of getting frustrated and comparing past generations with the current working environment, but ultimately always realize that doing so is a waste of time. I'm not competing with my long retired father so his income and benefits are irrelevant, I'm competing with today's workforce of engineers for income and benefits. The only thing holding any of us back is our own complacency. Many millennials are among the best paid engineers stateside, if money is important and you're not one of them then consider asking yourself why. If you dont know how your income ranks vs your peers', smack yourself upside the head. Compared to earning an engineering degree or much of our daily work, intelligently analyzing life decisions is easy yet many dont do it. A few hours making your own spreadsheet of income vs cost of living nationwide or creating a cost-value matrix weighing income against dinners at the inlaws, risk of buying property in a one-horse town, etc is well worth it....doubly so when you consider we pay a lot of taxes for govt employees to study and post this data.
I grew up in a poor rural area with little economic opportunity as did my wife, so we decided early on that we wanted more. Not sure what it takes to ring anybody's bell but I never imagined myself "Ferrari rich," I just want stability, a few toys, and a reasonably active lifestyle That said, the fact that in 11 years since college I've earned well over $1M, saved/invested ~60% of it, am debt-free including owning my home, and paid for the wife's three degrees is mind-blowing to me. I dont claim to be the best engineer but I make good decisions and am always willing to make the effort. Whenever I hear laments from peers I cannot help but notice that many refused to leave "home," refused to work the hours, refused to learn a skill or develop themselves, or otherwise simply refused to succeed. Their complacency is their root-cause of everything.
