At my age my dad was supporting a family of 4 plus a dog, but he also lived in the UK, so taxes were higher. He also worked in manual labor on an offshore oil rig. I have a desk job.

I'm going to guess, accounting for inflation and currency values, he made 10-15% more than I make right now, but I have a much nicer TV, live in a nicer city and don't have to buy diapers, so while he probably comes out ahead in gross income, I'm surely winning in disposable income.

Long term he will surely win though. I don't think I can compete with a 40-year career in the oil services industry. That's mad bank.

At this age my mother was a single mom w/ no support from my dead beat dad

I'm doing better

I'm light years ahead. My parents were handicapped and worked blue collar jobs while I had the benefit of college and a post-graduate education.

I said I was better off, but I'm not sure now that I think about it. I make a lot more than my dad did, but my wife makes a lot less than my mom did. We're probably about the same, but my parents really started to earn a lot when they reached my age or a little older. I don't think I will ever earn as much at my peak as they did at theirs.

Son of 2 rural district school teachers. So, yes.

This.

The long and short of it: I'm financially well ahead of where my Parents were in life, but I'm still trying to measure up to them as human beings. I hope to get there one day.

Yes, peak earning years, and whether or not there are any post-retirement benefits (read: pension) can make a huge difference. You can be 35 and making much better bank than your parents did, even adjusted for inflation, but if you parents were in job with a high degree of job security, and with steady raises, their peak earning years might have been pretty late in life. IIRC, studies have recently found thta peak earning years are happening earlier -- usually people do the best when they are in their 40s or so.

And if your parents spent 30 years somewhere and had a nice pension, well, that's the gift that keeps giving.

My father was a farmer who acquired loans in the 80's. I'm way better off than he was then although after he's doing well now.

better
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a tricky question.

Far better off in terms of salary, but due to them having pensions vs. our 401k I still am uneasy about retirement.

Also, college. My parents were able to pay for my college as I got Stafford loans and some scholarships. Due to our higher income, I don't think my kids will have this, and given tuition cost increases, I don't see how we'll be able to do that same for our kids.

The pension thing actually works in our favor, believe it or not. I've got a couple of defined benefit plans, and my wife is a teacher, so she can retire in her early 50s if she wants to. She doesn't make much (mid $50Ks), but the benefits are great. That makes it harder to calculate the 'better off' part.

That said, I wouldn't be shocked if someone told me that I've pretty much peaked in terms of my earning potential. I've decided that I'm unwilling to take on more work/stress/etc. for more money unless the money is dramatially higher. Right now, my job is cake. I work about 30 hours a week, I come and go as I please, I've got less than a 20 minute commute, and I can wear jeans, a polo, and tennis shoes most of the time. By the end of the month, I'll pretty much be working from home, so its a pretty good gig.

I don't make a ton of money, but I certainly don't struggle. Short of doubling my pay, I feel like I'd be making a mistake if I gave all of that up for more money. Still, it feels strange to be in my mid 30s and feeling like I'm done trying to move up the chain.

So if we're a typical group of people and we're all self-aware and responding to the poll without bias, all of the hype about younger people falling behind their parents is untrue.

Let's see, when my dad was my age he was about two years removed from a car crash that left him a paraplegic and killed my mother's 18 month old son and twins that she was nine months pregnant with. So he had no income and and constant barrage of medical expenses and legal expenses(the crash was his fault and he was intoxicated) and I believe my mother was trying to take care of him and cover expenses working at a glass factory or something. They both lived with my grandmother. No vehicle.

I'm currently 3 months removed from two years of incarceration, I have a slightly above minimum-wage paying job, own a vehicle and live in a rented house in "the hood" with one roommate splitting expenses. My only debt would be a small amount of student loans and a moderate amount of mental health expenses.

Not sure who's on top at age 26. I'd say we both suck.

Mid 50's is a lot in my area. Where do you live?

Just keep moving forward and not backward, and you will be fine. Time and patience.