Fast Company, August 7, 2020: The new American Dream is just as unattainable as the old one
… This story has been passed down through several generations, with a basic formula for success. If you work hard and save money, you can have enough for your kids to then work hard and save money; the end game for one generation is golfing, and for the next, to repeat the cycle.
The American Dream has changed. The goal of comfort and quiet is being traded for one of adventure, fulfillment, and public spectacle. The new American Dream is to live large in the moment, be comfortable, do things we are passionate about away from the confines of a desk and an office—and to let everyone else know about it.
But for most, this new dream is as unattainable as the old one. Far too many young people are uneducated about their financial products and they’re getting caught in a cycle of high interest rates and late payments. More than 44 million people in the United States are saddled with what they were told was “good debt” from education that has no real job prospects. About 13 million people are working multiple jobs, many of which have no set hours or set salary. There are 16 million people working service jobs. Half of Americans don’t have any money in savings for retirement, and, in fact, most of these people don’t have anything at all in savings. Period.
