However, for many of us we got married young and were at lower paying jobs until college/training was obtained and then because the sheer numbers of our generation many did not end up getting promotions, etc. There can only be so many chiefs.
This might come as a surprise, but EVERY generation has the problem of there being more regular jobs than chief's jobs.
As for the getting married early part, that's a choice one does not have to make. IMO, getting married saves money just like getting a roommate does. It's having children when you're young that's expensive. Which, incidentally, is also usually a choice.
Many people lost a third to half of their investments when the market went down.
Actually, most that lost money lost their investments when they panicked and sold when the market was down. Again, a choice to (a) panic and (b) not educate themselves on how the market works.
Divorces have cost our generation a ton of $. The people I know with the most $ never got divorced.
Divorces are not like hurricanes. They don't just show up. Setting aside adult-onset mental illness, they are the result of choices that one or both parties to the marriage made.
Helping adult kids get established also took their toll in this generations ability to save.
Raising one's children to be adult adults would have been a better choice than raising them to be adult
kids.
And not just for the money savings.
Some people lost good jobs during the recession and were never able to replace them so had to work survival jobs instead. Age discrimination is a real thing.
Absolutely true. Some did. But why? Was it really age discrimination or had the people just "retired in place" and ceased keeping up with the times by keeping their skills current and relevant?
With all that being said some people never save and don't look to the future.
Which would be why most don't accumulate wealth.
However, I did want to cover some of the things that happened to this generation to impede their savings rate.
Every generation has challenges. I think the Baby Boomers in the USA had it easier than any generation in the history of the world.