. . . both of which are dramatically higher than they were for previous generations, that they're not likely to have hundreds of thousands of dollars to watch decline.
My grandfather bought a one acre plot of land with a two bedroom house, and a $5,000 30 year mortgage, in East Palo Alto, California, at the turn of the last century. My parents bought a 3 bedroom house on a much smaller plot for $27,000 in the late sixties. I bought my 3 bedroom house for $110,000 on a postage stamp sized plot in the mid eighties. That house is presently worth over $400,000.
It's just the way the system works. Every generation pays more in dollar terms for a given commodity or service than the generation before it. It's the percentage of one's income that they have to pay that really matters.
My concern, these days, is that the 2008 melt-down resulted in an unprecedented response from the central banks around the world. We are through the looking glass now. So far, so good, but no one really knows how this experiment is going to turn out, simply because it's never been done before.
The only thing I know for certain is that as long as there are markets to invest in, there will be bubbles and crashes periodically. And that's a good thing. Without them, it means there are no markets anymore.
Not sure if I actually have a point here. Only to say, I sincerely hope that your assumption that
"you'll be just fine" proves true. Because if it doesn't, no one is going to be just fine.