The generational wealth gap is a global problem

The perception of a golden retirement for boomers clashes with the reality of a changing economy and the rise of **artificial intelligence**.

## The American dream: an inheritance or an illusion?

An idyllic picture is painted of **baby boomers** amassing fortunes with relative ease. Buying a house for **$12,000** and selling it three decades later for **$2 million** seems like something from another era. And it is. The housing market has experienced brutal inflation that makes anything like that unthinkable today. Add to that the ease of finding jobs without a university degree, something that would be a pipe dream for many young people today.

## The ghost of AI and retirement

The narrative continues with the idea that this generation retired just in time, dodging the looming threat of **artificial intelligence** which, the argument goes, could leave many without jobs. It is a view that highlights an abyssal difference in the opportunities and challenges faced by different generations as they reach retirement age. Job security and access to housing, pillars of economic stability, have changed drastically.

## An unbridgeable gap?

This comparison, though picturesque, underscores an increasingly palpable economic reality: the generational gap in wealth accumulation. Labor market conditions, access to education and, above all, the cost of living have changed radically. What was a relatively smooth path for one generation has become a steep climb for the next, full of unforeseen obstacles.