I'm in the same boat and was so confused until I did the math what my lower middle class parents made adjusted for inflation and they had more real purchasing power than me.
Yeah I think the the number that clicked for me was the ratio of home price to entry level wage 50 years ago.
E.g. an entry level job on Wall Street might have paid $15k/yr and a really nice apartment was $150k…a 10x spread - today that entry level job is say $150K but the same apartment is like $3-5m closer to a 25x spread…
E.g. an entry level job on Wall Street might have paid $15k/yr and a really nice apartment was $150k…a 10x spread - today that entry level job is say $150K but the same apartment is like $3-5m closer to a 25x spread…