"I'm Rich!" (Checks Bank Account) "Never Mind"

We need to talk about something weird happening in the economy right now. And by weird, I mean "hasn't happened in 30+ years" weird.

Picture this: Two lines on a chart that used to move together like best friends. Now they're going in opposite directions like they had a massive fight.

Blue line = How confident people are about stocks (spoiler: VERY confident. Like, more confident than during the dot-com bubble when everyone thought Pets.com was the future)

White line = How people feel about their own money situation (spoiler: not great, Bob. We're talking 2008 financial crisis levels of pessimism)

So basically, everyone's out here like "STOCKS TO THE MOON 🚀" while simultaneously being like "I can't afford groceries 😭"

Make it make sense.

Here's where things get weird. From the 1960s to 2008, personal income in America grew pretty steadily at about 2.8% per year. People could actually plan their finances because they knew what to expect.

Then 2008 happened, and everything went sideways.

Since then, income growth has been about as reliable as crypto predictions on Twitter. A worker in 1999 expected to be making way more money by 2019 than they actually did. Same thing's happening now – if you planned your 2025 budget back in 2015, you're probably looking at your bank account like "where did I go wrong?"

Meanwhile, the stock market decided to go full send:

This is like watching your friend get promoted to CEO while you're still asking your manager for a $2 raise.

Smart money is split into two camps on how this plays out:

Team Hard Reset: Everything crashes. Stocks, real estate, crypto – the whole shebang gets a reality check that would make a bear market blush.

Team Soft Landing: Somehow, wages magically catch up to asset prices through the power of friendship and collective bargaining.

History says Team Hard Reset usually wins. Sorry, not sorry.

Since the 1980s:

The result? Companies are flush with cash and dumping it into assets. Meanwhile, regular people are spending everything on rent and can't afford to invest in anything.

Housing costs 7x your annual income now. The historical average? 4x.

It's like trying to buy a house in Monopoly when someone already owns Boardwalk and Park Place.

The vibes have shifted, and not in a good way:

Wealth inequality is at levels we haven't seen since the 1920s. And if you remember how that decade ended... nervous laughter

Back in the 1920s, wealth inequality peaked right alongside the stock market. Then 1929 happened, corporate taxes went up, and everything reset. Painful? Yes. But it led to decades of middle-class prosperity.

Fast forward to today: corporate taxes are at historic lows, profits are sky-high, asset prices are through the roof, and inequality is back to 1930s levels.

The pattern is so similar it's almost boring. Almost.

Right now, all that corporate cash is flowing into assets. Stocks, gold, crypto – they're all getting fed. But here's the thing about markets: they're forward-looking. In 1929, stocks peaked BEFORE corporate taxes actually rose.

The setup today looks uncomfortably familiar. The turn might come before anyone sees the trigger.

This divergence between "number go up" markets and "paycheck go nowhere" reality isn't just some interesting chart to tweet about. It's a warning light flashing on the dashboard of the economy.

Will the reset come through crashing asset prices? Rising wages? Policy changes? Nobody knows for sure. But something's gotta give.

Until then, enjoy the ride up. But maybe keep your seatbelt on.

P.S. – This isn't financial advice. We're just here pointing out that the vibes are off and the charts look weird. Do your own research, as always.