If what you've seen are numbers showing that most fortunes in the US are self-made rather than inherited, that is (to my knowledge) true. But there are massively important advantages that a wealthy upbringing brings to future wealth, other than directly inherited fortunes. I, for instance, don't expect to inherit buckets of money from my parents. But they could afford to live in areas with strong schools that really helped to foster a strong motivation in me that I might not have gotten otherwise. I am just theorizing here, but I think that growing up in an area where people grow up and make money, rather than being continually trapped in poverty, helps to demonstrate what can be done to make money, and incentivize doing those things. So I absolutely think that the upper-middle class lifestyle that my parents are able to afford will help me "inherit" in a less direct sense. And it's kind of sad that things work that way.
Yes, this is more or less what I usually see - that most of the wealthy did not directly inherit their wealth, but they did grow up in an environment that nurtured a "wealthy" mindset.
Perhaps this is where much of the anger is coming from - especially those that grew up in the middle class and checked off all the "middle class" requirements to at least
stay in the middle class (if not move up into the upper middle class) - only to find that it's much more difficult for them than for their parents.
In my case, like you, I grew up in what many would consider the upper-middle class. After some military service (in which I remain a Reserve Officer) to "break free" from my parents I went to school (eventually earned a degree in Management of Information Systems and then an MBA), and actively pursued jobs that built my resume. Yet - after all of that, I still don't own a home even though my wife and I make just over $250,000 per year - which even in Orange County is in the top 2-3% of household incomes according to irs.gov. Why? Because the price of a home compared to average income is SO FAR out of whack I refuse to pay it (even though my wife REALLY wants us to buy). But I do have a neighbor that somehow bought a million dollar home next to us working as a maintenance man at COSTCO.
Now, I'm not saying I
deserve the house more than my neighbor. What I'm saying is that he used a credit scheme to get into his first home and "traded up" when he got some equity from the boom like so many others. The problem is - with
everyone using funky credit schemes to get an asset, that asset will artificially inflate (just like college). If/when we return to conventional measures of price to income - I should be able to "afford" a home priced in the top 2-3% of my area (of course I'm conservative and would still choose something more modest than the top 2-3%, but I don't have that choice).
And here'e the thing - let's say I just bite the bullet and buy something well within my means based on my income - let's say a $500,000 house - I just
know it will tank 50% when prices return to the historical baseline - which would be 1999 prices plus inflation adjustment.
Happy wife or not - I just can't afford to throw $250,000 away...hence, I'm a "2 percenter" that can't "afford" a home.
If I am an upper-middle class employed citizen with a post-graduate degree and 20 years of solid professional experience having these complaints - it must be
horrendously difficult for a young person with that newly minted degree expecting to step right into the middle class life that was promised. Of course - if they're willing to take on a mountain of debt and pay double the price - then they can actually "finance the dream" - at least for awhile.