The leading indicator that he found to be most predictive was housing affordability (i.e. the percent of median income earners that can afford the median priced home).  

Account Closed I'm maxing out on the pre-tax contribution amount every year, my employer matches 5% of my pay contribution, the markets would have to have an average loss of -15% every year for the next 25 years for me to end up with a balance that consist of just my payroll contributions.I think those numbers on the charts you're listing are for people working low wage jobs and probably contributing a few hundred dollars a month to their 401K plans, in that scenario putting 200-300 dollars a month away is something that will help but probably not going to be enough to live on in retirement.Like many have mentioned on here you have to be diversified with Real Estate and various aspects of the financial markets, If you're heavily positioned in one market or the other with no diversification you'll end up in the average pool of investors.

One of the issues that no one talks about is wages, which in South Lake Union (downtown Seattle) is currently supporting rents at $4,500+ for millennials who work at Amazon.

With hardly any income I had to go work a minimum wage job to survive.

If you are in a job that makes 36,000 a year and you barely get by etc. then growing money is very tough versus a profession making hundreds of thousands a year or more.Sales professions are some of the highest income earners in the world but not everyone is good at it.

Housing is way less affordable right now in most markets, and wages are stagnant, which is why the fed didn't raise rates.

The implications of raising the Minimum Wage to $15 an hour are that MacDonalds scrambled to develop a machine that can make 230 of any kind of hamburger that you can want, an hour.

As independent contractors Uber drivers aren't even guaranteed a minimum wage .

Everyone thought they were qualified to be a LL, many high earners had savings and IRAs to use for downs.  

Then I would move on to where they are as an income earner today:- "Where do you generate your current income from and how is it taxed?"