Why did everything in the past used to be so cheap?
The US Dollar used to be more valuable.
The (USD) loses about 3% of its value each year.
2000 : $2.24
2025 : $5.29
Holding wealth in US Dollars for a long period of time will lose half its value in about 24 Years.
In this way, (USD) is a liability.
So, then where do you store your savings?
S&P500 index of the 500 largest US Companies (Stocks)
Owning stocks allows you to take value created by the workers of American companies and keep it for yourself.
The ownership class profits off of the working class, investing in stocks (ownership of companies) will allow you transition from working class to ownership class.