I am doing a lot better than 4 years ago. The economy collapsing really made it cheap to buy a house, and the Fed really lowered the rates down to nothing. It finally made sense to buy a house. I put most of my 401k into Wal-Mart stock and precious metals when the economy looked like it would collapse and then split it back out into other things in the last year. Understanding the mental retardation of the government allowed me to benefit from the economy. I did well enough in the last 4 years that I will get to retire at 55 comfortably as long as I don't screw up bad over the next decade or so. I am hoping for another recession in 10 years, maybe I can retire at earlier than 55.
I am smart enough to take advantage of the poor decisions the government makes, but I doubt most people did so well. Looking at averages is the only way you can really decide based on whether people are doing better or not.