Old, Rich, White People

I don’t think that point’s debatable. Sure, any one person’s lived experience might be on some vectors “better” in their 60s than some other person’s uniquely “bad” 20s, but on the whole, the benefits of being young outweigh the advantages that go along with getting old.

The aging process, however rewarding in many respects, tends to be a dead end. (Looks around at the audience. Taps mic. “Is this thing on?”)

But thanks to a whole host of macroeconomic factors that’ve coalesced into something of a perfect storm, being young’s no cake walk these days either. Just ask the institution many blame for exacerbating America’s existential wealth divide.

According to the new vintage of the Fed’s sprawling triennial household finance survey, younger Americans saw their inflation-adjusted net worth decline markedly from 2022 to 2025, while Americans aged 75 and older enjoyed a veritable bonanza, as their net worth rose almost 40% over the same stretch.

There’s the chart. What you’ll immediately notice is that the youngest cohort saw their net worth well more than double in the previous survey, which covered the three-year period from 2019 to 2022.

As The New York Fed explained in a 2024 blog post, younger Americans’ participation in the equity market increased sharply following the pandemic, and being the least well-off age cohort, they also received more in the way of government transfer payments during and immediately after the public health emergency.

The go-go, “stimmy” era — which brought us the GameStop saga and the Bored Ape Yacht Club mania — ended promptly when the Fed started raising rates. (I know, I know: “Imagine that.”) It’s been rough for the youngins since.

The figure below shows you the net worth comparison (versus the rate of change comparison illustrated in the first chart).

The median net worth for Americans 75 and older in the new survey was more than half a million dollars. That figure for those 35 and under: A mere $33,000 which (and with apologies to whomever they’re due) may as well be nothing.

The “de facto nothing” label still applied to younger Americans in the last survey, even after their net worth rose by 143%. Suffice to say when the starting point is less than $18,000, you’d need a quintupling (not a doubling or tripling) to have the beginnings of a real nest egg.

Do note: The 75 and older cohort was the only age group that saw a demonstrable increase in net worth from 2022 to 2025. Gains for those 35-44 and for the 55-64 cohort were minimal, and Americans between 45-54 and between 65-74 got poorer, along with those 35 and under.

That isn’t intuitive, or if it is, it’s only because we’re by now accustomed to economic life in an upside down society. The oldest Americans should in theory be losing ground at least on a relative basis to middle-aged cohorts, if not on an absolute basis, as they burn through their savings in anticipation of that long good night. Instead, they got 37% richer in net worth terms. (You can’t take it with you, but boy if you could!)

The same survey showed the richest households enjoyed a sharp increase in their net worth from 2022 to 2025, while both the poorest and second-poorest households saw their net worth shrink. By race, every cohort logged a gain except one: Black families’ net worth contracted by nearly a quarter.

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