Baby Boomers Are Still Gaining More Wealth Than Millennials

Older People have seen their wealth rise tremendously lately, whereas different age teams haven’t been as fortunate, in line with a brand new paper.

Over a current 40-year interval, between 1983 to 2022, the relative family wealth of these now ages 75 years and older has “sharply risen” whereas the wealth of all different age teams has declined, New York College Economist Edward Wolff wrote in a new paper. The People whose wealth has outpaced all different generations are part of the older Baby Boomers group, or these born earlier than 1950.

Wolff used the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances to match two age teams — 35 years and underneath and 75 and over — and located the principle components that drive generational wealth are excessive homeownership charges, excessive quantities of shares owned, and low house mortgage debt.

Associated: Home Sellers Now Outnumber Buyers in Record Numbers. Here’s What It Means for Home Prices.

Here is how older Child Boomers acquired so wealthy:

Homeownership charges

In response to the U.S. Census Bureau, Child Boomers personal almost 40% of all accessible houses within the U.S., although they make up simply 20% of the inhabitants. The National Association of Realtors estimated in April that the Child Boomer era accounted for 42% of all house patrons, with almost half of all Boomers buying houses with money.

In the meantime, a Freddie Mac report from February 2024 discovered that, as Child Boomers age, declining house possession will trigger 9.2 million houses to hit the market by 2035. The era owned 32 million houses within the U.S. in 2022, however Freddie Mac predicted that the quantity would decline to 23 million by 2035.

In the meantime, the National Association of Realtors estimated that house costs have nearly doubled from 2014 to 2024, rising from a median of $217,100 in 2014 to $418,700 a decade later. In July 2025, median house costs hit one other record high.

Shares

In terms of shares owned, Boomers additionally stand out. In response to The Kobeissi Letter, a commentary on international markets, Boomers held 54% of all U.S. company shares and mutual funds within the first quarter of the yr, in comparison with simply 8% for millennials.

“The generational wealth divide is very large,” The Kobeissi Letter wrote in a submit on X.

US fairness possession is closely skewed towards older generations:

Child Boomers now maintain 54% of all US company equities and mutual fund shares, down solely barely from 57% in Q1 2020.

By comparability, Millennials personal simply 8% of all equities, up from ~2% in 2020.

Gen X accounts… pic.twitter.com/4ofwErSlPq

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) July 14, 2025

House mortgage debt

House mortgage debt, which refers back to the quantity owed because of shopping for a house, can be significantly low for older generations. In response to Bankrate, the typical mortgage steadiness within the last quarter of 2024 was $194,334 for Child Boomers — a lot decrease than the $312,014 steadiness attributed to Millennials (ages 28 to 43) or the $283,677 steadiness related to Gen X (ages 44 to 59).

Mortgage debt is trending greater total. The typical U.S. mortgage debt was $252,505 in 2024, a near $8,000 enhance from the earlier yr, in line with credit score bureau Experian.

Associated: Here’s How Much You Need to Make Per Year to Buy a Typical Home in the U.S., According to a New Report