The typical American senior’s wealth grew by $91,000 during the Covid pandemic years, new research shows, Bloomberg News reports. The increase came in gains in home and stock values.
“That was the median increase in net worth between 2019 and 2022 for households headed by someone age 65 or older, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, using data from the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances. Households headed by someone 40 to 64 years old saw median gains of $57,800,” Bloomberg reported.
Households headed by younger Americans, aged 18 to 39 saw the smallest gains in dollar terms, at $31,600, but because they were starting from the smallest base their percentage gains were the largest.
Bloomberg, cited a paper by Lowell Ricketts, a data scientist at the St. Louis Fed’s Institute for Economic Equity, said “Seniors normally have more wealth than younger people, but the greater gains for older Americans in the last few years have made that disparity ‘starker.’
“Though it’s important to note that this isn’t a zero sum situation,” he told Bloomberg. “The extra $32,000 for the typical family in the younger group can improve both financial stability and economic mobility.”
Slightly more than half of seniors’ gains in net worth came from nonfinancial assets like home values, while retirement accounts and other financial assets contributed the remaining 48%, Bloomberg said.