Millennials Are Richer Now. So Why Can’t They Stop Worrying?

A generation that came of age during the 2007-09 recession—and then lived through the Covid-19 pandemic—remains anxious

By Joe Pinsker of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"After persevering through recessions in the late 2000s and during the Covid-19 pandemic, millennials now have net worths that are higher than those of previous generations at similar ages, adjusting for inflation."

"In 2016, the median net worth of older millennials, those born in the 1980s, was more than one-third lower than expected based on past generations’ wealth trajectories, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. By 2022, when that cohort was in their early 30s to early 40s, their median net worth was more than one-third higher than expected.

"Rising home values and stock prices helped boost millennials’ wealth, with both hitting record highs in recent years."

"Among the millennials still struggling to build wealth are those who have large student-debt payments and those who can’t afford to buy a house. The gap between the 20th and 80th percentiles of net worth for millennials was almost $350,000 in 2022, larger than the roughly $285,000 inflation-adjusted gap among boomers in 1989, according to the St. Louis Fed."

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