Members of this generation have an average median net worth between $200,000 and $255,000, according to the Federal Reserve's 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances. Their mean net worth sits roughly between $970,000 and $1.2 million.
Dr. Ed Yardeni, one of today's leading economists, estimates that baby boomers — those aged 59 to 77 — have a cumulative net worth of nearly $75 trillion. This wealth includes such assets as mutual funds, rental income, Social Security benefits and other interest-bearing assets.
The median baby boomer household isn't doing much better, with $134,000 in retirement savings in 2019, the most recent federal data. That's about one-third of the average retirement savings in that age group, $408,420, a figure inflated by the super-rich.
Baby Boomers are an incredibly wealthy generation, with a median net worth of $1.19 million and over $30 trillion in inheritance expected to be passed down over the next couple of decades.
Baby boomers, born during the revolutionary two decades that followed the end of the Second World War, are currently the richest generation on the planet, with the average Boomer being worth $1.2 million, according to Fortune.
Baby Boomers Hold Half of the Nation's $140 Trillion in Wealth. A chart that shows a breakdown of the 140 trillion dollars in total wealth in the U.S. held by four generations in which the baby boomers who were born in 1946 to 64 have the most, with 78.3 trillion dollars in assets.
Their higher net worth is expected: with most baby boomers financially planning for at least a few more decades, they benefit from wealth earned from long careers and have more robust retirement accounts than the silent generation, who have dipped further into retirement savings.
While the cost of living varies from place to place, a nest egg this size would likely give more than enough money for decades of comfortable living. Even if you live another 50 years, $5 million in savings would allow you to live on $100,000 per year.
The webinar was about the fact that the people born between 1946 and 1964, known as the Baby Boomer generation, are the wealthiest generation in Australian history. According to the ABS, about 5.7 million Baby Boomers in Australia make up about 22% of the population.
Baby Boomers own half of Australia's wealth, despite being just one-fifth of the population. This is not a Boomer-bashing exercise. They cop enough criticism over their superannuation tax breaks, free tertiary education and good fortune to buy houses much at much cheaper prices decades ago.
Following the 4 percent rule for retirement spending, $2 million could provide about $80,000 per year. That's more than average.
Say they retire at age 70 with $4 million. Using the 4% rule, they would be able to withdraw roughly $160,000 a year from their investments. On top of that, they would receive $71,124 in Social Security benefits each year. That's an annual income of $231,124-and it should last them the rest of their life.
Boomers: Dreams versus reality
About 1 in 5 people over 59 don't have a retirement account, the highest share of any generation, Credit Karma said. The gap between their goals and the reality of their savings could explain why boomers are pushing up their retirement age, Goodsell noted.
The age group with the highest average net worth in the U.S. is the 65-74 group, with $1.22 million in 2019 dollars. There is a significant gap between median and mean (average) net worth in nearly every age category, suggesting that mean values are skewed upwards by outliers.
When you look at the generational wealth divide, boomers do hold the bulk of the net worth in the United States: As of year-end 2022, that's more than $73 trillion for boomers, with a little more than $40 trillion for Gen X and just $8 trillion for millennials.
The highest net worth generation in Australia are the Boomers aged 55-64 who not only have a net wealth almost 5 times that of the generation of their children (Gen Y) but they still have a decade or more of earnings and wealth accumulating ahead of them.
Now if you're 50 years old the average net worth is $194,850 and this is when compound interest generally takes over contributing more towards your net worth than your savings rate.
And, while life expectancy can be estimated, no one knows for certain how long they will live. As a result, they can only approximate how long their nest egg will need to last. Retiring at age 45 with $3 million is quite feasible if you already have the money and your post-retirement income needs are not excessive.
Of course, there are many caveats, including whether Social Security payments will be consistent. For now, though, $1.5 million should allow you to retire comfortably. Here are two things to consider when calculating your spending: Lifestyle.
A $3 million portfolio will likely be enough to allow a retired couple to spend reasonably and invest with moderate caution without any worries of running out of money. However, if expenses rise too high, it's entirely possible to drain a $3 million portfolio in well under 30 years.
Baby Boomers: Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. They're currently between 57-75 years old (71.6 million in the U.S.) Gen X: Gen X was born between 1965 and 1979/80 and is currently between 41-56 years old (65.2 million people in the U.S.) Gen Y: Gen Y, or Millennials, were born between 1981 and 1994/6.
Dave Ramsey, personal finance expert and founder of Ramsey Solutions, says this myth of primarily inherited riches is “flat wrong.” When Ramsey's National Study of Millionaires asked where the riches came from, they found that a whopping 79% didn't receive any inheritance from parents or other family members.
Is Gen Z the poorest generation? Gen Z has experienced higher poverty rates than millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers, according to the KIDS COUNT Data Center, but Gen Alpha is the poorest generation to date.