$19 Trillion in Wealth for Kuwaiti Millennials... The Eighties

Bloomberg – The generation once mocked for wasting money on $7 lattes and avocado toast now appears more comfortable with its financial situation than older generations.

About half of U.S. millennials—the term used to describe the demographic cohort born between 1980 and 1996—say their financial situation has improved compared to five years ago, according to an online survey of 3,000 adults conducted by the financial services platform Chime.

By contrast, 43 percent of Generation Xers and 40 percent of Baby Boomers reported similar financial improvement over the same period.

Millennials have long felt that economic conditions were stacked against them. Many of those now aged 29 to 45 entered the workforce during the Great Recession and are burdened by record levels of student loan debt.

As they navigated early adulthood, they fell behind on financial milestones that previous generations had typically reached by age 40. Just as many reached their peak earning years, the pandemic upended the economy, followed by the highest inflation rate in decades and a sharp rise in borrowing costs.

Although millennials still lag behind older generations in accumulated wealth, they are closing the gap at a rapid pace, according to Federal Reserve data.

Brittany Castro, a certified financial planner who collaborates with Chime, said, “I think most of the anxiety and financial stress comes from comparing ourselves to an imaginary timeline. Of course, we want to achieve more and hit certain milestones, but it’s also important to feel satisfied with the progress we’re making.”

This shift in millennials’ perception of their financial situation could have implications beyond their bank accounts. With the midterm elections approaching, the economy tops voters’ concerns, particularly the cost of living and affordability.

Many millennials still feel the impact of those setbacks, with more than half saying financial challenges have caused them to delay at least one major life milestone, such as buying a home or having children, according to a 2026 survey by Northwestern Mutual. However, a key reason many feel they are in a better position than five years ago is that their finances have genuinely improved.

While Baby Boomers’ net worth is roughly five times larger than that of millennials, younger generations’ wealth is growing at a much faster rate. Since the beginning of 2021, millennials’ net worth surged 134 percent to $19.12 trillion, compared to 32 percent growth among Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and about 40 percent among Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980), according to Federal Reserve data.

Millennials may simply be behind schedule compared to previous generations, according to research by Kevin Corcoran, a senior fellow at the Center for Opportunity and Social Mobility at the American Enterprise Institute. An analysis published in 2026 showed that the real median household income for millennials was 20 percent higher than that of Generation Xers when they were in the same age bracket, between 36 and 40.

Corcoran said, “When comparing those in their 30s and older, it becomes clear that millennials’ income is higher than that of any previous generation at the same age.”

However, the gains achieved by the millennial generation compared with Generation X were not as large as those achieved by the baby boomer generation compared with the Silent Generation, whose members were born before 1946.

The rise in the stock market also helped boost millennials’ wealth. Their stock holdings reached approximately $4.94 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, while the value of their corporate stock and mutual fund holdings more than doubled since 2021, according to Federal Reserve data.

Baby boomers and Generation X still hold significantly larger portfolios, valued at $29.71 trillion and $12.23 trillion, respectively. However, their holdings grew by only 47 percent and 51 percent, respectively, during the same period.

Millennials’ greater benefit from the market rally may be attributed to younger investors’ higher exposure to equities, whereas older investors tend to allocate a larger share of their portfolios to bonds and other less volatile assets.

Millennials also remain behind older generations in homeownership. The homeownership rate among them reached approximately 55 percent in 2025, compared with about 80 percent among baby boomers and 73 percent among Generation X, according to Redfin data.

Nevertheless, this generation continues to close the gap. Their share of U.S. real estate wealth rose to approximately 22 percent, up from 14 percent in 2021, while the shares of both baby boomers and Generation X declined, according to Federal Reserve data.

There is one area in which millennials surpass other generations, albeit not in a positive way: their consumer debt stands at approximately $2.34 trillion, including credit card balances, personal loans, auto loans, student loans, and other non-mortgage debt. This debt has risen by 46 percent since the first quarter of 2021, compared with a 16 percent increase for Generation X and a 3 percent increase for baby boomers.