It defined millennial millionaires as those ages 23 to 37 with a net worth of more than $1 million. Almost half of millennial millionaires live in California, which has the highest percentage of business owners and real estate investors, according to the report. And all states but one — Illinois — are on the coast.
According to Spectrem Group, the average United States millionaire is 62 years old. Just 1% of millionaires are under the age of 35, and 38% of millionaires are 65 and older. West Coast millionaires skew slightly older.
Here's what sets millionaires apart from everyone else — besides a seven- to nine-figure net worth.
- They're frugal.
- They keep their housing costs low.
- They save a lot of their income.
- They don't budget.
- They take on a side hustle.
- They invest in real estate.
- They invest in low-cost index funds.
New York has the highest UHNW population followed by Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington DC.
2. How many US millionaire households are there? A new survey has found that there are 11.8 million households which have a net worth of $1 million. That is equal to 3% of the United States entire population and about 40% of the global millionaire population.
Millennials only hold 3% of total US wealth, and that's a shockingly small sliver of what baby boomers had at their age. When boomers were roughly the same age as millennials are now, they owned about 21% of America's wealth, compared to millennials' 3% share today, according to recent Fed data.
New York and Los Angeles are home to the most millionaires in America because of their large populations and lucrative industries.
Average net worth by age
| Age | Average net worth | Median net worth |
|---|
| 35 to 44 | $288,700 | $59,800 |
| 45 to 54 | $725,500 | $124,200 |
| 55 to 64 | $1,167,400 | $187,300 |
| 65 to 74 | $1,066,000 | $224,100 |
According to a report by investment bank UBS, only 28% of people with $1 million to $5 million in assets considered themselves wealthy. Even when you ask people with more than $5 million in assets, only 3 in 5 consider themselves wealthy. However, you needed $4.2 million to be considered wealthy in San Francisco.
Americans, on average, say that it takes a net worth of $2.27 million to be considered “wealthy,” Charles Schwab reports in its 2019 Modern Wealth Survey.
At age 35, your net worth should equal roughly 4X your annual expenses. Some have argued you should save at least 2X your annual income. Given the median household income is roughly $59,000 in 2018, the above average household should have a net worth of around $150,000 or more.
This statistic shows the average annual total money earnings of individuals in the United States in 2019, by age group. In 2019, the average worker in the United States aged 45 to 54 earned an average of 72,514 U.S. dollars per year. That made 45 to 54 year olds the highest earning age group, on average, in 2019.
Net Worth Percentiles For Ages 18 to 100
| Percentile | Net Worth (in Dollars) |
|---|
| 60% | $200,950 |
| 50% | $121,760 |
| 40% | $67,650 |
| 30% | $23,900 |
$25-$30 million dollars would place you on the cusp of a very high net worth/ultra high net worth individual. Having said, depending on your age & risk tolerance for investment (whether you wish to take a conservative approach or an more aggressive approach), $25-$30 million can definately set you for life.
Most of today's millionaires weren't born into their wealth, research shows. A study by Fidelity Investments found that 88% of millionaires are self-made millionaires. Those who were born wealthy were more likely to cite inheritance, entrepreneurship and real estate investment appreciation as asset sources.
A family earning between $30,000 and $50,000 was considered lower-middle class. For high earners, a three-person family needed an income between $100,000 and $350,000 to be considered upper-middle class, Rose says. Those who earn more than $350,000 are rich.
1. CaliforniaMost of California's billionaires live in the Los Angeles or San Francisco areas.
The states with the highest number of incoming Millennials, which does not take into account the number of Millennials moving out, were North Carolina, New York, Florida, Texas and California, SmartAsset revealed.
And only 6 percent of Millennials expect to receive full Social Security benefits (as opposed to 25 percent of Baby Boomers). The program is expected to pay full benefits until at least 2034, according to the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
As of July 1, 2019 (the latest date for which population estimates are available), Millennials, whom we define as ages 23 to 38 in 2019, numbered 72.1 million, and Boomers (ages 55 to 73) numbered 71.6 million.
Baby boomers, the wealthiest generation in history, may be worth $30 trillion, but heirs shouldn't count on getting most of that in inheritance. Americans now approaching, or are in early retirement, are more likely to spend their money on themselves than pass it on — and they have many years left to live.
The study found that the average American millennial household today (ages 20 to 35 in 2016) has an average net worth of $100,800, while the average American baby boomer household today (ages 52 to 70 in 2016) has a net worth of $1.2 million (all values are adjusted for inflation), reported Mallika Mitra for CNBC.
“For millennials with some college or less, annual earnings were lower than their counterparts in prior generations,” Pew reports. “Millennial workers with some college education reported making $36,000 [in 2018], lower than the $38,900 early baby boomer workers made at the same age in 1982.
Millennials are facing a shortfall compared to other generations when it comes to their paychecks. Overall, millennials earn 20% less than baby boomers did at the same stage of life, according to "The Emerging Millennial Wealth Gap," a recent report from the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank New America.
Different studies suggest different levels of average inheritance. According to a 2015 HSBC survey, American retirees expect to leave an average inheritance of almost $177,000 to their heirs. The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), reported that median inheritance was $69,000 (the average was $707,291).
