Wealth of U.S. seniors surged by $91,000 during pandemic

The wealth of the typical U.S. senior climbed by about $91,000 during the pandemic years as home and stock values soared, new research shows. 

That was the median increase in net worth between 2019 and 2022 for households headed by someone aged 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. 

Those headed by people 18 to 39 saw the smallest gains in dollar terms — $31,600 — although since they were starting from a lower base, they enjoyed the biggest percentage increases.

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," according to a recent paper co-authored by Lowell Ricketts, a data scientist at the St. Louis Fed's Institute for Economic Equity.

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"Though it's important to note that this isn't a zero sum situation," Ricketts said in an email. "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 non-financial assets like home values, while retirement accounts and other financial assets contributed the remaining 48%.

And seniors across the wealth distribution got a boost, although people at the top got by far the biggest increases. People 65 and older in the 90th percentile of wealth, with a net worth equal to or greater than 90% of the population, saw increases of about $893,000. Those in the 10th percentile by wealth only got an extra $1,181, although that was a 20% rise in percentage terms because of their low starting point.