Americans 55 to 69 Hold 41% of U.S. Household Wealth. Those Under 40 Hold 6.5%

Americans aged 55 to 69 hold more of America’s wealth than any other age group. That’s 41% of all U.S. household net worth as of the second quarter of 2026, according to the Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts. Those under 40 hold just 6.5%. Below, the Fed’s four age groups are ranked by their share of the country’s wealth, then by who owns the stocks held outside retirement plans. The gap between them comes down mostly to time.

First, a quick definition: household net worth is everything a household owns, like a home, retirement accounts, savings, stocks, and business stakes, minus everything it owes, like a mortgage, car loans, credit cards, and student debt.

The Fed sorts households by the age of the household head. Its dollar figures are nominal, which means they aren’t adjusted for inflation. That’s why the comparisons here use each group’s share of the total. Shares hold up over time, while raw dollar amounts from decades ago look smaller than they really were.

Ranking Every Age Group by Share of U.S. Net Worth

1. 55 to 69: 41%. These are peak-earning and early-retirement years. Most people in this group have spent 30 years or more paying down a mortgage and adding to retirement accounts.
2. 70 and older: 33.6%. This share rose 1.7 percentage points in a year, the biggest move of any group.
3. 40 to 54: 19%. Mid-career households are still building equity, and many are also paying for kids and college.
4. Under 40: 6.5%. Younger households carry the most debt compared with what they own, and debt gets subtracted straight out of net worth.

Put the top two groups together and Americans 55 and older control 74.6% of household net worth.

Why the Oldest Group Keeps Gaining Ground

The 70-and-older share has climbed steadily, up from 18.9% in the third quarter of 1989. Baby boomers explain most of it. As the biggest generation ages past 69, it carries its wealth into the oldest bracket. That’s also why the 55-to-69 share has drifted down from its 47.7% peak in 2016, even though the group remains at the top.

In retirement accounts, the 55-to-69 group holds 49.5% of all defined contribution retirement money and annuities. Defined contribution covers plans like 401(k)s and 403(b)s, where workers pay in from each paycheck. Decades of contributions and employer matches, all compounding, end up centered at the stage of life just before retirement.

Who Owns the Stocks Outside Retirement Plans

Ownership of stocks and mutual funds held outside workplace retirement plans, like regular brokerage accounts, ranks a little differently:

1. 70 and older: 40.5%
2. 55 to 69: 39.3%
3. 40 to 54: 14.5%
4. Under 40: 5.7%

The oldest group moves to first place on this list. Retirees have had the most years for taxable holdings to grow, and money pulled from retirement accounts can end up in regular brokerage accounts once it’s out. Younger investors mostly own stocks through a 401(k), so their market exposure shows up in the retirement-account numbers instead.

Reading the Under-40 Number Correctly

Young households’ share has swung a lot. It was 12% in 1989, fell to 4% after the financial crisis, then got back to a recent high of 7% in mid-2022. These figures are totals for each group. A large share for older Americans doesn’t mean every retiree is comfortable, because these figures can’t show how wealth is spread inside an age group.

Making It Last and Passing It On

Older households have a different job now: drawing their savings down slowly without running out. Required minimum distributions, the yearly withdrawals the IRS requires from traditional retirement accounts, start at age 73 for people born from 1951 through 1959 and at 75 for those born in 1960 or later.

Roth IRAs have no required withdrawals while the owner is alive. Most heirs who aren’t spouses have to empty an inherited account within ten years, and an outdated beneficiary form or an untitled account can send money to the wrong place entirely (we put the full estate checklist, beneficiaries and titling included, in a free guide here).

Time in the Market Explains the Gap

The 55-to-69 group leads in total net worth, while those 70 and older lead in corporate equities and mutual fund shares. The older groups lead because they’ve had decades of saving, paying off homes and letting markets compound. A 35-year-old today has about as much time ahead as today’s 65-year-old had behind them, and the Fed’s numbers show how much those years add up to.

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