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  1. Personal Finance
  2. Wealth Management

A New Study Shows Just How Wealthy Millennials Are

Published: Feb 21, 2017 2 min read

Not all millennials are struggling.

They graduated into the worst recession since the Great Depression, but a select few have been successful enough to put the cohort within reach of passing Generation X in terms of household wealth, according to a new study on wealth and inequality.

The annual Wealth & Affluent Monitor, published by Phoenix Marketing International, estimates that millennials now comprise 13% of what they call the wealthy and affluent market, defined as households with at least $100,000 in investible assets. That group holds 91% of the total investible assets in the U.S.

 

Gen-X—the smaller generation between Baby Boomers and millennials—makes up 17% of this market, and is increasingly faced with the financial challenges of aging parents and education costs for their children, Phoenix says.

Overall, the number of millionaire households in the United States has grown by more than 800,000 over the past five years, Phoenix found. This chart shows how wealth now breaks down, according to its data. The lower 70% of the population holds just 9% of the liquid wealth available in America.

Phoenix used data from a combination of sources including the Survey of Consumer Finance (SCF) as well as Nielsen-Claritas to come up with its findings.