--- title: 'Gen Z to Boomers: How Much Each Generation Says You Need to Feel Wealthy' description: Americans say it takes $839K to feel comfortable but $2.3M to feel wealthy, per Schwab’s 2025 Modern Wealth survey. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 499 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2025-09-02T17:33:34.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - News word_count: 549 canonical: https://money.com/financially-comfortable-wealthy-generation/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo collage of a man and a woman sitting comfortably on a lounge chair with a stack of hundred dollar bills in the background](https://img.money.com/2025/07/News-Comfortable-Versus-Wealthy.jpg) What’s the difference between feeling financially comfortable and bona-fide wealthy? Apparently, it’s about $1.5 million. To feel “financially comfortable” in 2025, Americans now say it takes a net worth of $839,000 on average, according to Charles Schwab’s ninth annual Modern Wealth survey released Wednesday. To feel financially wealthy, however, it takes a lot more: a net worth of $2.3 million. Much of the $1.5 million difference boils down to how people define "financially comfortable" and "wealthy." ## Regain financial stability with the help of Freedom Debt Relief ### Freedom can start you on the path to resolve your debt, especially if you owe over $20,000. Why wait? Select your state to get started today! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/l67257dab4e3?ap_referrer=%2Ffinancially-comfortable-wealthy-generation%2F) “The concept of wealth can feel distant, abstract or even aspirational, while financial comfort is something people might see as more tangible and associated with the everyday realities they’re facing right now,” Rob Williams, managing director of financial planning at Charles Schwab, said in commentary shared with Money. “Both are important when it comes to understanding and managing your full financial picture.” The net-worth readings for both “wealthy” and “financially comfortable” are the second highest on record at Schwab. Last year, Americans said $2.5 million made them feel wealthy, whereas $778,000 made them feel comfortable. (The highest reading for "financially comfortable" was $1 million in 2023.) Schwab’s wealth survey was fielded in April and May and includes responses from more than 2,000 U.S. adults aged 21 to 75, who had average household earnings of $84,000. Net worth is a popular measure of total wealth that looks at the value of assets (such as savings and property) minus liabilities (such as debts). It’s a broader financial reading than just earnings. When it comes to salaries, separate research shows most Americans say they’d need to make at least $200,000 to feel rich. ## Feeling wealthy? That might depend on your age As with most financial topics, there are stark divides among the different generations on how they feel about wealth. Generally speaking, young adults say they need less money than their older counterparts to feel comfortable or wealthy. Twentysomethings are also more likely to say they already feel comfortable and wealthy. Here’s a look at the responses by age group. | | Net worth to feel "financially comfortable" in 2025 | Net worth to feel wealthy in 2025 | | --- | --- | --- | | Gen Z (1997-2003) | $329,000 | $1.7 million | | Millennials (1981-1996) | $347,000 | $2.1 million | | Gen X (1965-1980) | $783,000 | $2.1 million | | Boomers (1948-1964) | $943,000 | $2.8 million | Respondents were also asked if they think they will ever be wealthy in their lifetime. Gen Zers (43%) and millennials (42%) were far more likely to say they are “wealthy now” or “on track to be wealthy.” Only 33% of Gen Xers and 20% of boomers say the same. [Boomers’ financial pessimism reigns](https://money.com/boomers-pessimistic-market-volatility-retirement/) here — as it does in certain other areas of their finances — despite the generation having far higher net worths than younger adults. For instance, separate Schwab data [shows](https://workplacefinancialservices.schwab.com/resource/sdba-indicators-q1-2025-report) the typical brokerage account balance for boomer investors is over $560,000. For millennial investors, it’s less than $125,000. On top of that, boomers on average have [higher homeownership rates](https://money.com/homeowners-wealthier-than-renters-net-worth/), 401(k) balances and salaries than Gen Z and millennial adults. The financial optimism expressed by younger Americans could be stemming from financial preparation, as Gen Zers and millennials were more likely than the other groups in the wealth study to have reported creating a “formal plan” for their financial goals in life. 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[Get Started](https://money.com/pr/u5c2defb44d4?ap_referrer=%2Ffinancially-comfortable-wealthy-generation%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/financially-comfortable-wealthy-generation/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Wealth", "item": "https://money.com/wealth/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Gen Z to Boomers: How Much Each Generation Says You Need to Feel Wealthy" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/financially-comfortable-wealthy-generation/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/financially-comfortable-wealthy-generation/", "name": "Gen Z to Boomers: How Much Each Generation Says You Need to Feel Wealthy", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-09-02T17:33:34.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/financially-comfortable-wealthy-generation/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/financially-comfortable-wealthy-generation/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Gen Z to Boomers: How Much Each Generation Says You Need to Feel Wealthy", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/07/News-Comfortable-Versus-Wealthy.jpg", "width": 2448, "height": 1632, "caption": "News-Comfortable-Versus-Wealthy" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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