--- title: Less Than Half of Millennials Are Expected to Own a Home in Retirement description: For the majority of millennials, owning a home is a pipe dream — even in retirement. 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: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - 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: Kristen Bahler role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/kristen-bahler/ bio: Kristen Bahler has spent more than a decade turning culture, work and consumer spending trends into conversation-driving stories. Today, she leads Money's sponsored content channel and reader-favorite franchises like Best Places to Live and Best Places to Travel. education: Northeastern University, MA Journalism at_money_since: 2016 articles: 52 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-bahler/ published: '2022-04-22T18:22:48.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T12:51:25.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - 401(k) - homeowners - IRA - Millennials - News - Retirement - student loan debt word_count: 433 canonical: https://money.com/millennials-own-home-retirement/ 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/). ![Lovely couple standing in front of their new house](https://img.money.com/2022/04/News-Less-Millennials-Will-Own-Homes.jpg?crop=0px%2C149px%2C2352px%2C1323px&quality=85) Millennials are less likely to own a home in retirement than Gen Xers or boomers, despite starting to save for retirement from a much younger age. A [study](https://pressroom.aboutschwab.com/press-releases/press-release/2022/Retirement-Reimagined-Empowered-by-Early-Savings-Millennials-Are-Reshaping-What-It-Means-to-Retire-With-an-Emphasis-on-Flexibility-and-New-Experiences/default.aspx) released Tuesday by investment firm Charles Schwab dives into some of the key differences between the three generations. Among its findings: Only 48% of millennials are likely to “enjoy stability through homeownership” in retirement — compared to 74% of Gen Xers and 75% of boomers. Schwab analysts, who surveyed 5,000 Americans and combined their responses with investor and economic data, chalk up this generational housing gap to a shifting perception of what it actually means to "retire." When it comes to [planning for retirement](https://money.com/easy-ways-to-save-for-retirement/), millennials are actually doing better than their predecessors, the study found. The typical millennial starts building a nest egg in their mid-20s — nine years earlier than boomers. But while boomers and Gen Xers overwhelmingly expect to settle down in an owned home, 61% of millennials prioritize travel in retirement, the study found. “Millennials think of retirement less as a target savings number and date and more like a state of mind or target lifestyle,” Jonathan Craig, a managing director at Charles Schwab, said in a news [release](https://pressroom.aboutschwab.com/press-releases/press-release/2022/Retirement-Reimagined-Empowered-by-Early-Savings-Millennials-Are-Reshaping-What-It-Means-to-Retire-With-an-Emphasis-on-Flexibility-and-New-Experiences/default.aspx). This is the right approach, according to Schwab, because the rules of retirement are changing fast. For one, pension plans — a retirement staple in previous decades — are virtually non-existent in today’s workplace, putting the onus on workers to save for their retirement likely through a [401(k)](https://money.com/what-is-a-401k-rollover/) or [Individual Retirement Account (IRA)](https://money.com/what-is-an-ira/). Social Security benefits are changing too: According to a recent retirement [study](https://landing.principal.com/retirement-transition/inside-your-clients-mind) from the financial firm Principal, most workers aren’t confident that Social Security benefits will be there to support them in retirement, and a whopping 80% say they plan to continue [working throughout their retirement](https://money.com/not-enough-money-for-retirement/). "Retirement isn’t really a switch you flip at a certain age anymore,” the Schwab report states. “It’s a financial state that allows for the flexibility to make work optional.” Millennials are also saddled with debt — [especially student loan debt](https://money.com/amount-student-loan-borrowers-owe-forbearance/) — and face other financial hardships that are keeping their homeownership levels down below the national average (not just in their retirement projections). This could help explain why their perception of retirement is so different from previous generations. In other words, if homeownership isn’t working out for millennials now, why should they expect it to when they’re retired? ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-own-home-retirement/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Retirement Planning", "item": "https://money.com/retirement-planning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Less Than Half of Millennials Are Expected to Own a Home in Retirement" } ] }, { "@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/millennials-own-home-retirement/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/millennials-own-home-retirement/", "name": "Less Than Half of Millennials Are Expected to Own a Home in Retirement", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-04-22T18:22:48.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-own-home-retirement/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-own-home-retirement/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T12:51:25.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Less Than Half of Millennials Are Expected to Own a Home in Retirement", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/04/News-Less-Millennials-Will-Own-Homes.jpg?crop=0px%2C149px%2C2352px%2C1323px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Less-Millennials-Will-Own-Homes" } ], "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. 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.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2022/01/a_adam-hardy.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "adam.hardy@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead Data Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism", "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/", "name": "The Penny Hoarder" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/advisor/", "name": "Forbes Advisor" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://creativeloafing.com/", "name": "Creative Loafing" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/opinion/biden-trump-harris-2024.html", "name": "The New York Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/26/flexible-spending-account-is-flawed-benefit/", "name": "The Washington Post" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-09-20/-100-000-h-1b-visa-fee-is-a-gamble-that-could-protect-us-jobs", "name": "Bloomberg" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2024/02/08/whoop-and-the-irs-how-tax-avoidance-helps-health/", "name": "Harvard Law School" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b#footnote-33-p60883", "name": "The Federal Register" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nclc.org/resources/what-states-can-do-to-stop-credit-reporting-abuses/", "name": "National Consumer Law Center" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/open-enrollment-irs-changes-fsa-hsa-flexible-spending-account-health-savings-account-2023/", "name": "CBS News" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/rankings-and-ratings/20-top-us-hospitals-for-2025-per-money/", "name": "Becker's Hospital Review" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/using-chatgpt-ai-write-cover-letters-job-applications-2023-2", "name": "Business Insider" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/a-major-strike-of-beef-workers-pauses-in-colorado-but-workers-say-the-fight-isnt-over/", "name": "Mother Jones" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://theweek.com/business/economy/job-market-frozen-thawing", "name": "The Week" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://fortune.com/2023/12/20/workers-lose-money-on-unused-fsa-accounts-deadlines-what-companies-should-do/", "name": "Fortune" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/liberation-day-tariffs-economy-stock-market-trump-20250401.html", "name": "The Philadelphia Inquirer" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/37955/Student_Loan_Changes_2026_New_Repayment_Options_Taxable_Forgiveness_and_More_on_the_Way", "name": "National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA)" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://eab.com/resources/blog/adult-education-blog/graduate-funding-shift-pricing-aid-strategies-aligned/", "name": "Education Advisory Board (EAB)" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://ticas.org/california/state-private-loans-protections-blog/", "name": "The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://thismorningwithgordondeal.com/b/This-Morning-with-Gordon-Deal-August-04,-2026/421564107823081285.html", "name": "This Morning with Gordon Deal" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.empower.com/the-currency/life/pumpkin-spice-season-spending", "name": "Empower" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Economics/comments/1va10oa/comment/p0i9bju/", "name": "Reddit" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2022-04-22T18:22:48.000Z", "description": "For the majority of millennials, owning a home is a pipe dream — even in retirement.", "abstract": "For the majority of millennials, owning a home is a pipe dream — even in retirement.", "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-own-home-retirement/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-17T12:51:25.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kristen Bahler", "url": "https://money.com/author/kristen-bahler/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/kristen-bahler/#author", "description": "Kristen Bahler has spent more than a decade turning culture, work and consumer spending trends into conversation-driving stories. Today, she leads Money's sponsored content channel and reader-favorite franchises like Best Places to Live and Best Places to Travel.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2016/08/kristen.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "kristen.bahler@money.com", "jobTitle": "Managing Editor", "alumniOf": "Northeastern University, MA Journalism", "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-bahler/" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "wordCount": 433, "keywords": [ "401(k)", "homeowners", "IRA", "Millennials", "News", "Retirement", "student loan debt" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retirement", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retirement planning", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement_planning" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Millennials", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials" ] } ] } ] } ```