Talk of a “K-shaped economy” took off during the pandemic recovery. Economist Peter Atwater popularized the term in the spring of 2020 to describe an economy in which higher-income households and asset owners bounced back while lower-paid workers and struggling businesses fell further behind.
Six years later, Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research, sees another split, this one by age. Older people are richer than younger people. Of course they are. They’ve had more time to earn, save and buy things. What’s unusual now is how much the economy rewards having already done those things. Stocks are expensive, homes are expensive and the job market is getting tougher for people just entering it.
Yardeni calls it the “gen-shaped economy.” Baby boomers have amassed a record $85.4 trillion in net worth, about half of all household wealth. Some of that is just what happens when people get old. But not all of it. The typical boomer household had $432,200 in wealth in 2022, nearly 30% more than a same-aged Silent Generation household had in 2001, even after adjusting for inflation according to the Pew Research Center.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brandonkochkodin/2026/09/19/why-the-economy-looks-great-to-boomers-but–miserable-to-gen-z/
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Many boomers did not buy a house and are in a similar boat. Most are long divorced or never married. I know too many of them to count. My mother would be in that same boat if it wasn’t for enough inheritance to make a down payment decades ago. I feel for the new generation still, its not getting easier 🤞
yeah the gap is wild. my parents had almost everything sitting in stagnant low-yield accounts and tech single stocks. brought in an advisor two years ago who built them a customized growth and dividend strategy… she moved around $1.4M into index funds and real estate trusts, and their overall portfolio is literally up 52% since then while generating $8k/mo in passive payouts.
@richarddamien thats solid! my dad would love a consultation, he just has his rotting in cash right because he’s terrified of losing it to inflation. 🤦♂
You might want to research the name Brenda L. Garett. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment.
Perfect, I’ll check her out. Thanks!
“No son 30 pesos, son 30 años.” 😉
Perhaps learn where that phrase came from and the history behind it 😉 Then compare economic and financial structure… I would say the outcomes are very similar…
Then compare economic and financial structure… I would say the outcomes are very similar…
This is because of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and other leaders who reduced taxes on rich and those who came after and continued doing the same.