As millennials begin to turn 40 in 2021, CNBC Make It has launched Middle-Aged Millennials, a series exploring how the oldest members of this generat

Older millennials don't have as much wealth as their parents did at the same age, but they're catching up

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2021-05-24 19:00:07

As millennials begin to turn 40 in 2021, CNBC Make It has launched Middle-Aged Millennials, a series exploring how the oldest members of this generation have grown into adulthood amid the backdrop of the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, student loans, stagnant wages and rising costs of living.

Five years ago, older millennials were 40% poorer than previous generations were at the same stage of life. That wealth gap has shrunk in recent years, but it's still too soon to tell if obstacles such as student loan debt burdens, rising living expenses and the effects of the Covid pandemic will push this generation permanently off course. 

The oldest millennials are turning 40 this year, and yet the average older millennial born in the 1980s still hasn't managed to squirrel away the same level of wealth as previous generations accumulated at the same age.

Looking back five years, in 2016 the average older millennial was 32, earning a median income of $57,500 and had a net worth of approximately $27,900. But based on wealth rates previous generations recorded at similar ages, the typical millennial should have been earning a median salary of $65,900 with a net worth around $46,600 in 2016, according to calculations by the St. Louis Fed's Institute for Economic Equity, based on the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances.

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