Middle Class Wealth Is More Than a Number in Your Bank Account

A 2015 Pew research study found that 89% of Americans believe they are middle class. In a lot of ways, middle class is more of a vibe than a quantifiable characteristic. The existence of a large middle class is in many ways a deliberate construction of policy as opposed to a naturally occurring side effect of a free market capitalist system. That's tax act dot com slash money with Katie.

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It’s a bit of a trope that the millennial generation has had a rough go of it, economically.

After experiencing the Great Financial Crisis during their formative years, attending higher education during a massive debt-fueled student loan bubble, and entering adulthood while home prices were juiced higher and higher, the majority of millennials are now “behind pace,” financially speaking.

In 2015, Pew Research conducted an interesting survey: It found that 89% of Americans considered themselves middle class. The survey then attempted to break down what middle class wealth actually looks like, landing on a median net worth of around $125,000 in today’s dollars.

I was curious how many millennials had surpassed that threshold, and as it turns out, the answer is…not many.

This episode was inspired by headlines about the impending “Great Wealth Transfer,” often positioned as a solution to millennials’ money woes. But will it be? Let’s dig in.

Learn more about our sponsor, TaxAct: https://www.taxact.com/moneywithkatie

Transcripts can be found at podcast.moneywithkatie.com.

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Mentioned in the Episode

Fervent Finance satirical tweet: https://twitter.com/ferventfinance/status/1605581737651683330
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm
2019 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm
2015 Pew Research Study on the American Middle Class: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/
Are Rich People Better Than You? Why Everything We Think We Know About Good Economics Might be Backward, With Nick Hanauer: https://podcast.moneywithkatie.com/are-rich-people-better-than-you-why-everything-we-think-we-know-about-good-economics-might-be-backward-with-nick-hanauer/
Bridget Casey's "There Is No Such Thing as a Millennial Middle Class": https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/young-money/article-there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-millennial-middle-class/
The Federal Reserve Analysis on intergenerational wealth: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/how-does-intergenerational-wealth-transmission-affect-wealth-concentration-20180601.html
Will ‘the Great Wealth Transfer’ Trigger a Millennial Civil War?: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/will-the-great-wealth-transfer-spark-a-millennial-civil-war.html
Visuali Capitalist chart on upward mobility: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-decline-of-upward-mobility-in-one-chart/
Coldwell Banker Luxury Report: https://blog.coldwellbankerluxury.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CBGL-Millennial-Report_SEP19_FINAL-4a.1-1-1.pdf
Not All Millennials | Generational Wealth and the New Inequality: https://www.thedriftmag.com/not-all-millennials/