A Look at America's Ultra-Wealthy Millennials

Ultra-wealthy Americans—those with a net worth of at least $25 million—are increasingly seeing new faces among their ranks. But they’re often not the usual suspects—members of the Baby Boomer generation or older.  

Instead, we’re seeing a surprising number of the ultra-wealthy among Millennials—those 72 million Americans born between 1981 and 1996. 

Here’s a look at this large and increasingly important group, using research from CEG Insights.[*] If you have family members who are Millennials, you can use these findings to assess how well you understand those loved ones. If you’re an affluent Millennial yourself, see how your goals, values and concerns compare to your peers’.

Millennials make up much of the ultra-wealthy market. It’s generally assumed that the wealthiest people are the oldest people—which, given how assets can potentially grow over time, makes sense. But when CEG Insights surveyed 165 members of the ultra-wealthy, one surprising finding was that a sizable percentage—43.0%—were Millennials. That compares to 23% who were Gen Xers and 29% who were Baby Boomers.

Millennials really value wealth. More than any other generational group, Millennials believe that happiness stems in large part from the amount of wealth they accumulate (89.5% versus 78.6% overall). 

Millennials don’t value spending over all else. An enormous percentage of ultra-wealthy Millennials (87.5%) say that saving and investing give them greater satisfaction than spending. 

Millennials have strong views on what “living their best life” means. The majority of Millennials say that living their best life means a life that aligns with their values. The other most common responses (cited by at least 40% of Millennials) were “maintaining good health,” “pursuing passions” and “having fulfilling relationships with family and friends.”

Millennials were much more likely than Gen Xers and Boomers to say that a healthy work-life balance is important to living one’s best life. And yet, they’re also much more likely to list “professional achievements” as a key part of a great existence. 

Millennials share many financial concerns. Financially, Millennials’ concerns echo those of most other generational groups in several ways. For example, issues involving inflation, tax increases and stock market performance were all big concerns for Millennials as well as both younger and older investors. That said, Millennials were significantly more likely than the ultra-affluent overall to cite “maintaining their current financial position” as a key concern (90.4% versus 77.8%). Given the value they place on wealth accumulation, they’re likely acutely worried about not reversing course with their financial status.

MILLENNIAL TRAITS

Millennials are family-focused. It’s important to emphasize that Millennials don’t appear to be seeking to build significant wealth for only themselves and their own desires. Consider that the vast majority of Millennials share a number of family-oriented financial concerns—such as having enough money to leave to posterity, paying for heirs’ education needs and leaving a legacy for their heirs. Indeed, just 3.1% say they don’t want to leave a legacy. 

Millennials define what it means to leave a legacy to their heirs in a few key ways—including:

• Passing down significant financial assets (59.8%)

• Passing down their way of life (53.6%)

• Passing down morals and values (44.3%)

Millennials see the world in unique ways. There are some striking differences between Millennials and members of the Baby Boomer generation in terms of values. When asked about specific components that make up someone’s “best life,” we saw some sizable gaps (see the chart below).

Millennials vs. Boomers 

A few key differences between Millennials and Gen Xers also stood out. For example, Gen Xers were even more likely to say that living your best life means “a life that aligns with your own values” (74.4% versus 58.8% of Millennials). But Gen Xers appear to care much