The wealthiest Americans today are younger, and there are more of them, according to Spectrem Group's Market Insights Report 2019.
The report — which tracks the number of affluent American households based on net worth from the mass affluent, with at least $100,000, to the $25 million-plus segment — finds the number of wealthy U.S. households reached a new high for the 10th consecutive year.
Increasing 2.5% in 2018, the number of U.S. households with a net worth between $1 million and $5 million, not including primary residence, now stands at 10.23 million.
Similar increases were also recorded in all other wealth segments measured.
The mass affluent population, with a net worth between $100,000 and $1 million, grew by 200,000 households during 2018 to 31.2 million households.
The ultra-high net worth market, in which net worth is between $5 million and $25 million, grew to 1.397 million households, an increase of 47,000 from 2017.
In the $25 million-plus segment, there are now 173,000 households, an increase of 1,000 households from the previous year. Comparatively, in the 2018 Market Insights report, there was an increase of 16,000 households with a net worth exceeding $25 million, so the 2019 report shows the growth in that wealth segment slowed considerably.
According to Spectrem Group President George Walper Jr., the increase in the number of U.S. wealthy households slowed in 2018 as a result of weakening global economic growth and a contentious U.S. political environment.
"While net household wealth among affluent investors continued to increase last year, it did not match the pace it had experienced in prior years. Despite this, the total number of households in the upper wealth segments in the United States has nearly doubled since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008," Walper said in a statement.
The report also examines the age demographics of these wealth segments.
Baby boomers comprise the largest percentage of mass affluent (57%), millionaire (67%) and ultra-high net worth (67%) investors. However, millennials make up the largest share of $25 million-plus investors, 47%.
