Since 2022, the winners were those holding assets that roseWho Got Richer Since 2022?

From 2022 to 2025, median net worth rose 38% for US households aged 75 and over and fell 23% for those under 35, after adjusting for inflation.

The Federal Reserve's triennial Survey of Consumer Finances is out, and its verdict splits by age: older households got richer, younger ones got poorer. The author argues this cannot be reduced to 'the rich getting richer'. Break the numbers down by age and by asset type to see why.

Not the rich getting richer, but owners of rising assets

By wealth, the top did gain and the bottom did lose. Add age and the pattern breaks: young households in the top 10% lost 14% over three years, while older households of similar wealth mostly rose.

Older households held more of their wealth in homes and stocks, and US stocks rose about 48% after inflation from 2022 to 2025. Younger households had about a fifth of their assets in cars, and used-car prices fell back after the pandemic, so their vehicles lost 21% of their value over three years.

Housing is the biggest gap. The share of under-35 households that own their home fell from 38.5% to 35.6%. Among young households, owners had a median net worth of about $184,000, while renters had only $12,000.

Three years of decline may just be a return to normal

During the pandemic, the median net worth of under-35 households climbed from about $18,000 in 2019 to $43,000 in 2022, a rise of roughly 140%, most likely driven by stimulus checks, paused student loan payments and rising asset prices. It fell back to $33,000 in 2025, which the author reads as a return to normal.

The author's advice is to give early rather than wait for an inheritance. Most people receive one in their 50s or 60s, when the money matters far less.

Who got richer since 2022 is clear enough; what happens to that money next is the question that counts.