Baby Boomers Own More Than Half Of Australia’s Wealth

Baby boomers, those aged between 45 and 64, may make up less than a quarter of Australia’s population but they hold more than half of the nation’s wealth. That’s according to a study by McCrindle Research, which broke down the household net worth of different generational groups as well. We also found out that the top 20% of the richest Australians hold 62% of the country’s private wealth while those at the bottom end of the scale have less than 1%.

The wealth distribution imbalance isn’t just a problem the US; the richest 20% of Australians have an average household net wealth of $2.5 million while the poorest 20% have around $35,500; in other words, the richest Australians have 71 times more wealth than the poorest. Wealth includes a combination of accumulated income and assets that are owned.

The median price for a house currently sits at $720,000.

The top 20% will most likely be baby boomers given that they hold 53% of Australia’s private wealth. Here’s a breakdown of wealth distribution between different generational groups in the country.

  • Group % of Population Average Household Net Wealth % of Wealth in Australia
    Generation Y (age 25-34) 15% $268,800 7%
    Generation X (age 35-44) 14% $573,300 14%
    Younger Baby Boomers (age 45-54) 13% $944,900 23%
    Older Baby Boomers (age 55-64) 12% $1,239,700 30%
    Builders (age 65+) 15% $1,040,550 26%

    As you can see, baby boomers collectively make up a quarter of Australia’s population yet they own over half of the nation’s wealth.

    “It’s a generation that has experienced an economic miracle,” McCrindle social researcher Mark McCrindle said.


  • The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

    Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

    At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

    Comments


    15 responses to “Baby Boomers Own More Than Half Of Australia’s Wealth”