The great boomer hoard: Americans 55 and over hold $140 trillion, roughly three-quarters of total net worth

boom (Credit: courtesy of Bank of America Institute)

America’s older households sit on nearly $140 trillion in wealth, and much of it showed up recently.

Households age 55 and over held around three-quarters of the nation’s total net worth in the second quarter of 2026, according to an Oct. 1 report from Bank of America Institute, based on analysis of Federal Reserve data. “With equity markets rising strongly,” wrote senior economist David Michael Tinsley, those households have seen “a more than 20% increase in their net worth over the past two years.”