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Millennials have been relentlessly mocked as the broke generation. Stereotypically, they’re struggling with student loans and unable to get on the property ladder, so it’s easy to assume the entire cohort has missed out on wealth-building opportunities.
But a recent study by the robo-investing platform Wealthfront reveals that many Americans in their 30s and 40s — the millennials — have actually outpaced other generations in wealth accumulation since the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of them have experienced major life events like buying a home in the last few years, buoyed by a frothy stock market, while their parents may be investing more conservatively as they reach retirement age and their grandparents begin to pass away and hand down their wealth.
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According to Federal Reserve data Wealthfront cites, millennials’ total wealth quadrupled from $3.94 trillion in Q3 2019 to $16.54 trillion in Q3 2024. Meanwhile, Gen Xers saw their wealth climb just 58% and baby boomers saw theirs jump 42% over this same period.
Along the same lines, the number of millennial millionaires in Wealthfront’s user base increased 144% over the past five years. Put simply, quite a few Americans in this age group are shedding their unfortunate image and building prosperity.
While some of this could be thanks to the wealth transfer currently underway as millennials inherit from their parents and grandparents, the report indicates there is at least one other factor contributing to millennial success: good investing habits.
Buying the dip
Based on Wealthfront’s analysis of its own user base, wealthy millennials have been successful thanks to time-tested investment strategies such as focusing on low-cost index funds, committing to investing on an ongoing basis to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging, and holding the course during periods of market volatility.
“Our millennial clients hold more than 90% of their invested Wealthfront assets in our globally diversified portfolios of low-cost ETFs,” the report’s authors state (1).
Investing in ETFs is a solid way to take advantage of the long-term growth potential of the stock market, but the savviest investors do it in a way that ensures they can learn as their wealth grows.
One of the easiest ways to start investing is to open a self-directed trade account with SoFi. SoFi is designed to help you learn investing as you go, with real-time investing news, curated content and the data you need to make smart decisions about the stocks that matter most to you.
The DIY approach to investing means you pay no commission fees. Plus for a limited time, you can get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new account.
The millennial cohort is also not easily spooked by sudden dips in the market. In fact, “buy the dip” has become a popular meme for retail investors of all ages, according to the Wall Street Journal (2).
Wealthfront’s millennial clients have seen the stock market’s turbulence over the past five years as an opportunity rather than a risk.
“When Covid-19 roiled financial markets in March 2020, the average monthly net deposits for millennials remained much steadier than those of older generations,” the Wealthfront report says.
Time in the market beats timing the market
Regardless of your age, if you’re looking for investment success, the easiest way to improve your odds is to simply be more consistent.
Dollar-cost-averaging — investing a fixed dollar amount on a recurring basis — allows you to buy more units of an index fund when the market dips and less when it’s frothy. In other words, this strategy allows you to smooth out the volatility to a certain extent.
Instead of trying to pull back when the market looks overvalued, or waiting for a dramatic crash to invest, research suggests the best approach is to just consistently invest and ride out the volatility.
Read more: I’m almost 50 and have nothing saved for retirement — what now? Don’t panic. These 6 easy steps can help you turn things around
One way to invest consistently — even if you don’t have much extra room in your budget — is to invest with Acorns.
Their platform automates investing and saving to simplify the process of setting aside extra funds. When you register and link your bank account, Acorns automatically rounds up the price of each of your purchases to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference into a smart investment portfolio. This is an easy way to grow your wealth without even thinking about it, no matter which generation you belong to.
The average annualized rate of return for the S&P 500 over the last 82 years is about 10%, or between 6% and 7% if you take inflation into account (3). If you bought the S&P a decade ago and hung onto it, you would have enjoyed a nearly 13% annualized return (9.5% if you consider inflation), and grown your initial investment by almost 2.4 times by reinvesting dividends. Holding on through the ups and down is the key to building wealth (4).
To be fair, it’s easier to do this when you’re younger. If you’re retired and don’t have much time to wait for markets to recover, you may need a more conservative approach.
It’s also more important for older investors to ensure their portfolios are properly diversified, as a dip in the market right before retirement could spell disaster for their golden years. Diversifying outside of the stock market with investments in commodities like gold and high-growth assets like real estate can help investors who are closer to retirement achieve stable growth.
Gold is historically a great inflation hedge, and it’s an asset that has seen some record highs recently.
A self-directed Gold IRA from Thor Metals may be a good long-term option for your savings. This individual retirement account allows you to invest in gold and benefit from the tax advantages of an IRA.
Thor Metals is an industry leader in precious metals and authorized dealer for the U.S. Mint.
By opening a gold IRA with their help, you have the opportunity to diversify your portfolio and stabilize your finances in the face of persistent inflation.
While the high price of investing in real estate may make it seem like a poor choice for someone close to retirement, there are ways to invest and see stable returns without becoming a landlord — or even spending a bundle.
With Arrived, you can get in the game for as little as $100.
Arrived’s easy-to-use platform offers SEC-qualified investments such as rental homes and vacation rentals can up your investing game.
They’re backed by billionaire Jeff Bezos, and as of April 2025, have paid out more than $12 million in dividends to more than 740,000 registered investors.
Arrived’s flexible investment amounts and simplified process allow accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without taking on any responsibilities as a landlord.
Whether you’re close to retirement or still have decades ahead, a diversified portfolio can help you to rest easier when the stock market is volatile.
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Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Wealthfront (1); Wall Street Journal) (2); SoFi (3); S&P 500 Historical Return Calculator (4)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.