Consumers have kept opening their wallets even with housing, debt and everyday costs still elevated. Ed Yardeni - an economist who serves as president and chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research - argues that the resilience makes more sense when you look at age, not just income. He calls it a "G-shaped economy," contrasting it with the familiar K-shaped idea. "If you look at the K economy, it's us versus them; it's the rich versus the poor," he said. The way he sees it now, "has a lot more to do with age."
Why age? Yardeni points to older Americans living longer, staying healthier and more active, and spending on themselves as well as their adult kids and grandkids. He also notes that many older households hold portfolios, nest-egg retirement accounts, and significant home equity, all of which boost their ability to spend.
"There is an affordability crisis. It's for younger people. Older folks, seniors, have accumulated an enormous amount of net worth," he said.
A U.S. consumer survey from Principal Financial Group, shared exclusively with CNBC, questioned 1,000 people between April 17 and May 16, with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points in either direction. It found boomers feel on steadier footing than younger cohorts:
"Life stage can provide really important context and insight around how Americans, consumers, are feeling today and experiencing the economy," said Teresa Hassara, senior vice president overseeing Principal Financial Group's workplace savings and retirement solutions.
Fresh Federal Reserve numbers back up that divergence. In its Survey of Consumer Finances report, "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025," released Friday, the Fed said median net worth for households headed by someone 75 or older rose 37% after adjusting for inflation between 2022 and 2025. For households led by someone under 35, median net worth fell 23%. Shifts for other age brackets were smaller: up 5% for ages 35 to 44, down 6% for ages 45 to 54, up 3% for ages 55 to 64, and down 4% for ages 65 to 74.
What powered the gains at the top of the age range? The Fed wrote that "retirement income growth seems to play a key role." The analysis evaluates medians for each demographic group across different survey waves instead of tracking the very same families. It also highlighted income changes: median income climbed 24% for households led by someone 75 or older, versus a 2% increase for those under 35.
Which age groups are spending is one of the most useful economic splits. Market Briefs covers that data free every morning.
Another piece of the puzzle: more people are moving money from brokerage accounts into checking to cover expenses. The JPMorganChase Institute looked at over 20 million de-identified Chase checking accounts and found that in the three months ending April 2026, 8.2% of individuals transferred funds from investments into checking, up from 4% in the same period in 2019.
Those flows are making up a larger share of outlays too. In April 2026, the amount moved from investments into checking accounts equaled 6.8% of spending, compared with 3.5% in April 2019. "Generally, people's engagement with retail investment accounts, the money going in, the money going out, we're seeing that's becoming more a part of everybody's day-to-day experience of their household," said Chris Wheat, president of the JPMorganChase Institute and a co-author of the report. "It goes up for people that are older. It goes down for people that are younger." His takeaway is simple: "If you've had a whole career, a long time to build up that money, then you have more that you can take out."
The Institute found Americans over 65 and higher earners are most likely to fund spending this way. Within the highest-earning decile, for those ages 65 and older, 37.3% drew more out of investment accounts than they put in during 2025, compared with 24.5% in 2019. For that group, the withdrawals equaled 14.9% of spending in 2025, up from 8% in 2019. The report points to normal retirement withdrawals, the long-running shift to defined-contribution plans, and a possible wealth effect from market gains as drivers.
This isn't a blanket rule that every boomer is flush and every young adult is struggling. But the age divide is increasingly important for understanding where spending power is coming from. Older households, on average, have built wealth and are leaning on retirement income and investments to keep spending. Younger households, on average, have seen weaker gains in income and wealth, and they report less confidence with debt and finances.
For your day-to-day money choices, that points to a consumer landscape driven by life stage as much as paychecks. If you sell to consumers or budget for big purchases, it helps to remember who is most able to spend right now, and why.
Older households hold more of the wealth and behave differently. Get the free Market Briefs daily newsletter and read it properly.
