Author Topic: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old  (Read 34223 times)

mgarl10024

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Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« on: May 20, 2014, 06:17:09 AM »
I was just using up my lunchtime in work on failblog when I came across this picture: http://cheezburger.com/8188712704 which is comparing Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) with the average 30-year-old-male (I'll assume from the US).

The figure that stood out for me was the "Net Worth" which put the average 30-year-old at $8,525.

Firstly, is that right?
Secondly, is this because a) there are 30 year olds with money, and different 30 year olds with debt, and they cancel out, or b) most 30 year olds just spend all they have and live paycheque to paycheque, so hover just above the $0?

MG

Paul der Krake

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2014, 06:23:04 AM »
Meh. Not even close to 50% of 30 year old males have a college degree.

It's cheezburger.com after all, don't take it too seriously. :)

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2014, 06:25:06 AM »
We have well over $50K in the market but that's more than cancelled out by student loan debt and a house deep underwater. So, despite being "on track" to FIRE by 45 with our new Mustachianism, we're below average at 30.

randymarsh

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2014, 06:32:31 AM »
I was just using up my lunchtime in work on failblog when I came across this picture: http://cheezburger.com/8188712704 which is comparing Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) with the average 30-year-old-male (I'll assume from the US).

The figure that stood out for me was the "Net Worth" which put the average 30-year-old at $8,525.

Firstly, is that right?

It might be an accurate average. But the issue with using an average is that a few people have tens of millions or billions of dollars which is able to raise the number even while including all people with negative net worth.

Median household US income is around 50K. But average is around 69K. That's a pretty big difference in terms of how secure you are, what luxuries you can afford, etc.

MrsPete

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2014, 06:33:39 AM »
I immediately see a mistake:  It says the average 30-year old male has a bachelor's degree.  The last thing I read on this topic said that roughly 25% of all Americans (over 25) have a college degree . . . though 30% claim they do.  You could argue that this includes all the 80-year olds who worked a full lifetime without a degree, whereas today's younger generation is more likely to attend college -- and I'd agree with you, but I still don't think college graduates are numerous enough to say they're "the average 30-year old male".  Looking just at the men in my family, we hover around the 50% mark. 

And a few thoughts:

- The average 30-year old man (whether he finished college or not) is fairly likely to have some student loans hanging around his neck like a millstone, so that's bringing down his net worth.
- If he's a college graduate, he probably didn't really get into his first professional job until 22-ish, so he hasn't had all that many years to bring home a good paycheck. 
- The graph says that this average fellow has been married one year, so he probably "spent big" in the last year:  Wedding, honeymoon, house.  He'd likely have depleted his savings . . . and hasn't had time to recoup that money. 

I do wonder whether this low number means JUST his cash-money, or whether it includes his house (or what he owns of it) and his car. 

avonlea

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2014, 06:50:48 AM »
The figure that stood out for me was the "Net Worth" which put the average 30-year-old at $8,525.

Firstly, is that right?

That sounds about right.  This is a good post from Joshua Kennon about household net worth and household income by age group.  He shares charts that reveal info gathered from consumer finance surveys taken by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.joshuakennon.com/a-look-at-household-net-worth-and-household-income-by-age-group-from-the-2010-survey-of-consumer-finances/
The median net worth for a household under the age of 35 was $9,300 in 2010.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2014, 07:02:54 AM »
The website had some funnies! :-)

arebelspy

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2014, 08:48:44 AM »
The website had some funnies! :-)

Yeah, Joshua Kennon can be amusing as well as insightful.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2014, 09:35:24 AM »

A net worth range of -$10,000 to $10,000 would make sense to me.

I bet it would work out like a normal bell curve.  On one side of the spectrum, you have the badass mustachians who figured shit out in their early 20's (i'm jealous by the way), and have no debt as their careers start to take off.  On the other side, you have dumbass anti-mustachians who turn a blind eye to their debt/spending situation, and don't want to make any changes.  They should roughly cancel out.   Then in the middle, you have a bunch of people who have a decent retirement nest-egg started, but are also plowing away at debt acquired in their 20's.  (student loans, mortgages, etc.)  But, these people in the middle are poised to start making a significant increase to their net worth.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2014, 09:46:38 AM »
Then in the middle, you have a bunch of people who have a decent retirement nest-egg started, but are also plowing away at debt acquired in their 20's.  (student loans, mortgages, etc.)

No doubt a large percentages of 30-year-olds with mortgages are underwater on their loans, but I would suspect that, in aggregate, the mortgages would be at least a wash when the value of the homes are figured in to calculate net worth. On the other hand, car loans, credit card debt, and especially student loans are surely a net negative.

arebelspy

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2014, 09:49:27 AM »

A net worth range of -$10,000 to $10,000 would make sense to me.

I bet it would work out like a normal bell curve.  On one side of the spectrum, you have the badass mustachians who figured shit out in their early 20's (i'm jealous by the way), and have no debt as their careers start to take off.  On the other side, you have dumbass anti-mustachians who turn a blind eye to their debt/spending situation, and don't want to make any changes.  They should roughly cancel out.   Then in the middle, you have a bunch of people who have a decent retirement nest-egg started, but are also plowing away at debt acquired in their 20's.  (student loans, mortgages, etc.)  But, these people in the middle are poised to start making a significant increase to their net worth.

(Emphasis added.)

Agree with most of that, except the final line.

They may be poised to, I suppose, but that doesn't seem like what happens, given the net worth of 40 year olds, 50 year olds, etc.

I'd change that line to "these people in the middle are poised to live paycheck to paycheck, spend any money they make, and remain relatively broke."
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
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ketchup

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #11 on: May 20, 2014, 10:04:14 AM »
Hmm, makes me feel pretty good about being 23 without a degree and worth (not too terribly significantly) more than that.  Number might be BS but I'll let it make me happy.

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #12 on: May 20, 2014, 10:06:09 AM »

Good points.

I might be guilty of spending too much time on this site, and using a narrow scope assuming that the majority of the world population reads this blog and applies its principles, which is not true in the least unfortunately.

I think an inverse bell curve is way more accurate than my original thought.

Emilyngh

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #13 on: May 20, 2014, 12:37:11 PM »
I was just using up my lunchtime in work on failblog when I came across this picture: http://cheezburger.com/8188712704 which is comparing Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) with the average 30-year-old-male (I'll assume from the US).

The figure that stood out for me was the "Net Worth" which put the average 30-year-old at $8,525.

Firstly, is that right?
Secondly, is this because a) there are 30 year olds with money, and different 30 year olds with debt, and they cancel out, or b) most 30 year olds just spend all they have and live paycheque to paycheque, so hover just above the $0?

MG

I would say it sounds about right.   I am 33 and we have a net worth right under $200k, but pretty sure that that number would absolutely floor my other friends if they knew.    Most of them have student loans and are actively working to climb out of the negative.   The few without loans save like $10k for emergencies, and save for specific goals ($25k cars, fancy trips, maybe modest amount towards retirement), but then spend every penny extra once these savings goals are met.   All of them have 2 middle-high incomes, spend a ton on eating out and drinking, own homes and do pricey renovation/decorating projects, take trips, and basically buy anything they desire. 

SO, this net worth sounds about average, even for my higher than average education and higher than average income friends.

MrsPete

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #14 on: May 21, 2014, 05:33:59 AM »
The figure that stood out for me was the "Net Worth" which put the average 30-year-old at $8,525.

Firstly, is that right?

That sounds about right.  This is a good post from Joshua Kennon about household net worth and household income by age group.  He shares charts that reveal info gathered from consumer finance surveys taken by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.joshuakennon.com/a-look-at-household-net-worth-and-household-income-by-age-group-from-the-2010-survey-of-consumer-finances/
The median net worth for a household under the age of 35 was $9,300 in 2010.
Interesting.  I see that my net worth is over 15Xs the average for my age group. 

MayDay

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #15 on: May 21, 2014, 05:49:06 AM »
My H has a PhD and didn't start working until almost 30. Ugh...... We both regret that degree. He probably was about zero net worth since he had neither debt nor income above poverty level in his 20's. Grad students in my old state actually qualify for SNAP even if single and no kids :(

NewStachian

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #16 on: May 21, 2014, 06:24:01 AM »
I'm 30. I got married and bought a house last year. I can completely see this figure being accurate given today's environment. My wife and I were lucky enough to either get full scholarships or have our college paid for by parents. We were also lucky that her parents wanted to pay for our wedding. I realize these things are nowhere near the norm for most people and they can take a massive chunk out of net worth. I did some ballpark math on where we'd be if we both had to take out student loans and pay for our wedding and it isn't pretty.

Another problem is there's so little financial guidance for those coming right out of college. I try to reach out to the younger folk at my workplace (if they're interested in discussing it) and help them get a good financial plan in place to get out of debt as quickly as they can. I know some very intelligent, hard working kids who just graduated school who have to work pretty hard to have a positive net worth by their late 20's (some 100k+ in debt). I turn them on to MMM and most of them have gotten super excited about paying their debt off early. Luckily, we work in a field that pays pretty well, so they can aggressively pay their debts down and still have a little left over to enjoy the sites in our area and go out on weekends.

The positive I would say (or at least I hope it's true) is that at 30, many have started to figure out finances and have worked their way out of a lot of their student debt. Financial "reality" has sunk in and the $8k in net worth is probably on the rise. But, the number tells me we all need to be spreading the good word of MMM even more!

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #17 on: May 21, 2014, 07:13:20 AM »
We were also lucky that her parents wanted to pay for our wedding. I realize these things are nowhere near the norm for most people and they can take a massive chunk out of net worth.

I wonder if it's just a regional/cultural thing, but the bride's parents paying for the wedding is absolutely "the norm" in the South. I don't have any friends who paid for their own wedding.

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #18 on: May 21, 2014, 07:28:38 AM »
We were also lucky that her parents wanted to pay for our wedding. I realize these things are nowhere near the norm for most people and they can take a massive chunk out of net worth.

I wonder if it's just a regional/cultural thing, but the bride's parents paying for the wedding is absolutely "the norm" in the South. I don't have any friends who paid for their own wedding.


Me either, or not the first wedding anyway. Heck, my parents paid for ours, and we were mid-30s at the time. Of course, they were the ones who wanted a wedding (we'd already gotten married by a friend who's an officiant), so that factored in. I certainly wasn't going to pay for one,

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #19 on: May 21, 2014, 07:37:57 AM »
Yes, it's generally understood that a second wedding is not on the parents. One of the downsides of parents paying for a wedding is giving up some of your own preferences in deference to the people who are footing the bill. My wife and I would have done a small destination wedding and maybe spent $2000 if it were on us. Her mom refused the idea of an-out-of-town wedding and insisted that we invite every acquaintance and church member she knew, so our we had an extravagant wedding at a local plantation home with a full dinner and live music for over 200 people. It cost them about $10,000. I love my mother-in-law, and besides the wedding, she interferes very little, but I could have thought of better uses for that money.

jasman18

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #20 on: May 21, 2014, 08:54:14 AM »
I had no idea how bad the picture really looked for 30 year olds based on the statistics.
I guess the saying is true, we surround ourselves with people that are most like us.

NewStachian

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #21 on: May 21, 2014, 09:37:45 AM »
I had no idea how bad the picture really looked for 30 year olds based on the statistics.
I guess the saying is true, we surround ourselves with people that are most like us.

I 100% agree with you on this one. I don't think I know a single person my age who is hurting this badly. In fact, the only close friend I have who even has a student loan got one to "maintain his quality of life" while he went to business school on a full scholarship from his military GI bill (Almost all of my friends were military academy or ROTC, so no student debt whatsoever. I didn't even really know that people borrowed money for college until after I had graduated. Talk about a sheltered life...).

We were also lucky that her parents wanted to pay for our wedding. I realize these things are nowhere near the norm for most people and they can take a massive chunk out of net worth.

I wonder if it's just a regional/cultural thing, but the bride's parents paying for the wedding is absolutely "the norm" in the South. I don't have any friends who paid for their own wedding.


Me either, or not the first wedding anyway. Heck, my parents paid for ours, and we were mid-30s at the time. Of course, they were the ones who wanted a wedding (we'd already gotten married by a friend who's an officiant), so that factored in. I certainly wasn't going to pay for one,

I thought this was standard as well, but recently have bumped into a lot of people who paid for their own first weddings.

Gin1984

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #22 on: May 21, 2014, 09:38:08 AM »
We were also lucky that her parents wanted to pay for our wedding. I realize these things are nowhere near the norm for most people and they can take a massive chunk out of net worth.

I wonder if it's just a regional/cultural thing, but the bride's parents paying for the wedding is absolutely "the norm" in the South. I don't have any friends who paid for their own wedding.
My mom put $500 towards the beer and bought my dress.  My FIL paid for the rehearsal dinner.  We paid the rest.

nawhite

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #23 on: May 21, 2014, 09:48:24 AM »
The figure that stood out for me was the "Net Worth" which put the average 30-year-old at $8,525.

Firstly, is that right?

That sounds about right.  This is a good post from Joshua Kennon about household net worth and household income by age group.  He shares charts that reveal info gathered from consumer finance surveys taken by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.joshuakennon.com/a-look-at-household-net-worth-and-household-income-by-age-group-from-the-2010-survey-of-consumer-finances/
The median net worth for a household under the age of 35 was $9,300 in 2010.

The scariest thing from that post is that the 12.5 percentile of family net worth is at "less than $50." 14 million households have less than $50 in net worth!!!

Debt sucks.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #24 on: May 21, 2014, 09:52:11 AM »
My mom put $500 towards the beer and bought my dress.  My FIL paid for the rehearsal dinner.  We paid the rest.

Where are you from? My parents paid for the rehearsal dinner, wife's parents paid for the wedding. Pretty standard in the South. I'm curious if this is not customary in other parts of the U.S.

anisotropy

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #25 on: May 21, 2014, 10:13:48 AM »
The Joshua Kennon page stat really surprised me. It says we are doing better than many people but I certainly don't feel it. In fact I feel poor and worry about money most of the time.

Gin1984

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #26 on: May 21, 2014, 10:22:12 AM »
My mom put $500 towards the beer and bought my dress.  My FIL paid for the rehearsal dinner.  We paid the rest.

Where are you from? My parents paid for the rehearsal dinner, wife's parents paid for the wedding. Pretty standard in the South. I'm curious if this is not customary in other parts of the U.S.
California. I don't know of ANYONE in my group of friends whose parents paid most or all of the expenses except for some whose parents were immigrants.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #27 on: May 21, 2014, 11:05:58 AM »
My mom put $500 towards the beer and bought my dress.  My FIL paid for the rehearsal dinner.  We paid the rest.

Where are you from? My parents paid for the rehearsal dinner, wife's parents paid for the wedding. Pretty standard in the South. I'm curious if this is not customary in other parts of the U.S.
California. I don't know of ANYONE in my group of friends whose parents paid most or all of the expenses except for some whose parents were immigrants.

Interesting. So maybe we should move to California when my daughter comes of age? More realistically, I guess we will just have to try to raise her with some Mustachian ideals. We do plan to foot the bill for her wedding, but hopefully a modest one. :)

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #28 on: May 21, 2014, 11:30:17 AM »
My mom put $500 towards the beer and bought my dress.  My FIL paid for the rehearsal dinner.  We paid the rest.

Where are you from? My parents paid for the rehearsal dinner, wife's parents paid for the wedding. Pretty standard in the South. I'm curious if this is not customary in other parts of the U.S.
California. I don't know of ANYONE in my group of friends whose parents paid most or all of the expenses except for some whose parents were immigrants.

Interesting. So maybe we should move to California when my daughter comes of age? More realistically, I guess we will just have to try to raise her with some Mustachian ideals. We do plan to foot the bill for her wedding, but hopefully a modest one. :)

It may not be the actual practice in CA, but it's still the "norm," meaning everyone knows that's the tradition.  Californians just hate tradition.

Gin1984

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #29 on: May 21, 2014, 04:52:44 PM »
My mom put $500 towards the beer and bought my dress.  My FIL paid for the rehearsal dinner.  We paid the rest.

Where are you from? My parents paid for the rehearsal dinner, wife's parents paid for the wedding. Pretty standard in the South. I'm curious if this is not customary in other parts of the U.S.
California. I don't know of ANYONE in my group of friends whose parents paid most or all of the expenses except for some whose parents were immigrants.

Interesting. So maybe we should move to California when my daughter comes of age? More realistically, I guess we will just have to try to raise her with some Mustachian ideals. We do plan to foot the bill for her wedding, but hopefully a modest one. :)

It may not be the actual practice in CA, but it's still the "norm," meaning everyone knows that's the tradition.  Californians just hate tradition.
Rofl. 

mooreprop

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #30 on: May 21, 2014, 05:19:59 PM »
Two of my 3 daughters were married last summer.  The parents usually pay where I live (Midwest).  My advice is to set clear guidelines right away.  I told them each that I could afford to spend a huge amount of money, but that it would not be a good use of the money.  Really, a wedding is just a commitment ceremony followed by a big party.  I would not spend huge amounts of money to throw a party any other time, so why would I for a wedding?
 I offered to pay $2000 each plus buy the dress.  Anything above that would be their responsibility.  Given a budget, the girls did their best to get the most possible for their money.    Interestingly, we attended a friend's daughter's wedding a month later that cost over $10,000 and did not notice much of a difference.  All 3 weddings had approximately 150 guests.  We had a meal- they had a meal.  We had a ceremony in a church.  They had a ceremony in a church.  We had flowers- they had flowers.  We had a photographer- they had a photographer.  The difference in cost came from the choice of venue, open bar, and buying flowers and other decorations wholesale ahead of time.  They also asked a former wedding planner's assistant for advice on less expensive alternatives that look just as good.
As a result of this and many other mustachian choices, I and my 2 daughters have net worths that far exceed the average.

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #31 on: May 21, 2014, 05:34:11 PM »
My possibly-future-brother-in-law / roommate: this net worth fits him exactly.
His current rate of expense vs income have been a constant struggle. Savings are small and monthly, then get ravaged in a spendy pants vacation cruise, or a "I just wanna travel" week, or a weekend in Vegas roadtrip....
He crashed his first vehicle, and is still paying off the car loan... and he's also working on the car loan on his second vehicle.
He puts nothing towards a retirement fund, and whines that I live so well because of my income,
 despite the evidence that: [my salary] - [401k] = [his salary].

Let's just say, he blames his income for not keeping up with his expenses. I blame his expenses...

warfreak2

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #32 on: May 21, 2014, 05:38:52 PM »
Let's just say, he blames his income for not keeping up with his expenses. I blame his expenses...
Ha!

Ian

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #33 on: May 21, 2014, 06:47:30 PM »
That sounds about right.  This is a good post from Joshua Kennon about household net worth and household income by age group.  He shares charts that reveal info gathered from consumer finance surveys taken by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.joshuakennon.com/a-look-at-household-net-worth-and-household-income-by-age-group-from-the-2010-survey-of-consumer-finances/
The median net worth for a household under the age of 35 was $9,300 in 2010.
Thanks for that. I've been wanting information on this subject but lacked a good source of data. I'll have to look into that some more.

ysette9

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #34 on: May 25, 2014, 06:37:52 AM »
I long ago realized that we are not the average couple, either in the US or probably in this forum either, but for Silicon Valley, we are totally average. I think I can count on one hand (with fingers left over) the number of friends who had parents pay for their weddings. Part of it is personal responsibility: I think there is this idea that if you are old enough to get married then you are old enough to pay your own way. Part of it also must be that few people here marry before 28+ so by then you had better be established financially.

For whatever reason, the pattern I have seen in my friends goes like this: meet great person in college and start dating, continue dating as you start career/do grad school, move in together at some point along the way, buy house together, get married.

With my parents, they told us in advance they would give us $x as a wedding gift and we were free to do whatever we wanted with it, whether that be spend on wedding, go into savings, or towards a down payment. We went with the maximum stress route and decided to switch jobs, buy a house, get married, and graduate from grad school (me) all at the same time. Thankfully we had plenty of savings between the two of us that all of that was possible! I definitely don't recommend taking on that much at once though. There are better ways to spend a honeymoon than figuring out how to send in bank statements to your mortgage officer from half-way around the world. :)

homeymomma

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #35 on: May 25, 2014, 07:51:42 AM »
We are not much better than this right now. My husband is 30 and our net worth is about 30K. It would be lower except we discovered MMM about a year ago and have been living with family to up our savings rate. Our reasons are many included here, took a while to get though masters degree, had loans, got married, had kids, moved around, went back to school. I think it would be hard for someone who went to school and had loans or went to school past a bachelors to get much further than this by 30.

mrgrump

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #36 on: May 25, 2014, 08:22:37 AM »
Sorry homey momma but that post was just full of excuses. Don't have kids and don't move around if you can't afford it. We have stubbed our toe more than once by financing houses with PMI or overspending on dinner and everything in between but have crushed the miserable and pathetic number of $8k and all the while doing the exact things you mentioned. Don't confuse an excuse with a reason.

zurich78

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #37 on: May 25, 2014, 08:37:44 AM »
My mom put $500 towards the beer and bought my dress.  My FIL paid for the rehearsal dinner.  We paid the rest.

Where are you from? My parents paid for the rehearsal dinner, wife's parents paid for the wedding. Pretty standard in the South. I'm curious if this is not customary in other parts of the U.S.
California. I don't know of ANYONE in my group of friends whose parents paid most or all of the expenses except for some whose parents were immigrants.

Interesting. So maybe we should move to California when my daughter comes of age? More realistically, I guess we will just have to try to raise her with some Mustachian ideals. We do plan to foot the bill for her wedding, but hopefully a modest one. :)

It may not be the actual practice in CA, but it's still the "norm," meaning everyone knows that's the tradition.  Californians just hate tradition.

Well, it's either that or non-Californians hate progression =) 

horsepoor

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #38 on: May 25, 2014, 09:28:49 AM »
The figure that stood out for me was the "Net Worth" which put the average 30-year-old at $8,525.

Firstly, is that right?

That sounds about right.  This is a good post from Joshua Kennon about household net worth and household income by age group.  He shares charts that reveal info gathered from consumer finance surveys taken by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.joshuakennon.com/a-look-at-household-net-worth-and-household-income-by-age-group-from-the-2010-survey-of-consumer-finances/
The median net worth for a household under the age of 35 was $9,300 in 2010.

The scariest thing from that post is that the 12.5 percentile of family net worth is at "less than $50." 14 million households have less than $50 in net worth!!!

Debt sucks.

I wonder how the picture would look with 2014 data.  Those statistics were from a 2010 report, so much of that data was probably from about the nadir of the market and housing crash.  Our NW would have probably looked pretty bad at that point, and we're in that demographic.  We put 20% down on a house which then promptly lost almost 50% of its value.  Thankfully, we've recovered to about 80% of what we paid on it, and were also able to scoop up a foreclosure which has since appreciated about $80K, and of course our retirement accounts are looking much better due to the market recovery.  I suspect that many other people's NW graph would also be following a similar trajectory over this time period.

Not saying we shouldn't have had more money and less debt, but the overall number was strongly influenced by the market in the 2008-10 period.

homeymomma

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #39 on: May 25, 2014, 11:55:54 AM »
Sorry homey momma but that post was just full of excuses. Don't have kids and don't move around if you can't afford it. We have stubbed our toe more than once by financing houses with PMI or overspending on dinner and everything in between but have crushed the miserable and pathetic number of $8k and all the while doing the exact things you mentioned. Don't confuse an excuse with a reason.

Yep, they are excuses! Excuses that I think account for the reason many 30 years olds net worth's would come out to about 8K. Not saying we or anyone else has made optimal life decisions, but the question was about the general population, not early-retirement obsessed MMM readers. Plenty of people get mortgages while they still have student debt, many have kids, many move for school or job opportunities. I'm just saying that typical life circumstances, not necessarily crazy bad decisions or insane credit card spending probably account for most people having such a low average by age 30.

Also, why do you assume we cannot afford it? We may just fall into the category of people who plan to retire closer to a traditional age than at age 40. If we decide to have 6 kids instead of retiring early, does that mean we cannot afford it? Or simply that your values differ from ours?

mrgrump

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #40 on: May 25, 2014, 12:34:40 PM »
I was using "you" in a general sense to cover "the many 30 year olds" that find themselves in these predicaments. I also agree with you that that the "typical" life you mention leads to the poor net worth we are discussing, but just because it's typical doesn't mean it's not an excuse. I believe the entire point of the MMM blog and forum is trying to break away from the "typical" life you so eloquently describe.

As far as when you, homey momma, retire I hope it's exactly on the day you want it to be, regardless if your 63 or 43. Also, if you have 6 or 16 kids and you can raise them to be upright and productive members of society I am all for it as the world would be a better place.

I do apologize if you feel my post was an attack on you as it was not meant to be. But some food for thought, who says I don't have/or want 6 kids of my own or that I am aiming to retire when I am 40? Or both? 

I think we can both agree we're here to learn more and become better money managers, otherwise, we would be "typical consumers" out shopping right now.


avonlea

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #41 on: May 25, 2014, 01:19:10 PM »
The figure that stood out for me was the "Net Worth" which put the average 30-year-old at $8,525.

Firstly, is that right?

That sounds about right.  This is a good post from Joshua Kennon about household net worth and household income by age group.  He shares charts that reveal info gathered from consumer finance surveys taken by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.joshuakennon.com/a-look-at-household-net-worth-and-household-income-by-age-group-from-the-2010-survey-of-consumer-finances/
The median net worth for a household under the age of 35 was $9,300 in 2010.

The scariest thing from that post is that the 12.5 percentile of family net worth is at "less than $50." 14 million households have less than $50 in net worth!!!

Debt sucks.

I wonder how the picture would look with 2014 data.  Those statistics were from a 2010 report, so much of that data was probably from about the nadir of the market and housing crash.  Our NW would have probably looked pretty bad at that point, and we're in that demographic.  We put 20% down on a house which then promptly lost almost 50% of its value.  Thankfully, we've recovered to about 80% of what we paid on it, and were also able to scoop up a foreclosure which has since appreciated about $80K, and of course our retirement accounts are looking much better due to the market recovery.  I suspect that many other people's NW graph would also be following a similar trajectory over this time period.

Not saying we shouldn't have had more money and less debt, but the overall number was strongly influenced by the market in the 2008-10 period.

I also suspect that the latest survey (2013) will reveal a rise in net worth.  Since the 2010 results were released in 2012, I am guessing that 2013's will come out sometime next year.

I probably should have also posted the median NW for this age group from the other years listed on the chart (They were adjusted for inflation using 2010 dollars). 
2001:  $14,300
2004:  $16,300
2007:  $12,400

Big Boots Buddha

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #42 on: May 26, 2014, 07:11:01 AM »
I'll be 33 in a couple weeks and my net worth is about 100k. I wish it were more. It could be a lot worse. Averages

Mortgage Free Mike

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #43 on: May 26, 2014, 07:31:03 AM »
I believe it. Sadly some people I know stay in student loan debt until they're 40. Life can't be easier for those without college degrees, either.

homeymomma

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #44 on: May 26, 2014, 07:38:04 AM »
I believe it. Sadly some people I know stay in student loan debt until they're 40. Life can't be easier for those without college degrees, either.

Or those without high school diplomas, those who have been incarcerated, etc, etc. I think people on this forum forget how low the numbers can really get for those living in poverty. Averages include all of these, as well as trust fund babies with a million dollars to their name the second they are born.

ambimammular

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #45 on: May 26, 2014, 01:17:42 PM »
Yeah, those student loans sure do hang around.  We'll be paying off the house sooner than the st.loans.

Gracie

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #46 on: May 28, 2014, 08:25:24 AM »
My mom put $500 towards the beer and bought my dress.  My FIL paid for the rehearsal dinner.  We paid the rest.

Where are you from? My parents paid for the rehearsal dinner, wife's parents paid for the wedding. Pretty standard in the South. I'm curious if this is not customary in other parts of the U.S.
California. I don't know of ANYONE in my group of friends whose parents paid most or all of the expenses except for some whose parents were immigrants.

Interesting. So maybe we should move to California when my daughter comes of age? More realistically, I guess we will just have to try to raise her with some Mustachian ideals. We do plan to foot the bill for her wedding, but hopefully a modest one. :)

A friend of mine saved for her daughters' college and wedding costs (no wedding yet). They raised their kids to be frugal. The girls learned at sometime in high school that there are "$x" for college and anything left over was theirs to keep. As women they made wise choice and got a big fat check after graduation. One used it as the downpayment on a house. The other has used it to travel and teach in Asia. They get the same deal for their weddings. 

Perhaps you could do the same.

catccc

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Re: Average Net Worth of a 30 year old
« Reply #47 on: May 28, 2014, 09:56:33 AM »
My net worth at age 30 ranged from 232K to 253K.  I only worked 4 months out of that year, though.

The Joshua Kennon link shows the median under 35 NW to be 9K, but the mean is really different- 65K.  I suppose most of us know the wealth distribution is quite uneven, though, so that makes sense.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!