Despite being at the mercy of record high interest rates, real estate prices, and student debt, there are a significant number of Gen Zers who remain unfazed by the current economic climate. In fact, the lucky few who have already made a lot of money before the age of 30 believe they will become even richer.
Real estate broker Knight Frank has announced its 18th annual Wealth Report, which picks the brains of people with a net worth of $1 million or more or an annual income of $200,000 or more.
An astonishing 75% of Gen Z wealthy individuals expect their wealth to increase by 2024. Of those, 43% said they expected “significant growth.”
Additionally, Gen Z is not only confident in their 2024 financial strategy, they stand out as the most confident of all generations.
Even though they only entered the workforce a few years ago, Gen Zers have spent decades building wealth, building real estate portfolios, climbing the corporate ladder, and dabbling in investments. They are more confident than Gen Xers and baby boomers.
“When we break down the data by age, a clear pattern emerges: Younger wealthy people are more confident in their economic outlook than older people,” the report said.
Three-quarters of wealthy Gen Zers expect their wealth to grow this year, while just over half of baby boomers feel the same way.
Even less affluent Gen Zers are optimistic
The data doesn't delve into why Gen Z feels particularly affluent. But another recent survey found that an entire generation is now surprisingly optimistic about the economy.
More than a third of 18- to 24-year-olds believe the economy will recover over the next five years, but fewer than a quarter of older Millennials and Gen Xers feel the same way. .
At the same time, younger respondents were the most likely to have experienced a pay increase in the past year, and Gen Zers were twice as likely as those 65 and older to have recently received a pay increase. They are also most likely to expect their salary to increase over the next 12 months.
So concerns about how rising inflation and rising costs would affect them were offset by employers throwing cash at them and potentially giving them a false sense of security. there is a possibility.
Additionally, this is the first economic crisis Gen Z will experience as a working adult, and they are prepared to use the economic downturn to their advantage.
Today's young people are ready to jump on real estate opportunities, having seen the wealthy get even richer thanks to smart investments during past recessions.
“Real estate remains key for all high net worth individuals,” Knight Frank's report found, adding that young ultra-high net worth individuals were “the most active” in investing in property.
But they're probably relying on mom and dad's bank.
The Gen Z surveyed by Knight Frank with a net worth of $200,000 or more is at most 27 years old, so it is unlikely that all of them are tycoons who have climbed the corporate ladder and amassed wealth in less than 10 years.
Like Millennials, wealthy Gen Zers are likely optimistic about their financial prospects because they are funded by their wealthy parents.
“Over the next 20 years, there will be a huge transfer of wealth and assets as the silent generation and the baby boomer generation take over,” the report said.
This shift will shift $90 trillion in wealth between generations in the United States alone, making wealthy millennials “the richest generation in history,” according to Knight Frank estimates.
Other numbers show that Gen Z is also trying to get their hands on cash.
According to asset management firm Cerulli Associates, about $53 trillion will be passed down from boomers to their younger successors. Meanwhile, another report found that one in five young people expects to gain about $750,000 from the death of a parent or family member.
