[probablynish]

Net wealth is basically the value of all the assets you own, minus all the debt you have. The data ( https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/scf23.pdf ) just doesn't support what you said. Even within the bottom 25% of households ('bottom' with reference to their net wealth), the median net wealth increased from $400 to $3500, and this is adjusted for inflation (all in terms of 2022 dollars). Source is p18 of that PDF I linked above

[RyanAdamas]

Cite a source that doesn't have a conflict of interest. Inflated home prices and surging used vehicle markets makes for positive data, but not reality.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pandemic-savings-in-u-s-running...

[probablynish]

I agree that a lot of the net wealth increase came from asset prices going up, but your original comment said "don't actually own the assets they utilize" which is not the case as evidenced by the data I linked.

You can also see that debt has fallen, p31 of the report I linked. So that's another mechanism through which median net wealth has increased, which is not asset price inflation.

As far as sources, I trust a technical Fed report more than an opinion analyst piece written by 'economists' in a private bank. I may be biased as a formal central bank economist :) That report is half speculation about the future ("looks set to end soon, with excess household savings likely to be depleted by year-end"), whereas what I linked is actual data from the past.

[RyanAdamas]

>I trust a technical Fed report >As a formal central bank economist

So you trust in what you already have faith in? That's not a source that inspires confidence in our discourse.

>That report is half speculation about the future ("looks set to end soon, >with excess household savings likely to be depleted by year-end")

As other pointed out in this thread this data suggests differently. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PSAVERT All trends are speculations about the future. From your own report: "By this metric, in the 2022 survey, 82 percent of families in the top decile of the usual income distribution saved, compared with 66 percent of families in the upper-middle segment and 43 percent of families in the bottom half. Between 2019 and 2022, the overall fraction of families that saved edged down from 59 percent to 56 percent, with decreased saving observed among all three segments."

So savings spiked then disappeared at the same time all these positive numbers on assets began to surface. How interesting.

Yet, "Among families in the bottom quartile, median net worth was $400 in 2019 and $3,500 in 2022, and *mean net worth was negative $15,700 in 2019 and negative $5,300 in 2022.* Among families in the top decile, median net worth was $3,012,500 in 2019 and $3,794,600 in 2022, and mean net worth was $6,641,800 in 2019 and $7,810,500 in 2022."

In addition to, "Younger people – those below the age of 35 – are far more likely to rent than are other age groups: About two-thirds (65.9%) of this age group lives in rentals. This compares with, for example, 42% of those ages 35 to 44, and less than a third (31.5%) of 45- to 54-year-olds." (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/08/02/as-nation...)

So the growth in assets from homeownership doesn't make sense for a large majority of the population; but, for those who rent the increase in personal savings makes a ton of sense given the CDCs moratorium. The increase in upper class wealth makes sense as many bought additional homes; which fits with the ever increasing prices in homes. The decrease in savings and the rising cost of borrowing would indicate trouble ahead. The confidence gained from well manufactured data is fleeting.

[probablynish]

> So you trust in what you already have faith in? That's not a source that inspires confidence in our discourse.

I trust central bankers to not straight up make up or lie about facts, because I worked in one and formed an impression of what the institutional culture is like, yes. I did volunteer that information to you though.

The rest of what you're saying sounds like older people have seen increases in net worth because of asset price inflation, and younger people have seen increases in net worth because of covid-related measures ("CDCs moratorium"). That sounds right to me too!