The number of UK millennial and Generation Z millionaires reached a record high, doubling to 2,000 in 2018/19 from 1,000 the previous year, according to research by Bowmore Wealth Group.
It also shows a 28% increase in millennial and Gen Z taxpayers declaring income over £150,000 ($200,720, €179,420) to 50,000 individuals, compared to 39,000 in 2017/18.
The firm said that the jump in high-earning millennials is largely “due to a sharp increase in pay for workers in the tech/fintech sector, as well as a boom in millennial entrepreneurship and high paid areas of financial services such as private equity”.
Bowmore added there is an increasing number of high earners at a younger age in other areas, such as footballers and social media influencers.
Drop in high-earning baby boomers
The growth in high-earning millennials comes in contrast to the decrease in high-earning Baby Boomers. The figures show the number of baby boomer taxpayers declaring income of over £150,000 and over £1m has hit a five-year low.
In total, 6,000 baby boomers declared income over £1m in 2018/19, down from 7,000 the previous year and the lowest in five years.
Meanwhile, 120,000 baby boomers declared income over £150,000, down from 131,000 in 2017/18 and was again a five-year low.
Bowmore says this could be due to an “acceleration in the number of baby boomers retiring”.
Save the money
Mark Incledon, chief executive of Bowmore Wealth Group, said: “Millennials are earning more than ever before. They should be putting away as much as they possibly can now to avoid the stress of having to catch up on their retirement savings later down the line.
“During lockdown we’ve seen that more millennials are considering their financial future and putting money to work by investing.
“Instead of putting all their assets into risky assets like cryptocurrencies or meme stocks, it’s fundamentally important they follow simple, straight forward steps when investing. This includes having a diversified portfolio across geographies, sectors and asset classes.
“They also mustn’t forget to take advantage of the various tax reliefs whilst they are still available. There is still the threat of tax changes to recoup covid-related spending, which leaves the future of some tax reliefs hanging in the balance.”
The 2018/19 financial year was the latest data available from the Survey of Personal Incomes.
