美国消费者在住房成本、债务和日常开支的持续压力下仍保持支出。经济学家们一直在争论我们是否仍处于“K型经济”中——即高收入家庭的支出掩盖了低收入和中等收入美国人的财务压力。
American consumers have continued spending despite persistent pressure from housing costs debt and everyday expenses Economists have debated whether we're still in a "K-shaped economy" — where higher-income households' spending masks financial strain among lower- and middle-income Americans.
耶德尼研究院院长兼首席投资策略师、经济学家埃德·耶德尼表示，消费支出的韧性或许用代际差异而非收入差异来解释更为恰当。他称之为“G型经济”，因为这反映了代际鸿沟。
Consumer spending resilience may be better explained by generations than by income differences, said economist Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist of Yardeni Research. He calls it a "G-shaped economy" because it illustrates a generational divide.
“如果你看K型经济，那是我们对他们；是富人对穷人，”耶德尼说。他说，当前经济“与年龄的关系大得多”。耶德尼表示，婴儿潮一代寿命更长、健康状况更好、活跃时间更久——并且在自己、成年子女和孙辈身上花费更多。他还说，年长的美国人拥有投资、退休储蓄和房产净值，这些能提供更强的消费能力。
"If you look at the K economy, it's us versus them; it's the rich versus the poor," Yardeni said. The current economy, he said, "has a lot more to do with age." Yardeni said baby boomers are living longer, staying healthier and staying active longer — and spending more on themselves, their adult children and grandchildren. Plus, older Americans have investments, retirement savings and home equity that can provide greater spending power, he said.
“存在一场负担能力危机。这是针对年轻人的。老年人、长者积累了巨额净资产，”他说。
"There is an affordability crisis. It's for younger people. Older folks, seniors, have accumulated an enormous amount of net worth," he said.
婴儿潮一代的财务信心 普信金融集团的一项新调查（独家提供给CNBC）发现，53%的婴儿潮一代表示他们觉得有能力管理债务，而X世代和千禧一代为42%，Z世代为39%。
Boomer financial confidence A new survey by Principal Financial Group, provided exclusively to CNBC, found that 53% of baby boomers said they felt able to manage their debt, compared with 42% of Generation X and millennials, and 39% of Generation Z.
该调查结果来自一项美国消费者调查，调查期为4月17日至5月16日，共1000名受访者。调查误差为正负3.1个百分点。更多来自《Your Money》的内容：定居海外并不意味着美国纳税义务终结 — 年轻海外侨民需知事项继承房产可能让兄弟姐妹陷入财务困境 — 如何避免错误K 型经济是否结束？金融专业人士发表看法SEC 提出投资者考试以扩大私募市场准入 — 运作方式解析专家称无法 “借债摆脱债务”，但尝试者却在增多婴儿潮一代对当前财务状况的满意度最高，达 41%，相比之下，X 代为 29%，千禧一代为 36%，Z 代为 34%。
The findings come from a U.S. consumer survey fielded from April 17 to May 16 that included 1,000 respondents. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. More from Your Money: Living abroad doesn't end U.S. tax obligations. What young expats need to know Inheriting a home can leave siblings with financial headaches — how to avoid mistakes Is the K-shaped economy ending? Finance pros weigh in SEC proposes investor exam to expand private-market access — how it could work You can't 'borrow your way out of debt,' expert says, but more people are trying Boomers also reported the highest satisfaction with their current financial situation, at 41%, compared with 29% of Gen X, 36% of millennials and 34% of Gen Z.
且 52% 的婴儿潮一代表示拥有足够的财务知识以做出自信决策，而 X 代为 40%，千禧一代为 42%，Z 代为 36%。
And 52% of boomers said they had enough financial knowledge to make confident decisions, compared with 40% of Gen X, 42% of millennials and 36% of Gen Z.
“生命周期阶段能为当今美国人、消费者的感受及经济体验提供极重要的背景与洞见，”Principal Financial Group 职场储蓄与退休解决方案高级副总裁 Teresa Hassara 表示。代际财富鸿沟美联储新数据凸显美国人财富在各代际间的波动情况。
"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 of workplace savings and retirement solutions at Principal Financial Group. Generational wealth gap New Federal Reserve data underscores how Americans' wealth has fluctuated across generations.
根据美联储周五发布的《2022 年至 2025 年美国家庭财务变化》报告（基于消费者财务调查），户主年龄在 75 岁或以上的家庭，在 2022 年至 2025 年期间，经通胀调整后的中位净资产增长了 37%。
Families headed by someone age 75 or older experienced a 37% increase in inflation-adjusted median net worth between 2022 and 2025, according to the Fed's "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025" report from the Survey of Consumer Finances, released Friday.
同期，户主年龄在 35 岁以下的家庭，中位净资产下降了 23%。
Meanwhile, families headed by someone under age 35 saw their median net worth decline 23% over the same period.
美联储发现，其他年龄组的变化幅度要小得多。35 至 44 岁家庭的中位净资产上升 5%，55 至 64 岁家庭上升 3%，而 45 至 54 岁家庭下降 6%，65 至 74 岁家庭下降 4%。
Other age groups experienced considerably smaller changes, the Fed found. Median net worth rose 5% among families ages 35 to 44 and 3% among those ages 55 to 64, while declining 6% among families ages 45 to 54 and 4% among those ages 65 to 74.
报告指出，“退休收入增长似乎发挥了关键作用”，推动了最年长家庭净资产的改善。该调查结果是对比各调查年份的群体中位数，而非追踪同一批家庭随时间的变化。
According to the report, "retirement income growth seems to play a key role" in improving the net worth of the oldest households. The findings compare group medians across survey years, rather than tracking the same families over time.
美联储还发现，2022年至2025年间，由75岁及以上人士担任家庭主力的家庭，其收入中位数增长了24%，而35岁以下家庭的增长率仅为2%。
The Fed also found that median income rose 24% for families headed by someone age 75 or older between 2022 and 2025, compared with just 2% for families under 35.
投资支撑消费。研究还显示，美国老年人，尤其是那些拥有大量投资组合和退休储蓄的人群，正越来越多地动用积累的财富来支持消费。
Investments support spending Research also shows older Americans, particularly those with substantial investment portfolios and retirement savings, are increasingly drawing on accumulated wealth to support spending.
根据摩根大通研究所9月发布的一份报告，在截至2026年4月的三个月里，有8.2%的个人将资金从投资账户转入支票账户，而2019年同期这一比例为4%。该经济智库隶属于摩根大通，此次研究分析了超过2000万个经过去标识化的摩根大通支票账户。
During the three months ending in April 2026, 8.2% of individuals moved money from investment holdings to their checking accounts, according to a September report from the JPMorganChase Institute. That's up from 4% during the same period in 2019. The economic think tank, which is part of JPMorgan Chase examined more than 20 million de-identified Chase checking accounts.
报告还发现，从投资账户提取的资金在消费支出中所占的比例也在上升。2026年4月，从投资账户向支票账户的净转账金额占消费支出的6.8%，高于2019年4月的3.5%。
Investment withdrawals also represented a growing share of consumer spending, the report found. In April 2026, net transfers from investments to checking accounts equaled 6.8% of spending, up from 3.5% in April 2019.
摩根大通研究所主席兼该报告合著者克里斯·惠特表示：“总体而言，人们与零售投资账户的互动——资金的流入和流出——正日益成为每个家庭日常生活中的常态。对于老年人来说，这一比例在上升；而对于年轻人，则在下降。”他还说：“如果你整个职业生涯都在积累财富，那么你能提取的资金也会更多。”
"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 co-author of the report. "It goes up for people that are older. It goes down for people that are younger." "If you've had a whole career, a long time to build up that money, then you have more that you can take out," he said.
该研究所的研究发现，65岁以上的美国人以及高收入群体更倾向于从投资账户中取钱用于消费。
The Institute's research found that Americans over 65 and those with higher incomes were more likely to support spending from investment accounts.
报告指出，在收入最高的10%群体中，65岁及以上的人群中，2025年有37.3%的人从投资账户进行了净提取，高于2019年的24.5%。这些投资资金流占该群体消费支出的14.9%，高于2019年的8%。
Among individuals age 65 and older in the top 10% of income earners, 37.3% made net withdrawals from investment accounts in 2025, up from 24.5% in 2019, according to the report. Those investment flows equaled 14.9% of the group's spending, up from 8% in 2019.
报告指出，这一趋势可能反映了多种因素，包括正常的退休取款、从传统养老金向确定缴款型退休计划长期转变，以及股市上涨可能带来的财富效应。
The trend may reflect several factors, including normal retirement withdrawals, the long-term shift from traditional pensions to defined-contribution retirement plans, and a potential wealth effect from stock market gains, according to the report.
专家表示，代际差异并不意味着每个婴儿潮一代人都经济稳定，也不意味着每个年轻美国人都面临困境。但他们指出，这一差异在理解美国消费者经济时，可能会成为一个越来越重要的因素。
Experts say the generational divide does not mean every baby boomer is financially secure or every younger American is struggling. However, it may become an increasingly important factor in understanding the U.S. consumer economy, they said.