Young adults are getting used to living on a financial cliff

Young adults’ wealth is growing, but they’re still living and spending in the here and now. Many feel they don’t have a choice.

The net worth of Americans ages 18-39 surged by 80% from the start of 2019 to the third quarter of last year, Federal Reserve Bank of New York research shows, blowing past the rates for older generations.

But much of the gains are from investments that climbed alongside stock markets and largely don’t translate into disposable income. And while many millennials (ages 28-43, according to Pew Research) — and plenty of their Gen Z near-peers (12-27) — are pulling in bigger paychecks, they’re still pumping that cash into pricier everyday expenses, from essentials like rent to luxuries like leisure travel.

We want to enjoy our lives, but we’re always waiting for the shoe to drop.

Hala Easmael, 32, Philadelphia

“We’re the generations that got stuck between a rock and a hard place,” said Hala Easmael, a 32-year-old pharmacy technician in Philadelphia. After her cohort came of age between two recessions, a pandemic and crushing student loan debt, “we want to enjoy our lives, but we’re always waiting for the shoe to drop,” she said.

Easmael earned her masters in biochemistry and biomedical sciences in 2020 and took a job making around $100,000 annually as an epidemiologist for the state of New Jersey. But after two years in the role and with inflation then hovering near 40-year highs, she left her job to pursue a pharmacy doctorate, hoping to lift her earning prospects.

While she’s saving on rent by living with her parents, her full academic scholarship doesn’t make up for a $70,000 pay cut working part time as a nanny and hospital pharmacy tech while also interning at Walgreens.

“There’s absolutely no