Average NZ Net Worth by Age: How Do You Compare?

Net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe, and the median New Zealander has $136,000 of it. The median is $4,000 at 15 to 24 and $590,000 at 75 and over, the highest of any age group. For households, the median is $529,000 and the average is $1,041,000, almost twice as much.

As a refresher, the median is the middle value, with half of people above it and half below. In contrast to a median, an average can mislead, because a small number of very wealthy households raise it markedly. The figures come from Stats NZ's latest household net worth survey, for the year ended June 2024. It was released in September 2025, and the next is due in 2028.

The age figures show roughly where you stand. A more useful comparison than net worth by age is progress toward your own financial and life goals, once they have been properly determined.

Average and median New Zealand net worth by age

Individual net worth by age band:

• 15 to 24: median $4,000, average $18,000
• 25 to 34: median $47,000, average $136,000
• 35 to 44: median $132,000, average $321,000
• 45 to 54: median $314,000, average $647,000
• 55 to 64: median $488,000, average $866,000
• 65 to 74: median $538,000, average $954,000
• 75 and over: median $590,000, average $864,000

Unsurprisingly, net worth increases with age. An older age means someone has had longer to earn, to invest, including paying down a mortgage, and to benefit from compound earnings on their investments. Wealth stays modest through the twenties and climbs fastest through the forties and fifties, the years when mortgages shrink and KiwiSaver balances compound. In every age band the average is far above the median, and among people aged 25 to 34 it is almost three times as high.

Are you comparing the right number?

To determine how you're tracking, you need to calculate your net worth. What you own includes your home and any other property at today's value, KiwiSaver balances, shares, managed funds, savings, business interests, vehicles and valuables. What you owe might include the mortgage, student loans, credit cards, car finance and any other debt. A $900,000 home with a $400,000 mortgage therefore adds $500,000 to net worth.

The age figures are for individuals, while the headline median describes households. For a reasonable comparison, we believe a couple should each count what they individually own outright, such as a KiwiSaver balance, plus their share (usually 50 percent) of everything owned together. For most couples the result is close to half the household total. Household figures also vary with who lives in the home: the median couple living on their own has $932,000, and the median person living alone has $334,000.

When comparing, use the median rather than the average. A worked example shows why: put nine people worth $1 million each in a room with one billionaire, and the average wealth in the room is about $101 million, while the median stays at $1 million. Sticking with the median removes the distortion.

In New Zealand, the wealthiest fifth of households hold about two-thirds of all household net worth. The wealthiest 10 percent begins at about $1.2 million for an individual and $2.4 million for a household, and about three in ten households of all ages have more than $1 million.

Property in the survey is counted at rateable value, and assets held in a family trust are included within the dataset, shared equally among the household members who set up or control the trust.

Why home ownership changes the net worth comparison

Home ownership makes a striking difference to household net worth. The household medians by living situation:

• Own the home, no mortgage: $1,287,000
• Own the home, with a mortgage: $727,000
• Do not own the home: $57,000

A mortgage-free household has more than 20 times the net worth of a household without a home of its own. Cause and effect run in both directions: owning requires regular saving through principal repayments, owners are likely to be older, and people with higher incomes are likelier to buy in the first place. The grouping records only whether a household owns the home it lives in, so a landlord who rents their own home is counted among the non-owners.

A renter with a substantial investment portfolio may be better placed for some goals than an owner whose wealth is all in the house. Renters generally need more in financial assets, because they will still be paying for housing in retirement. A lower net worth than owners of the same age is normal along the way, provided the long-term target allows for rent later in life or a future home purchase.

"We occasionally see people comparing themselves with others in very different situations, or without any context. Take a couple close to retirement with a simple, cheerful life, a debt-free $1 million home and $500,000 invested. They may already have all they need, and be far better placed than a younger couple with a $2 million home, an expensive lifestyle and little saved. Take care with comparisons. They can distract you from what matters."

Vinessa Orsbourn, private wealth and risk manager, Become Wealth

What your net worth is made of

Size is only part of the answer. Among the middle fifth of households, the median holding of property and other physical assets is $602,000, while the median holding of financial assets, including KiwiSaver balances, is $85,000.

Property also helps explain why the median is still rising after 75. Based on our client-facing work, we believe the high figure partly reflects how much of New Zealanders' wealth is held in property. A high net worth in later life can coexist with a much smaller pool of money available for other goals.

A house provides somewhere to live and pays no income, so it can fund spending only if it is sold or borrowed against. For example, take two households worth $1.5 million each. The first holds it all in the family home. The second owns a $900,000 home and $600,000 of investments, and could fund a year off work or a business purchase without moving house.

Net worth ranks the two households equally, while the choices open to them differ widely. The split between liquid and illiquid wealth determines how much of a net worth figure can ever pay for lifestyle, groceries, or healthcare.

Is there a net worth you should have by your age?

Medians describe other people. For a benchmark against your own potential, the best-known international formula comes from The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. Multiply your age by your household's pre-tax annual income, then divide by ten. A 35 year old on $150,000 would have an expected net worth of $525,000. The formula treats inherited wealth separately.

The authors called anyone with half the expected amount or less an under-accumulator of wealth, and anyone with double it a prodigious accumulator. The formula measures your wealth against your income and your years of earning, both of which you can influence. Because it uses household income, compare the result with your household net worth.

Treat the formula as a rough sense check. Working out what you want to achieve, and what it will take, is the better test.

Run your own race

A benchmark compares you with people whose incomes, families, debts and ambitions you know nothing about. Your own goals are more specific. They might include buying a bach, dropping to 80 percent of full-time hours, or starting or buying a business. Others aim to be mortgage-free by 50 to allow a career change, to have one parent leave work to raise the family, or to take a gap year.

Goals draw on different parts of your finances. A bach or a business needs capital, so net worth matters directly. Working fewer hours, or one parent leaving work, depends more on whether the household's spending fits a lower income. Whether any goal is achievable also depends on the investment risk you accept, and on how well insurance and an emergency fund protect you from a setback. Net worth is one input among several once a goal is properly modelled.

"Run your own financial race. Compare your net worth with your own fully modelled and costed goals, not with the neighbours. You have no idea whether the neighbours are borrowing like mad to fund a lifestyle they cannot sustain, or are just one unexpected major expense from financial ruin." Joseph Darby, chief executive, Become Wealth

What to track from here

You might find it useful to work out your net worth number on the same date each year. Alongside the total, watch how much of it is accessible or invested, how much is held in a single property or business, and how far you have come toward what your goals require.

Knowing your net worth is straightforward, and deciding whether it is enough for what you want is harder. If you would like help, a complimentary initial consultation with a Become Wealth financial adviser starts from your goals and whether you are on track to achieve them.

A median tells you where the middle of your age group stood in 2024. The direction of your own number will tell you more.