How much wealth should someone have at 30, 40 or 50?
Online, you often find rules built around the US market: a certain multiple of salary by 30, three times income by 40, six times by 50, and so on. Applying these benchmarks automatically to Italy, however, risks being misleading.
The labour market, wage dynamics, pension system and, above all, the composition of Italian household wealth differ greatly from those in the United States.
To understand the actual Italian situation, it is therefore more useful to start with the Bank of Italy's Survey on Household Income and Wealth, which analyses income, saving, debt and wealth. The latest available survey concerns 2022 and is based on more than 9,500 households.
Before discussing wealth: Italy's wage problem
The starting point is the distinctive evolution of Italian pay over recent decades.
According to data cited by INAPP based on OECD statistics, between 1990 and 2020, the average real annual wage in Italy fell by 2.9%. Over the same period, it rose by 33.7% in Germany and 31.1% in France.
Italy is therefore an unusual case within the OECD: over thirty years, the purchasing power of average annual pay did not grow, but declined slightly. This matters when comparing wealth accumulated by different generations or importing rules such as “by 30, you should already have a year's salary invested”.
Wealth and financial assets: the Bank of Italy's figures
The Bank of Italy's tables show median household wealth by the age of the reference person.
The median is not the mean: it means 50% of households are above that value and the remaining 50% below. It is particularly useful in studying wealth because it prevents a few extremely large fortunes from excessively distorting the result.
| Age of reference person | Property | Financial assets | Net wealth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 34 | 75,000 € | 5,000 € | 48,005 € |
| 35–44 | 120,000 € | 8,500 € | 114,000 € |
| 45–54 | 147,500 € | 9,995 € | 150,000 € |
| 55–64 | 160,000 € | 11,858 € | 190,616 € |
| Over 64 | 140,000 € | 10,000 € | 163,115 € |
How to read the table. These values are separately calculated medians. They must not be added or subtracted as if they represented the balance sheet of the very same “typical household”. The groups refer to the age of the household's reference person, not the individual wealth of every Italian of that age.
The most interesting finding is the substantial difference between total net wealth and financial assets. Italians' wealth is heavily concentrated in property.
Up to 34: net wealth of 48,005 euros
For households whose reference person is up to 34, median net wealth is 48,005 euros. Median financial assets, however, are only 5,000 euros.
Total wealth close to 50,000 euros is therefore not equivalent to having 50,000 euros immediately available. A substantial part may consist of the home or other real assets. Moreover, the 5,000 euros of financial assets is not necessarily all cash in a current account: the classification includes deposits and various types of financial instruments.
For a simple sense of scale, ISTAT reports that in 2024 median monthly spending by an Italian household was 2,240 euros. Comparing this figure with financial assets of 5,000 euros, purely illustratively, gives the equivalent of slightly more than two months of household spending. However, the figures concern different years and the comparison is not an official statistical indicator.
Between 35 and 44: wealth grows, but so does housing's weight
Between 35 and 44, median net wealth rises to 114,000 euros, while the median value of property reaches 120,000 euros. Median financial assets instead amount to 8,500 euros.
This is an age group in which home purchases and mortgages carry considerable weight. The fact that median property value exceeds net wealth is not a contradiction: net wealth also accounts for financial liabilities, such as outstanding mortgage debt. Moreover, the two medians are calculated separately.
Again using the median monthly expenditure of 2,240 euros reported by ISTAT in 2024 as a simple comparison, 8,500 euros corresponds to around 3.8 months of spending.
Difficulty accumulating savings also emerges from another finding: in 2022, more than half of Italian households recorded no saving. Among those in the poorest fifth of the income distribution, the share rises to 70%.
Between 45 and 54: wealth of 150,000 euros, but financial assets below 10,000
In the 45 to 54 age group, median net wealth reaches 150,000 euros. However, median financial assets total 9,995 euros, while median property value is 147,500 euros.
Here too, a structural feature of Italian wealth emerges: total wealth can be substantial, but a large share remains concentrated in real assets, particularly the home. Again using ISTAT's median spending purely as a comparative benchmark, 9,995 euros equals around four and a half months of household consumption.
Direct participation in financial markets also remains relatively limited. This does not mean other households have no financial assets: bank deposits and other forms of saving belong to the category too.
Wealth reaches its highest level after 55
Median net wealth peaks in the 55–64 age group, at around 190,616 euros. Median financial assets nevertheless remain relatively modest, at 11,858 euros.
Among those over 64, median net worth falls to 163,115 euros, while financial assets stand at around 10,000 euros. The progression of wealth with age is therefore clear, but is not accompanied by equally strong growth in its financial component.
How much should you therefore have set aside?
A fundamental distinction is needed here. Bank of Italy figures are not financial targets. Saying that the median household under 34 owns 48,005 euros does not mean a person aged 30 “must” have 48,005 euros.
The figure describes what happens in the population; it does not establish what would be economically optimal for an individual. Personal financial planning more sensibly starts from:
- monthly spending levels;
- income stability;
- mortgages or other debts;
- the number of financial dependants;
- available liquid wealth;
- the investment time horizon;
- future and retirement goals.
An emergency fund is one example. Using monthly spending of 2,240 euros, six months of expenses would equal 13,440 euros, while twelve months would total 26,880 euros.
These are not thresholds set by the Bank of Italy, and no rule suits everyone: they are examples showing how required reserves depend more on income vulnerability and spending than on chronological age.
The most important factor is not just wealth: it is time
Age alone is insufficient in investing too. What matters above all is the time horizon available before capital must be used. A young investor can generally afford a longer horizon, while approaching retirement makes it increasingly important to assess the risk of having to sell investments during a market downturn.
Age 49 is sometimes presented as a kind of threshold, derived by assuming retirement around 67 and a remaining horizon of approximately 18 years. This should not become a universal rule: there is no “age 49 rule” established by the Bank of Italy or another authority.
The correct idea is that time is a fundamental investment resource: the longer the horizon, the greater the usual ability to absorb short-term volatility. This neither eliminates risk nor guarantees positive future returns.
The figure that really deserves attention
The picture of Italian wealth reveals something more complex than a simple ranking by age. Italian households often have substantial wealth, but a very large portion is tied up in real assets, particularly housing. Financial assets grow much more slowly with age, and a large share of households faces real difficulty accumulating new savings.
Simply asking “am I above or below average for my age?” may therefore be of little use.
The more meaningful question is different: how much of your wealth is actually available, how sustainable is your spending level, and how long could you maintain your standard of living if income were lost or reduced?
A serious assessment of your financial situation should start from these variables, rather than a standard figure associated with age.