Financial advisors serving mass-affluent and middle-income clients are confronting a deepening divide in household financial health, according to first-quarter data from Equifax. The credit bureau's Market Pulse Index, which combines anonymized credit, debt, income, and asset data with VantageScore insights into a single score out of 100, slipped to 60.9 in the first quarter of 2026, down from 61.6 in the prior quarter. This marks the second consecutive quarterly decline across every generation tracked.
The index categorizes the credit-visible population into three tiers: Thrivers (scores above 80), the Pivoting Middle (scores 50–79), and Strivers (scores 49 or below). While the middle tier held steady in size quarter over quarter, the Thriver population shrank by 5% and the Striver population grew by 2%. Equifax notes this pattern reflects consumers sorting toward the two ends of the financial spectrum rather than remaining in the middle.
Examining movement over the six quarters from Q3 2024 through Q1 2026, Equifax found that 97% of individuals who fell from the middle tier into Strivers held less than $100,000 in assets. In contrast, more than two-thirds of those who rose from the middle into Thriver status came from households with over $1 million in assets. This underscores how liquid wealth, rather than income alone, is now the key differentiator between those advancing and those falling behind.
“As the US continues to navigate a K-shaped economy, where different segments of the population experience divergent financial realities simultaneously, we see that reaching the top financial tier creates powerful momentum, much like compounding interest, with those with the greatest amount of wealth continuing to accumulate more,” said Emmaline Aliff, advisory leader at Equifax. “But for those who haven't reached the top financial tier, recent inflation and debt concentration are applying severe downward pressure. This pressure is contracting the size of the middle class.”
Every generation posted a lower index reading this quarter. Millennials fell hardest, down 1.2% quarter over quarter to an average of 58.1, and logged the steepest rate of significant point drops of any age group. They also make up the largest share of Strivers, at 7.59% of the total population, driven mainly by thin asset holdings. Generation X slid 0.8% to 60.3, squeezed between peak career-stage debt and rising costs for essentials. Generation Z edged down just 0.1% to 58.9, though the cohort showed the widest swings, with 11.73% moving upward—a trend Equifax links to proximity to family or community wealth safety nets. Boomers and older consumers remained the most resilient tier, dipping only 0.2% to 64.3, with as much as 69% holding steady within their index range. Boomers account for 3.80% of the total population within the Thriver segment, the largest share of any generation in the affluent tier.
Beneath the headline figures, Equifax pointed to a widening reliance on credit to bridge the gap between spending and savings. Personal savings fell to $745.6 billion this quarter, less than half the $1.606 trillion recorded in mid-2021, even as overall consumer spending climbed to nearly $16.8 trillion and bankcard balances hit a fresh high. Inflation ticked up to 3.3% during the quarter. Consumer sentiment, meanwhile, moved in the opposite direction to the underlying data, rising slightly to a reading of 55.4 even as household financial strain deepened—a gap Equifax says illustrates why sentiment surveys alone can obscure the real state of consumer finances.
For advisors, these trends highlight the importance of focusing on liquid asset accumulation and debt management for middle-income clients. As the UBS report notes, liquid assets now represent 47% of U.S. household net worth, the highest among eight wealthy nations, further emphasizing the role of accessible wealth in financial resilience. Meanwhile, the BofA survey shows wealthy clients are shifting to private markets and family firms as the $124 trillion wealth transfer accelerates, potentially widening the gap further.
