One in 6 US retirees is a millionaire

American retirees are healthier and wealthier than ever. But wiser? A new report throws a little doubt on that.

Money manager United Income examined the changing the lives of American retirees by analyzing data from sources such as the Federal Reserve Board, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, the Internal Revenue Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One of every six retirees in the U.S. is a millionaire (if you include the value of their homes), according to the new report. Their average wealth has more than doubled since 1989, to $752,000, and the share of those who are millionaires has doubled.

More retirees — 62 percent — are enjoying life without physical or cognitive limitations, according to the data. That number is up from 49 percent in 1963, the first year that such data was taken.

Income inequality among retirees has not changed much since 1989. However, the picture changes dramatically when a household’s financial assets are considered. A rising stock market led to a 42 percent increase in wealth inequality among older Americans.

“People have held incomes and spending constant over time,” said Matt Fellowes, United Income’s founder and chief executive officer. “The wealthiest retirees are wealthier but are not spending more, relative to previous generations.” Fellowes believes that many Americans are being unnecessarily frugal in their spending and are leading “overly contained” lives as a result.

The gap between the wealthy and the ultrawealthy also has widened. The wealth of the median millionaire rose by 12 percent from 1989 to 2016, while the median millionaire’s equity position was swelling from 27 percent of financial accounts to 55 percent.

The wealth of the top 1 percent of millionaires, meanwhile, more than doubled, from $14.9 million to $31.3 million, in 2016 dollars, as their equity positions jumped from 30 percent to 69 percent, according to the report.

“It’s clear that the dividends from being an investor are paying off for retirees fortunate enough to have savings and investments,” Fellowes said.

“What’s discouraging is that those who are not saving or investing are just getting left progressively farther and farther behind as each successive generation enters retirement.”