America’s surging stockmarket has been driven, most of all, by old investors

America’s surging stockmarket has been driven, most of all, by old investors.

In the past five years: almost half the $24trn rise in stock and mutual-fund wealth has been accumulated by the over-70s.

Investing in equities may make sense for individuals—but it could also exacerbate a crash

In a protracted downturn younger investors might be reassured, knowing they have decades left to recoup losses

Older folk are less fortunate. Those who have gone for an aggressive allocation out of FOMO may be tempted to reverse course, or sell up altogether because they need the cash for, say, care bills. 

If the numbers are large, that shift in behaviour could worsen a market slump. Whether the new silver-haired giants of the stockmarket are diamond-handed HODLers or not will become clear only when things go wrong. 

The Economist 11 November 2025

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/11/11/old-folk-are-seized-by-stockmarket-mania

"Hodlers" is a slang term commonly used in cryptocurrency and stock market communities to describe investors who hold onto their assets for a long period, regardless of short-term price movements.

 The word originated from a misspelling of "hold" in a 2013 Bitcoin forum post and has evolved into a meme representing individuals with "diamond hands"—those who resist selling during volatility and downturns.