Annual expenditures by age group, 2013

In 2013, total household expenditures grouped by age of the reference person showed the youngest and oldest groups spending the least each year and the 45-54 year old group spending the most. Out-of-pocket healthcare spending increased with age from $943 for the under-25 age group to $5,188 for the 65–74 age group. The 75-and-older group spent $4,910 for healthcare, about the same as the age 65-74 group. Spending on pensions and Social Security steadily increased from the under-25 age group ($2,153) to the 45–54 group ($7,305) and gradually declined to $6,593 for the 55–64 age group. This spending increase was followed by sharp declines for the 65–74 group ($2,833) and 75-and-older group ($832).

Spending on housing did not strictly follow the hump-shaped pattern previously described. Spending increased from $10,379 for the under-25 age group and peaked earlier in the life cycle at $20,619 for the 35–44 age group, and then became rather flat until it reached $12,314 for the 75-and-older group. Food spending went from $4,698 for the under-25 group to about $7,900 for both the 35–44 and 45–54 years groups and then declined to $4,144 for the 75 years and older groups.  

These data are from the Consumer Expenditure Survey. For more information, see the December 2015 Beyond the Numbers article, “Consumer expenditures vary by age” by Ann C. Foster.