U.S. billionaires added $1.5 trillion to their wealth last year, according to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is using that figure to push for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy.
“While U.S. billionaires became $1.5 trillion richer last year, the average worker in America has just $955 in retirement savings & 21% of seniors are trying to survive on less than $15,000 a year,” Sanders wrote in a post on X yesterday.
“That’s why I’ll be in LA this week fighting for a wealth tax on billionaires.”
The $1.5 trillion figure comes from a new report by Americans for Tax Fairness, which analyzed Forbes data.
The group found that billionaire wealth jumped 22% in 2025, rising from $6.7 trillion to $8.2 trillion.
The number of billionaires also increased, from 814 to 935.
“It turns out the members of Billionaires Row at Donald Trump’s inauguration were right to celebrate his swearing in, since it meant a trillion and a half dollar increase in their class’s collective fortune,” said David Kass, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness.
The report argues that this surge happened while many families struggled with the cost of healthcare, housing, and groceries.
It also points to a tax gap that allows much of the billionaire wealth growth to go untaxed.
Under current law, gains in assets such as stocks are not taxed unless they are sold. If those assets are passed on to heirs, the gains can disappear for tax purposes.
To address that, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) have introduced what they call a Billionaires Income Tax.
The proposal would require the ultra-rich to pay taxes each year on the growth of their wealth.
Gains from publicly traded assets, such as stocks and bonds, would be taxed annually.
Assets that are harder to value would be taxed when they are sold, with interest added to account for the years the taxes were deferred.
Lawmakers behind the bill say it could raise more than $500 billion over a decade.
The report also highlights how concentrated wealth has become. Elon Musk is now worth more than $700 billion, according to the analysis.
The 14 richest billionaires at the beginning of 2026 hold more combined wealth than all U.S. billionaires did as recently as 2020.
On the other end of the spectrum, a separate report shows how little many Americans have saved for retirement.
Retirement Savings Lag Far Behind
According to CBS News, citing the National Institute on Retirement Security, the median retirement savings for working Americans ages 21 to 64 is just $955.
That figure includes workers who have no access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, which significantly lowers the overall number.
For workers who do have retirement savings, the median balance is $40,000.
Still, that is far below what many believe they will need. Americans estimate they need about $1.5 million to retire comfortably.
“While there have been some noticeable improvements in the retirement savings system in recent years, many workers are still left out of that system, and major challenges lie ahead,” the report noted.
Access remains a major issue. About 56 million workers lack an employer-sponsored retirement plan.
“The bottom line is that if Americans are not saving for retirement through their employer, then they are probably not saving at all,” the report said.
Older workers are also behind recommended savings targets.
Workers ages 55 to 64 have accumulated only 19% of their targeted retirement savings in 401(k)s or similar plans, the institute found.
Financial guidelines often suggest having eight times annual income saved by age 60.
Social Security Faces Pressure
At the same time, Social Security faces a projected funding shortfall. If Congress does not act, benefits could be cut by roughly 20% starting in 2034.
Given how heavily seniors rely on the program, such a reduction would carry serious consequences.
Without a fix, the resulting 20% reduction in benefits “would have a significant impact on the lives of seniors and other beneficiaries,” the report said.
Financial strain is already visible. The share of seniors living in poverty rose to 15% in 2024, the highest rate among all age groups.
More retirees are also returning to work. A recent AARP survey found that 7% of retirees went back to work in the last six months, with nearly half citing financial pressure.
“With the cost of living still high and many people worried that they don’t have enough saved for retirement, the trend of older adults working longer will likely continue,” said Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming at AARP.
A Growing Wealth Divide
Taken together, the reports paint a stark contrast.
Billionaire wealth is growing at a record pace, while millions of workers approach retirement with little or no savings and uncertainty about the future of Social Security.
For Sanders and other lawmakers who support a wealth tax, that imbalance is the central issue.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Bernie Sanders” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.