It is a rite of passage: Grow old enough and you earn the privilege to stereotype the younger generation. Oh, the kids these days. When it comes to the current crop of people in their 20s and early 30s — the 77 million young Americans referred to as the millennials because they came of age after the turn of the century — the typecasting has proved no different. We have all heard the generalities: hooked on social media, distracted, spoiled. As is often the case in these situations, hardly any of it is true.

In a survey conducted on behalf of Merrill Lynch’s Private Banking and Investment Group, a new picture of millennials emerges that is almost perfectly at odds with their stereotypical depiction. The 153 participants
in this Young High Net Worth Insights Survey, which focuses on some of the most affluent members of this generation, includes those who have inherited most of their wealth, as well as those who acquired it through entrepreneurial ventu