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Watch out! 26-year-olds are taking over the US economy, expert says

26-year-olds to drive economy?
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26-year-olds to drive economy?

Millennials, or "echo boomers," have the world in their hands. At least the future of our world's finances, one expert says.

As it stands, there are 4.8 million Americans who are 26 years old, according to research from Smead Capital Management Chief Executive William Smead. That tops the nearly 3.9 million individuals in the U.S. who are 43, and is more than the 4.5 million Americans who are 56 years old, he said.

"It's time to focus on the 'millennial trade,'" Smead said during an interview Friday on CNBC's "Closing Bell."

Investments in home stocks such as NVR and Lennar are ones that Smead would suggest, as well as entertainment companies Disney and Comcast.

Think of the two recently married parents with a kid at home when you're making investments today, Smead explained of his stock picks.

"There is a wave of individuals, who over the next few years will find jobs, buy homes, get married and have kids," Deutsche Bank's, chief international economist, Torsten Slok, told "Closing Bell." It's not as much about the "urban dweller" living in a high-rise apartment right out of college.

One should also turn their attention away from the other end of the spectrum — the baby boomers — and "keep the 'wave' [in the middle] in mind," Slok emphasized.

As echo boomers are getting more jobs, Slok said, more people will be paying taxes and pouring money into the government.

"And don't listen to investors who say we will have 'demographic headwinds' forever, because echo boomers' kids will come around," Slok added, explaining how the cycle will continue and calming any fears about "baby boomers dying before a younger generation can replace them."

Economywide consumption is shifting — slowly but surely — from baby boomers to echo boomers, Slok reiterated, so be warned.

Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.

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