Detailed household-level income and balance-sheet data in the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances reveal that the hardest-hit groups during the Great Recession included young and middle-aged families, those with less than college education, and members of historically disadvantaged minority groups, namely, African-Americans and Hispanics (of any race).  Median inflation-adjusted family income declined between 2007 and 2010 by more than 10 percent among younger families (family head under 40) and middle-aged families (family head between 40 and 61), while it increased by more than 10 percent among families headed by someone 62 or older.  The age differential was even more pronounced in terms of family wealth.  The median net worth among younger and middle-aged families declined about 40 percent between 2007 and 2010, while the median wealth among older families declined less than 10 percent. We trace the evolution of family wealth among different birth-year cohorts over a 21-year time span (1989-2010), finding that cohorts born before the Baby Boomers (before 1946) generally have experienced more favorable wealth trajectories over their life courses than have cohorts born since 1946.  Asset and liability compositions of family balance sheets are explored to reveal sources of widely divergent financial outcomes.