Americans Say They Need $2.2 Million to Be Considered Wealthy

I think that is actually a fairly accurate number, but it surprises me that people would know it given the fact that median net worth is only $122K, which places them so far off the mark. Or maybe most have accepted the fact that they will never reach that mark. Talking about net worth is a much better approach than talking about annual income given the fact that people can make and spend $200K every year leaving nothing to accumulate net worth. Its also interesting that Millenials and Gen-Z feel like they are better off than anyone despite of student debt, expensive housing markets etc. Baby Boomers are least happy, which makes sense since they know they don't have as much time to make their riches as younger folks. If they want to hit the mark, they would have to be very close to it already.

And one more morsel of truth: "Even wealthy people never feel wealthy enough when it comes to money"

Americans Say They Need $2.2 Million to Be Considered Wealthy
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-were-asked-what-it-takes-to-be-rich-heres-what-they-said/
Americans have a specific number in mind about how much it takes to be perceived as wealthy, and it's a sizable chunk of change: an average of $2.2 million in assets.

That may seem like a pie-in-the-sky number, especially given that the median net worth of the typical family stood at about $122,000 in 2019, according to the most recent data from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances.

Yet the $2.2 million figure reflects a dip from a recent peak in 2020, when Americans said they'd need $2.6 million to be considered rich, according Charles Schwab. For seven consecutive years, the financial services firm has surveyed people about their views on wealth. This year's survey polled 1,000 Americans between 21 and 75 years old about their views on money.

Millennials, Gen Z feel the richest
Younger generations were more likely to say they feel rich, with almost 6 in 10 millennials and 5 in 10 Gen Zers saying they felt wealthy. Baby boomers were the least likely to say they felt rich, with 4 in 10 agreeing with that statement, the study found.

 

And yet many Americans find it acceptable to live in squalor on the sidewalks of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Go figure.

 

Or sidewalks of South Florida where I live. Not everyone shares the same ambitions, and some have simply given up. In a nation of 340M it is to be expected. The opportunity is there if they want it.

However, that wasn't the topic.

Do you agree with the $2.2M opinion? Not that its not same as what people think is enough to retire because no one needs to be 'wealthy' to retire. Lot of people are on low budget retirements.

 

It should be approximately ~ $3.0M.
That amount would allow to have income about $120,000 per year even from average level of capital gains.
$120,000 should be enough to live modest life in expensive areas.


But 2.2 million is ok to feel wealthy.

 

I like the evaluation of wealth that Ted Turner once had.

He said that you needed 300 million dollars to be truly wealthy.

Why?

To be "wealthy" you needed to be able to afford a mansion, a summer home and a winter home. Plus a limo, a helicopter, and a jet. Those things would cost you about 100 million all together. You need another 200 million in order to generate the interest to afford that.

 

That is how I look at it as well. If you can make in $120K (4%) per year from interests, or capital gains alone, then you are wealthy compared to vast majority of Americans. Actually you can get over 5% from CDs these days, which would bring in $150K. With that you could easily retire at any age.

On the other hand 'net worth' would include your home, which would not produce income.

 

My income fluctuates pretty drastically year to year (a good case to keep hefty savings in place) Based on our needs, debt level and our not so extravagant desires....we feel filthy wealthy when we are at the 110k mark. Feel pretty poor but can make it at the 30K mark. Can breeze along comfortably at the $65k mark.

 

Annual income is one thing, but this is about new assets. Without assets one will rely on annual income from paycheck, or welfare check.

Net Assets = Total Assets (real estate, stocks, etc) - Total liabilities (mortgage, car loan etc)

 

Biden's America sucks.

 

Doesn't matter that a CD pays 5% when inflation is 7, 8, 9%. At 7%, you're only losing 2% per year.

$2.2 million now was only $600K in 1980.

Any age? I don't think so. Not the way it's going now.

 

One need but to learn something about the lives of average citizens in many other countries to realize how truly wealthy we Americans are. If 'wealthy' is considered to be the top two quintiles world-wide, we in the US are doing surprisingly well.

That's not to say that we in the US should be complacent. There's much we could do to improve the lot of those in the lowest US wealth quintile.

Regards, stay safe and well.

 

Thanks for trolling. Bu-bue.

 

Yea, it matters, and inflation is 4%, not 9%.

Any age, because you spend less than you accumulate.

But since you disagree, please share your number.

 

Around 08 I determined that 2.4 would be enough that I could consider myself financially independent. Rich is something else entirely to me. At 10 I could splurge on toys like a boat and a 800+ hp car. Above that I could have enough money to take care of folks that I like / love. Yet again at or beyond that level I could hire staff, but as I age I suppose that would become mandatory if I could afford it.

Realistically, meh, there is a story by Somerset Maugham about a pensioner who determined he would spend his savings and then call it quits after it ran out. And then he ended up hiding about in the small town he moved to in Italy when the money ran out. That might suit me just fine….

 

Haha, you fell for it too? Yeah, maybe the inflation rate is 4% but that means it's just 4% higher on top of the 15-20% we already have baked in the system last year.

The number is $4 million, which is $1 million in 1980.

My number is actually higher.

4%

 

The poster said 120,000 was good NOW and going forward. The inflation rate is now 4% and the CDs are now 5%

 

If CDs paid 20% last year you might break even this year with a 5% CD. But even at the end of 2 years, you wouldn't have gained 1 penny in net worth. You've been duped by the government....the ministry of truth lies 24/7.

 

Unlike you, I live in the US and know how much costs have gone up. Also unlike you, I don't have some absurd bias against the US and its government.

I can say that inflation has not been anywhere near 20%, but it certainly has surged thanks to the Fed keeping rates at zero for way too long. Something snapped and we've been making up for lost time over the past year and more.

 

Wassup D, can't give my pecans a break, can you? Always hanging on them it seems. You live in some D shithole, if you call that 'merica. I call it America's armpits. Real Americans live in red counties....and the realest live in Texas. Don't hate me 'cause you ain't me D.

And anyone paying attention knows inflation was at least 20% last year.

 

Real Americans don't support foreign dictators who interfere in our elections and try to depose democracies in neighboring countries, Bill. Real Americans don't back Russian naZis or whine about people who dye their hair blue or cry about "Jew propaganda." You probably subscribe to the antisemitic replacement theory as well, don't you?

And no, inflation was not 20% last year. Maybe it was in your neck of the woods, but that's to be expected when your currency is the rubble.

 

To me, a wealthy person is one who wants to spend some money and doesn't have to worry about the financial consequences of the spending. None of us can have everything we want, even wealthy people, but most of us have to plan, save or consider the consequences of what we spend.

 

I have everything I want, but the more I have accumulated, the less happy I have become. It's not that the money has made me unhappy, and if I were broke and had a child with cancer, I'd be very, very unhappy.

Forrest Gump's mother was right: "Momma says there's only so much fortune a man really needs, and the rest is just for showing off."

I do have this primal urge to accumulate even more wealth because I think it might help somehow in the event of a serious natural or political catastrophe. But that would be true only if I built a bunker, which I haven't. Yet.

 

But we are not talking about last year, we were talking now and going forward. I have not been duped by anyone. Not saying that our economy is not tied together with string either.

 

If the government did not try to buy votes with al the covid handouts to people that were not even affected by the outbreak, the pressure would not have been so great.

 

And the main culprit insisted on putting his name right on the checks.