Want to feel wealthy...or maybe not?

To be considered among the wealthiest 1 % in the world you need to have net assets of $440,000.

To be in top 10% in the world you need net assets of about $69,000.

BUT..TO BE IN TOP 1% in the US you need  about $11,000,000.

TOP 10% in US need to have assets of about $1,200,000.

Average US wealth about $69,000.

To add to the equation...8 individuals (Gates, Bezos, Zuckerburg, Buffet (Warren not Jimmy), et al) have 50% of world wealth.

Source:  Credit Suisse

11 mil. Whoa 

definitely middle class here. 

Yup. Firmly lower middle class here.

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

Lower Middle by US Standards. 

You're still probably better off than 70% of the world.  

Is that individuals or families?  I may drop out of the 1% for a bit when I sign the separation agreement

Poor. 

I've come to terms with it.

how many from the 99% just voluntarily paid to rocket the recent lottery winner well into the 1%?

*sheepishly raises hand

What's the biggest bonus you ever made, and what work did you do to earn that bonus? Try to remember it.

Now consider this:

Andy Rubin got a $90M payout after being accused of sexually harassing a coworker. He made $150M the year before that.

Megyn Kelly may get a $69M payout after being fired for making offensive comments about blackface.

Poor. But I grew up poorer so I think I'm moving up in the world.

On the bright side, if this data is accurate and you're the "average American" with 69k net worth, you're wealthier than about 6.95 BILLION other humans.

Net Worth %'s as medians in Dollar Cutoffs in the USA as of 2016 

0.0%-$962.66  

20.0%$4,798.06  

30.0%$18,753.84  

40.0%$49,132.21  

50.0%$97,225.55  

60.0%$169,550.64  

70.0%$279,594.27  

80.0%$499,263.50    

90.0%$1,182,390.36    

95.0%$2,377,985.22  

99.0%$10,374,030.10      

This is not age adjusted FYI. For instance the 33-38 group the top 1% have ~1.7 million in net worth and an average and 201K a year income across a household. Significantly lower then that as a median in that group lot of very wealth people bring that number up down low. So by that definition I am 1% which is weird.   

The big jumps are in the 44-49 age group range were the average 1% net worth jumps into the low 5 million range due to investments or stock cash outs or real estate.  

Jimmy Buffet has quite an empire, he may be close to that 1%.  Also, for reference: 

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

I wonder if these percentages are zero-based? As in people who truly have nothing, or do they factor in debt too? My hunch is if you factor in debt the US possibly has some of the “poorest” people in the world too, because they’re so deep in debt. 

I am so below average.

In reply to Pete Gossett :

As I understand it was true net assets. I believe it said something like the average US household debt was around $60,000 counting mortgage

Wealth is, in my opinion, best measured in steps/levels. The areas of the world where "wealthy" means "not hungry" are (despite  popular beliefs) very few and steadily shrinking. The % of the worlds population that have money for entertainment is also growing - a step/level from "survival". Asia is seeing a rise in people who has reached the level "wealthy enough to fly somewhere for vacation".

I think the steps/levels are much more important then the grade of wealth. "Can afford a race car - yes/no" is more important then which race car you can afford. "Taking the family on vacation" is more important then where you take them or how fancy the hotel is.

And of course, is it super dangerous to try to compare yourself to others. You don't know who got a huge inheritance a few years back, who drives a nice car but lays awake at night, worrying about the bills, who lives in a house that the bank owns 120% of, or who is content driving an old beater with millions in the bank.

If I win the lotto, I'll be driving a Ferrari while wearing my torn shorts, sneakers and a Roadkill hoodie. The hoodie will most likely be quite dirty...

All relative. Living in the US/Canada/Uk/Germany/Australia is relatively speaking much better than living in Mexico. I have friends that have retired in Mexico. Their net worth is less than mine. 

Looking in the US, I live "paycheck to paycheck" with my wife... But we do that while putting away about 20% of our income to savings. More like over 40-70% if you count our housing payment as savings (depending on how you count pre-tax vs post-tax, along with what amount of equity you get, etc.). It is realistically only paycheck to paycheck because of how much I constrict the budget. And I have about $8k in relatively liquid "investments" such as (extra) cars and guitars that I could theoretically get rid of quickly.

I remember thinking when I got out of college that if I made $50k a year, I'd be rich. When I got out of college, in 2012, I paid $600 a month for rent, I was on my parents insurance, I saved over 50% of my income to my 401k... $50k a year would have legitimately made me wealthy. But then I got married, moved to a much more expensive COLA, I had need for a car with a back seat, etc. Life is funny, isn't it. 

I have felt rich and lucky ever since the day I was born a white male in North America. There is nothing from the "Needs" department that I lack, and little in the "Wants" column that I could not have if I really cared.

  It has not required a fortune to be this fortunate.

Pete

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

Recently read where upper class income here in America starts at $110,706 a year for a couple.  

Ovid_and_Flem said:

To be considered among the wealthiest 1 % in the world you need to have net assets of $440,000.

To be in top 10% in the world you need net assets of about $69,000.

BUT..TO BE IN TOP 1% in the US you need  about $11,000,000.

TOP 10% in US need to have assets of about $1,200,000.

Average US wealth about $69,000.

To add to the equation...8 individuals (Gates, Bezos, Zuckerburg, Buffet (Warren not Jimmy), et al) have 50% of world wealth.

Source:  Credit Suisse

 

Assume the population of America is somewhere north of 320 million, That means 1% is north of 3 million 200 hundred thousand people are worth more than 11 million dollars?    

Seems like a lot of really rich people. 

I've done $6/hr poor living in a E36 M3 hole, I've done upper middle class. I haven't noticed that the happiness quotient is much different between them. Being broke and poor and having nothing is really kind of freeing. I didn't worry about stuff because I didn't have any. Frequently I'm temped to go back to that lifestyle and after the last kid gets out of school I just might. 

Happiness is a choice, you just have to make it.

In reply to frenchyd :

Gotta understand statistics.  CLEARLY Bill gates is in top 1% with 70 Billion.  Thats a lot of $10 million stacks  ( like 70,000?).  FWIW SOMETHING LIKE NEARLY 2,000,000 people have atleast 10,000,000 in assets.

I ain't high class but I ain't white trash.......

I have no money, but- I have no debt. No car note, no credit cards, no mortgage. Interesting to think about. 

I have no debts and enough assets to live comfortably, that's all that matters.