A new survey has revealed that the minimum net worth Americans believe qualifies as “wealthy” is over $2 million.
The statistic published in Charles Schwab’s Modern Wealth Survey said the “wealthy” threshold in 2022 was $2.2 million, returning to pre-pandemic levels. In 2021, the figure was $1.9 million, down from $2.6 million in 2020.
Alongside the growth in the “wealthy” threshold, the survey found the perceived net worth it takes to be “financially comfortable” increased from $624,000 in 2021 to $774,000 in 2022, though this figure still falls short of the numbers from 2018 ($1.4 million), 2019 ($1.1 million) and 2020 ($934,000). (RELATED: Goldman Sachs Downgrades Chance Of Recession To 25%)
US CPI: Remember the panic about egg and dairy prices? Egg prices declined 13.8% in May & are down by 8.7% on average over the past three months. Dairy costs dropped 1.1% in May. pic.twitter.com/xIbQJky0ON
— Joseph Brusuelas (@joebrusuelas) June 13, 2023
Of the people Charles Schwab surveyed, 42 percent said money primarily meant “freedom” to them. Other popular responses included “flexibility’ (23 percent) and “opportunity” (18 percent).
These findings align with those of a March Wall Street Journal poll, which revealed that Americans care more about money as more traditional values decrease in importance. Between 1998 and 2023, the share of Americans who said religion was “very important” to them dropped from 62 percent to 39 percent. Patriotism fell from 70 to 38 percent, and raising children from 59 to 30. The share calling money “very important” grew from 31 percent to 43 percent over the same 25-year period.