There has been a recent boom in the number of wealthy people in the United States. The Covid real estate bump and soaring stock market has added to that wealth. Being a millionaire may not buy as much as it did 20 years ago, but it’s still an admirable threshold of wealth. In spite of that… just 33% of millionaires consider themselves ‘wealthy’. 

If a third of your wealth is in your home, that doesn’t really feel like wealth. It’s impractical to take the newfound equity from your home and spend it on luxuries. 

The same goes for record high retirement savings accounts. A big 401k balance may be ‘money’, but since it’s designated to be used for retirement, it’s not tangible to spend now so we don’t feel like we’re rich.

Another factor that has added to wealth insecurity is inflation. We’ve seen the cost of just about everything come down from post-Covid highs, and price hikes have slowed down. Overall prices are still not where they were before we saw 9% inflation.

For those who are consciously working to attain more wealth – about 44% say that credit card debt is the biggest threat to their ability to build wealth. It’s a savings killer because discretionary income needs to be directed at paying down high-interest credit cards. 

What does it take to actually ‘feel’ wealthy? When asked in a recent poll about 65% said they would need $1mm in the bank. Nearly 30% said it would take $2mm, and 20% said 5mm to feel wealthy. 

Many American workers worry about just paying for necessities. Nearly 60% of those surveyed say that they would need to earn at least $100k on average to not worry about everyday living expenses and $200k for them to feel financially secure. 

Feeling wealthy is often about having confidence about the future.