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Per The Millionaire Next Door (see https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Next-Door-Surprising-Americas/dp/1589795474 https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Next-Door-S

by btilly 5y ago

Per The Millionaire Next Door (see https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Next-Door-Surprising-Americas/dp/1589795474 https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Next-Door-Surprising-Amer... for the link), most wealthy are those who have a reasonable income but good financial discipline. Which means that a shocking number of millionaires live in poor neighborhoods and have modest lifestyles. Those aren't the super-wealthy, of course. But most wealthy people can't be identified by where they live.

Retric 5y ago
The millionaire next door uses an artificially low threshold for wealth. It’s not a book about the wealthy, it’s largely a book about retirement. 1M is only generating ~40k per year, if that’s your savings you can’t afford to live in an affluent area without a job.
- btilly 5y ago
  That book was originally written decades ago. Its threshold corresponds to about $1.7 million in savings in today's world. Their median was $1.6 million, or about $2.7 million in today's dollars. And given that the people who attained that status on average lived in cheap neighborhoods, the fact that their income wouldn't stretch long in an affluent neighborhood isn't really a concern for them.
  - Retric 5y ago
    Even adjusting for inflation from 1996 half the population had 1.0 - 1.6 million. That translates to ~$1.7M - 2.7M, or an income of ~68k to 108k which is still not that significant.
    - btilly 5y ago
      Where do you get half the population from? According to the statistics that they gave, an estimated 3.5 million Americans were that wealthy. In 1996 the US population was around 270 million so we're talking about the top 1.3% of Americans by net worth. For more about what this group looked like, read https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/millionairenextdoor.htm https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/c....
      - Retric 5y ago
        That’s what a a median of $1.6 million and a minimum of 1.0 million means. Half of their population was 1.0 to 1.6 Million the other half was over 1.6 million.
    - boredwithlife 5y ago
      Don't forget that married filing jointly allows about $106k of long term capital gains per year taxed at 0% federally within the US. If you had a paid off home and $68k of tax-free income per year, would you really find it difficult to live? Seems pretty cushy to me.
zhdc1 5y ago
> Those aren't the super-wealthy, of course. But most wealthy people can't be identified by where they live. This is particularly true for intergenerational wealth. I grew up in a area with fair number of affluent households. You couldn't realize it until you became familiar the community.

by btilly 5y ago

Retric 5y ago

The millionaire next door uses an artificially low threshold for wealth. It’s not a book about the wealthy, it’s largely a book about retirement. 1M is only generating ~40k per year, if that’s your savings you can’t afford to live in an affluent area without a job.

btilly 5y ago
That book was originally written decades ago. Its threshold corresponds to about $1.7 million in savings in today's world. Their median was $1.6 million, or about $2.7 million in today's dollars. And given that the people who attained that status on average lived in cheap neighborhoods, the fact that their income wouldn't stretch long in an affluent neighborhood isn't really a concern for them.
- Retric 5y ago
  Even adjusting for inflation from 1996 half the population had 1.0 - 1.6 million. That translates to ~$1.7M - 2.7M, or an income of ~68k to 108k which is still not that significant.
  - btilly 5y ago
    Where do you get half the population from? According to the statistics that they gave, an estimated 3.5 million Americans were that wealthy. In 1996 the US population was around 270 million so we're talking about the top 1.3% of Americans by net worth. For more about what this group looked like, read https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/millionairenextdoor.htm https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/c....
    - Retric 5y ago
      That’s what a a median of $1.6 million and a minimum of 1.0 million means. Half of their population was 1.0 to 1.6 Million the other half was over 1.6 million.
  - boredwithlife 5y ago
    Don't forget that married filing jointly allows about $106k of long term capital gains per year taxed at 0% federally within the US. If you had a paid off home and $68k of tax-free income per year, would you really find it difficult to live? Seems pretty cushy to me.

zhdc1 5y ago

> Those aren't the super-wealthy, of course. But most wealthy people can't be identified by where they live. This is particularly true for intergenerational wealth. I grew up in a area with fair number of affluent households. You couldn't realize it until you became familiar the community.