It Takes This Much Money Just to Be ‘Comfortable,’ Americans Say

Hoping to get wealthy? If you want to impress the Joneses and everyone else, you will have to blow way past $1 million before you join the ranks of the well-to-do.

The consensus minimum for how large of a net worth you need before you are considered “wealthy” is now $2.2 million, on average, according to a Charles Schwab survey of 1,000 adults ages 21 to 75.

In these days of runaway inflation, it’s no surprise that Americans now think it takes a lot more cash than $1 million before you are rich.

However, this year’s amount of $2.2 million is actually down from a high of $2.6 million when Schwab asked the same question in 2020.

Schwab also asked people to identify the amount of money they need before they consider themselves “financially comfortable.”

Respondents said it takes a net worth of $774,000 to have achieved that status, down sharply from a high of $1.4 million in the 2018 survey.

In a time of surging inflation, it seems counterintuitive that people would lower their estimates of what it takes to be either “wealthy” or “comfortable.”

Schwab doesn’t offer any opinion about what is behind the change, but it seems plausible that Americans are re-evaluating how much money they really need as their values shift in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

How to grow wealthy in 2022

Hoping to achieve any of the dollar amounts mentioned above? It’s actually a lot easier than you think if you put a plan into action and stick to it.

Consider starting your journey to “comfortable” or even “wealthy” by enrolling in the Money Talks News course Money Made Simple.

MTN founder Stacy Johnson offers 14 weeks of lessons on money basics in this course. You will learn how to improve your financial life in all the following areas:

• Budgeting
• Banking
• Credit
• Taxes
• Insurance
• Investing
• Real estate
• Estate planning

After finishing these lessons, you will be ready to manage money more efficiently while spending less time getting the results you want. As Stacy writes:

“Whatever your situation, understanding and learning to control your money is going to improve your life. If you’re rich, you want to stay that way. If you’re not, you want to get that way.”