Baby boomers have it right, imo, but you'd better be living in LCOL areas and have liquidity.
Here's the net worth each generation says you need to be considered wealthy in 2021:
Millennials (ages 24 to 39): $1.4 million
Gen X (ages 44 to 55): $1.9 million
Baby boomers (ages 56 to 74): $2.5 million
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/12/net-worth-to-be-considered-wealthy-in-2021.html
Quoteincluding cash in checking and savings accounts, financial investments and the value of any real estate or vehicles owned
Counting your primary residence distorts things a lot (if you sell it, where do you live?), especially between LCOL places and HCOL places. I think those numbers, but counting primary residence or vehicles would be closer and would make the difference between locations less stark.
Someone who owns a nice three-bedroom house in Palo Alto and has no other savings might be wealthy, but I'd rather be the guy in Oakhurst (nearest town) with a three-bedroom house and 2 million in cash who still falls short of the 2.5 million threshold.
Worth a read:
We're in our 60s and have millions of dollars for retirement — should we rent or buy our next home? - MarketWatch
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/were-in-our-60s-and-have-millions-of-dollars-for-retirement-should-we-rent-or-buy-our-next-home-11620342852
QuoteSomeone who owns a nice three-bedroom house in Palo Alto and has no other savings might be wealthy, but I'd rather be the guy in Oakhurst (nearest town) with a three-bedroom house and 2 million in cash who still falls short of the 2.5 million threshold.
the person in Palo Alto can always move :)
> nice three-bedroom house (mortgage paid)
> 2 million in cash
> ***LCOL*** (with urban, HCOL services nearby)
The trick is in having all three.
>with urban, HCOL services nearby
In retirement, THIS turns out to be a big deal, maybe the most important part. We're finding that we could live well on $70k/year here, which is roughly what we're drawing on Social Security.