How much money do you need to feel financially comfortable or wealthy? The answer depends on where you live, your household size, and your lifestyle desires, of course. However, according to the 2025 Charles Schwab Wealth Survey, Americans say it now takes a net worth of $839,000 to feel financially comfortable—up from $778,000 in 2024.
More surprisingly, the amount Americans say is needed to feel wealthy has declined. In 2025, that number is $2.3 million, down from $2.5 million just a year ago.
Congratulations, everyone—we now feel wealthier with less! But this counterintuitive result deserves further examination. Like inflation, the number needed to feel wealthy tends to creep upward over time. Let’s explore why Americans may be lowering their wealth threshold.
Why Americans Need Less Money To Feel Wealthy
First of all, it’s hard to believe that Americans genuinely feel they need less money to be wealthy in 2025 compared to 2024. With the cost of living continuing to rise—from housing and healthcare to food and education—it just doesn’t add up.
The U.S. remains a heavily consumer-driven economy, where the average household spends around 95% of its gross income annually. By contrast, countries like Japan and China maintain national savings rates of over 20%, suggesting a very different relationship with money and consumption.
So, what might explain this apparent disconnect? Why would Americans report needing a lower net worth to feel wealthy today? Let’s explore a few possible reasons.
1. Lifestyle Inflation Has Hit a Wall
After years of high inflation, rising interest rates, and affordability crises across housing, healthcare, and education, many Americans have shifted their perspective. Instead of constantly chasing “more,” there's a growing trend toward redefining what enough actually is.
In a world where owning a median-priced home with a 7% mortgage feels unattainable for many, having paid-off shelter, a steady job, and some financial breathing room might now feel relatively luxurious. Wealth, then, becomes more about security and autonomy than absolute numbers.
2. Remote Work and Geo-Arbitrage Have Flattened Aspirations
One of the most significant post-pandemic shifts has been the rise of remote and hybrid work. With this flexibility, more Americans have chosen to relocate to lower-cost areas, making their money stretch much further.
Living in Boise instead of San Francisco, or Asheville instead of Washington, D.C., means that a net worth of $2.3 million could support an upper-middle-class lifestyle indefinitely. As more people recalibrate their lives around value—not just prestige zip codes—wealth begins to look more attainable at lower levels.
3. The Definition of Wealth Is More Than Just Money
There’s a noticeable cultural shift toward financial independence and intentional living. Thanks to influencers in the FIRE movement and the increased visibility of alternative lifestyles online, the definition of wealth has moved away from “owning the most stuff” to “having the most freedom.” Minimalism has gained steam over the years.
If you can work 20 hours a week, spend time with your family, travel occasionally, and not stress about unexpected expenses, that may feel wealthier than someone with $10 million but no time, high expenses, and a job they can’t stand.
According to the Schwab survey, Americans’ personal definition of wealth includes happiness, physical health, mental well-being, and the quality of their relationships. Without good health, money becomes a distant second—or even third—in importance. That’s why it’s so important for all of us to prioritize staying active and fit as we age. True wealth isn’t just about numbers; it’s about living well.
4. Stock Market Recovery Helped More People Feel Richer on Paper
Following a strong rebound in equity markets in late 2024 and early 2025, many investors—especially those who stuck it out through prior downturns—have seen their portfolios recover. Retirement accounts, brokerage balances, and home values in select markets have rebounded, giving Americans a paper wealth boost.
Even if nothing fundamentally changed in their lives, this wealth effect could be nudging people to feel wealthier, even if they’re not significantly increasing their spending or savings.
Perhaps there's also a belief that, given the S&P 500’s strong winning streak, a lower net worth feels sufficient because people are optimistic about continued strong future returns. If the market keeps climbing, the thinking goes, today’s wealth will naturally grow, so there’s less pressure to already be at a higher number.
Unfortunately, given high valuations, most investment houses are forecasting lower future returns, not higher.
5. Psychological Anchoring and Survey Fatigue
Let’s not overlook human psychology. The Schwab survey is self-reported. People may anchor to round numbers or adjust responses based on recent sentiment.
After years of economic anxiety, political fatigue, and mixed messages in the media, Americans may be normalizing lower expectations. This isn't necessarily defeatist, it could also be a form of resilience. Instead of saying, “I’ll feel wealthy at $2.5 million, let alone $5 million or $10 million,” they now say, “I feel wealthy enough with $2.3 million.” That shift in framing may be emotionally protective.
A Potential Redefinition of Wealth Is Underway
While the headline may suggest that Americans require less money to feel wealthy, the truth is more nuanced. It’s not necessarily that people are better off financially, it’s that their priorities and perceptions may be shifting.
Wealth in 2025 is increasingly defined by flexibility, security, and peace of mind—not just by net worth. In an unpredictable world, the desire to feel “wealthy enough” rather than endlessly chase “more” may be a sign of collective emotional maturity.
Whether this redefinition holds or is just a temporary reset remains to be seen. But for now, fewer Americans seem to need more money to feel like they’ve “made it,” and that’s a narrative worth watching.
My Thoughts on How Much Is Necessary to Feel Wealthy
Given that I live in San Francisco and plan to relocate to Honolulu—two of the most expensive cities in America—I personally need far more than $2.3 million to feel wealthy. For context, I left my day job in 2012 with a net worth of around $3 million, which at the time felt sufficient to achieve financial freedom.
If we adjust that $3 million for 13 years of 4% annual inflation, we get about $5 million in today’s dollars. And you know what? That feels like the right baseline to start feeling wealthy if you live in a high-cost coastal city. For those living in lower-cost areas—such as the South, Sunbelt, or Midwest—cutting that number in half to $2.5 million seems reasonable.
But here's the reality: the vast majority of people who reach these net worth milestones don’t stop working, even if they don’t particularly enjoy their jobs. Instead, they keep grinding—chasing more wealth, more status, more security. Just browse the countless profiles of people worth $5, $10, or even $20 million. Most of them are still hustling, often with no clear endpoint.
Personally, I enjoy having a financial challenge. My current one is to generate $380,000 in passive investment income by December 31, 2027, while also having enough investments in growth stocks and private companies.
It gives me purpose and keeps me motivated to do something productive with my time. Right now, that means continuing to write books and publish on Financial Samurai until my youngest heads off to college—in 13 years. That’s a long time to keep at it, so having stretch financial goals helps keep the fire alive.
Ultimately, I feel wealthy when my family and I are healthy and happy. There’s no greater joy than seeing the people you love filled with joy—and no deeper sadness than seeing them in pain. Once your basic financial needs are met, it’s everything else that determines true wealth.
What Do You Think?
Do you really believe the average American needs less money to feel wealthy in 2025 compared to 2024? How much money do you require to feel financially comfortable? And what size net worth makes you feel truly wealthy?
Please share your numbers—and let us know what city or region you live in to help provide more context. Let’s see how our personal definitions of wealth align or differ across the country.
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We are retired 10 years ages 72 & 69, no debt. Now income is from pension, 2 SS, and titrate with IRA to under IRMAA 2025 $212k. In 2026 my RMD is 80k.
Our Eastern shore of Maryland 500k house has $2100 annual property & school taxes. We rent a 2br/2bath, $1 million condo in Waikoloa Beach Hawaii in wonderful complex 1000 steps to beach. In 2026 May thru October condo deal with owner is $35k rent, utilities & taxes. We have annual scuba pass with Puako Dive Adventures. and complete 2 -3 boat trips each week or 4 – 6 hours underwater.
Based on recent data from the Federal Reserve and the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), less than 1% of retired American households have $3 million or more in retirement savings, excluding the value of their primary residence. A small percentage of retirees (3.2%) have $1 million or more in retirement accounts, and even fewer have $2 million (1.8%) or $3 million (0.8%). The median annual income for those 65 and older was about $47,620. The mean annual income for this group was roughly $75,254. The average retiree in the USA has considerable wealth in home equity, with a median of $250,000
From above we are
retirement savings in 0.8%
annual income after tax $150k to 200k
house equity $500k
We are living happy in retirement.
Hi there,
I’m a retired California dentist. I retired in December of 2020,and never looked back! Enjoying every moment of my free time Sold a large dental practice and invested all funds in growth and dividend generating stocks. After a nasty divorce(lost 50 % of my networth) and Covid,decided that at 55 years old was the right time to retire.While still young and healthy, I wanted to travel full time. So I moved to central Mexico,built a beautiful home for under 100K cash. Now I travel about 6 months out of the year,staying in AIRBNB and the rest of the time,enjoy everything that Mexico has to offer. I think that for my lifestyle, having about 2.2 millions net worth is more than enough. I spent about 1500 a month in Mexico(no mortgage,car paid in full) and have a wonderful time,no matter what I do,can not spend more than that. The rest of the time, I spend about 5000 a month while I travel full time and that is plenty too. My investments consist in growth stocks, like NVDA, MSFT, TSM, AMZN,GOOGL,NTFX,NOW,SNOW,etc(about 15%) of my net worth.My dividends generate as today about 5.9% in income. Taxation is a big advantage, very low because living abroad. So I generate about 123K per year in income. This income is enough to pay for my awesome lifestyle and still keep investing in growth stocks the remaining cash generated by my dividends. Depending of what you want during your retirement, I believe that if you choose to travel once a year for a few weeks, and live the rest of the time in Mexico, you do not need more than 1 million to retire. I think a million will be very,very comfortable. Thank you Sam for your fantastic blog.I look forward every Sunday morning to have a coffee,look at the beautiful views of the mountains around my home and read your newsletter. Have a wonderful week!!Adrian
Hi there,
Sharing as you mentioned to share what number makes me feel wealthy.
I’m an ex engineer , that started a marketing broker business. ( I didn’t take a big risk , I just built the business on the side of my full-time job until it made me more than being an engineer before leaving).
I live in Vancouver Canada ( expensive city ) and my wife and I own two apartments. Combined value of 1.48 million CAD.
I think my minimum number to retire is 1.7 million ( die with zero type number ) I’ll likely hit that by 45 maybe. I’m turning 36.
My wealth number is between 2.5 -3 million since we don’t have kids.
I have close to $700k in my business in cash(270k) and investments ( the rest) . And around another $500k in personal investments. 150 k is in a lira ( retirement that I can’t touch till 55).
Once this number hits around 1.7 million I will need to start making some decisions.
For me I’m trying to figure out what the die with zero number is and not just the number where my principal never goes down.
In society we are taught for the number to always go up but never trained to have it go down , aka taking from all that we earned.
So that’s something I’ll want to learn.
I’m making a evolution also in my business to start talking about human connection and how to bring humans together because that’s essentially how I made my money. By connecting people together.
Anyways I love your emails and thanks for sharing all your wisdom.
Bee
We live in the northern suburbs of Atlanta. I achieved financial independence at age 35 with around $2.5 million. Our current net worth is approximately $5 million, entirely invested in equities. We rent a nice 3,500 sq ft home on a 1-acre lot. Our children’s (5&8)) are now in a fee-free zone .
We do feel rich or wealthy in many ways but feel not there yet. We drive two luxury vehicles (a Tesla Model X and a Mercedes E350), take international vacations, dine out frequently at upscale restaurants, and both have personal trainers to maintain our health and fitness.
However, we aspire to buy a country club home in the $2–$3 million range while maintaining a $5 million+ equity portfolio to truly feel financially abundant. Currently, we live among many high-earning dual-income tech families, doctors, and generationally wealthy individuals. As a result, we often feel more upper-middle class—sometimes even like others around us are enjoying a more affluent lifestyle in terms of homes, cars, and vacations.
Thanks for sharing. How old are you now? Eg how long did it take for your net worth to double to $5 million? And are y’all still working?
Given your neighbors, you might feel that uptick in wealth if you stop working if you are working. Bc having all that free time is the big differentiator.
Thank you, Sam. Your writing really resonates with me, and I have learned at lot—it prob me knowledge and wisdom.
I’m 42, and my wife is 40. (Our kids are 4 and 8.) It took us about 7 years to double our portfolio, despite a few investment mistakes that resulted in a permanent loss of around $500K. We haven’t held jobs for the past 7 years—during that time, we’ve spent about $700K on living expenses and taken a $500K investment loss, so roughly $1.2 million without any earned income.
We’ve kept our annual household expenses under $100K, while still enjoying a comfortable lifestyle—driving a Model X and a Mercedes E350, taking international vacations, and spending freely but sensibly. I’m a full-time investor and portfolio manager for our own capital, focused on long-term, leveraged investing. I generally maintain about 20% leverage until the market enters a euphoric phase. I don’t sell assets; instead, I borrow against them to fund household expenses. As our wealth grows, the debt grows too, but at a much slower pace—which I plan to slow down further if the market becomes overheated.
I spend a few hours each day studying and following the markets, as finance is a deep passion of mine. The rest of the time, I’m with my family, playing sports, gym, yoga and enjoying the freedom we’ve built. That said, I do feel occasional pressure when the markets are volatile, and sometimes wish we could buy our dream home ($2–$3 million) right away. I also hesitate to host gatherings, knowing others around us live in much better homes.
But aside from those thoughts, I truly feel like I’m living my dream life. It’s a wonderful time to be alive.
Thanks for the info! That’s great, doubling your net worth in 7 years. It might very well double again in 7 years.
Can’t get better than feeling like you’re living your dream life! Enjoy the kiddos. I’d rather have the freedom to spend time with them than have to work and not spend time with them to afford my dream home.
People are also having fewer children now, which lowers some of the need to acquire more wealth
That’s a good point. But that is one where it would make more sense to compare from 10 or 20 years ago versus now, inflation-adjusted. It wouldn’t be a reason for the dip in 2025 versus 2024 IMO.
You need less money to feel wealthy if consumption habits change. The shift to digital means the $100 to spend at the movies is no longer necessary when you have netflix and a projector, etc
For someone living in Singapore, it is widely estimated you will need around 2-3mil (values all in USD) to retire at a normal age of 65yrs, and I believe around 4-5mil to retire early.
My personal definition of being wealthy is the ability to FIRE at your current lifestyle and location of choice.
I personally passed the eight digit threshold about 5 years ago and retired a year ago (illustrating to myself that mathematical sufficiency vs mental comfort to pull the cord are two very different things!)
I continue to invest as life goes on (the game is fun anyways) – don’t think I’ll ever cross the nine digit mark but never say never I guess!
What are some of the things you like about Singapore? I haven’t heard many people aim to retire there, unless they are from Singapore.
Low taxes is great and the food is awesome. I have a tough time with the humidity though as someone who used to live in Kuala Lumpur.
As someone living in Honolulu for the past 12 years, I can say the cost of paradise really skews what “feeling wealthy” means. For my family of four, I’d say a net worth of at least $4–5 million is what it takes to feel truly financially secure here—not flashy, just comfortable.
We own our home, but property taxes, maintenance, private school tuition (which is common here), and rising insurance premiums add up fast. Add in travel to the mainland to visit family, helping out aging parents, and the occasional splurge on experiences, and $2–3 million just doesn’t stretch far.
That said, I do agree that wealth is also relative. Once your basic needs are met, it’s more about health, time, and freedom. But from a numbers standpoint, $5 million is where I think real peace of mind begins in Honolulu.
Would love to hear what other local readers think!
Thanks for sharing your feedback. Makes sense. The one cost advantage of Honolulu is private school tuition. The latest is $32,900 a year for the most expensive private school from kindergarten through 12th grade.
In places like San Francisco and New York City, the private school tuition cost is about $43,000 until the eighth grade, and then $65,000 a year in high school! That difference is massive for families with more than one kid especially.
I believe in my $5 million figured to feel wealthy in San Francisco. But for Honolulu, $4 million sounds about right as it is a little bit cheaper. But $3 million probably is good enough as well, especially if you have your health and family with you.
We live in the So Cal wider LA basin between the mountains and the sea behind what I like to refer to as “the Orange Curtain” (since we RARELY pass through it into LA). We retired at ages 50 (actually it was 49 yrs, 11 months due to a heart attack) and 55 (due to triple negative breast cancer). Hubby had to wait a couple years to reach “Magic 85” before collecting his pension; I took the five year period certain payout on my pension because it had a guaranteed pay out highest of all the available options (and there were a LOT of payment options!). We have our primary residence (purchased in 1987), a nearby rental property (purchased at the bottom of the housing market in March 2012), and a “vacation home” in the midwest which houses a family member as “caretaker”.
Our most recent NW (6/30/25) is $4.4 mil, which includes the “Zillow value” of our three properties less outstanding mortgage amounts and $2 mil investable assets. What boggles my mind is at the end of my pension back in July 2018 our NW was $3.5 mil including real estate less mortgage amounts and $2.3 mil investable assets. This is mind blowing when you consider our MAGI has been pretty consistently ~$200k since 2020. Thus our total spending has been $1.2 mil over those six years, but our investable assets are only down $300k, and our net worth is up $900k! How does THAT math work???? Granted we are now both collecting Social Security, but still. It never ceases to amaze me that we are “living the good life” – certainly not hurting! – but really not drawing down our nut stash all that much. When the stock market is down, our real estate is up, so our monthly NW curve is a somewhat slow and steady (mostly) upward trend. No home runs out of the park, but it works for us.
Needless to say, we haven’t worried about having enough money for a very long time. Although it would be nice to reach a NW of $5 mil. There is something about “5” milestones that seems to resonate with me. LOL
Our main goal now is building a legacy for our two adult offspring. A SFR with $1 mil investable assets for each. Only about a half mil more to go! Assuming we don’t spend it all splurging on around the world cruises or flying first class. Or buying a condo on Maui!
I saw something about net worth recently that I found interesting. Looking at the eternal debate over whether millionaires (counting house in net worth) should be counted as equal to Millionaires (counting $1M in investible assets/business equity only), it turns out that the number of Millionaires is a). really small (< 2% of the population) and b). hard to get information about how many there are. Assuming the figure of < 2% is an underestimate it still shows that if you've managed to get to Millionaire status, you have accomplished something that less than 5% of Americans ever manage to do.
So regardless of how much further than this you have gone, passing the Millionaire milestone is worth celebrating.
For the curious, in the world at large, although we have decent information on the number of millionaires globally, there is very little known about the number of Millionaires around the world. I suspect this is partly due to many practicing Stealth Wealth for reasons of simple self-preservation.
True, there are likely more millionaires in America and the world that is reported.
For my book, Millionaire Milestones: Simple Steps To Seven Figures, I use 6% as the percentage of US household millionaires in America. So, more than your 2%. But the figure could be much more.
Once you get to your first million, getting to your second is usually much easier. Then, the compounding really starts working its magic. Just got to stay disciplined!
This really resonates. I live near Microsoft campus, in a one-income household, surrounded by two-income households with startup exits and dual executive salaries. Even with our net worth comfortably in the eight digits, I often feel like the poorest rich. I grew up with nothing, and despite everything we’ve built, I’ve never truly been able to exit that state of mind. The environment here distorts what ‘wealthy’ means – no matter how much you accumulate, there’s always someone nearby with a lot more. It’s sobering to realize that even doubling what we have wouldn’t necessarily change that feeling. The wealth game really is as much psychological as financial.
Thanks for sharing. Yes, everything is relative.
A $10+ million net worth is great! Even with MSFT, I have to image the vast majority of its employees don’t have that top 2% net worth amount no?
What is it that you do?
I work at Microsoft and have simply been persistent and careful over time. In my case, I’m a one-income household, so I’ve probably had to be twice as careful.
I know for a fact that I have colleagues sitting on $15 million, $20 million, and far more – and that comparison game is exhausting. Even with a substantial net worth, living in an environment filled with dual executive incomes, startup exits, and generational wealth, it’s hard to ever feel truly wealthy.
As you’re highlighting – and as many others in the comments are pointing out – this really is as much philosophical as financial. Honestly, I don’t know how I’ll ever manage to shift into my decumulation phase. The mindset of accumulation runs so deep that even with enough, it feels difficult to cross that threshold.
Gotcha. Yet, with $20 million, they’re still grinding away! So in that sense, perhaps that makes you feel better that they are also dedicating a similar number of hours a week working for more money they don’t need?
Do you have a net worth target you are shooting for, where you might take things down or do something else?
Here’s a post worth reading: the minimum investment amount where Work becomes an optional
I promise you, if you choose freedom over making more money when you already have $10 million, you will NOT look back with regret 10 years from now.
The thing with a $10 million investment portfolio is that the returns themselves should more than make up for any amount of money you will spend a year on average. Hence, make sure you are doing something you enjoy and are not exhausted by the comparison thing.
Not only will you not have regret doing something you enjoy, but I think you’ll look back and be thrilled that you chose freedom over maximum income.
What you need to feel more well-off financially is to move. You can choose to live almost anywhere else in the U.S., even in very nice places, and you’ll start to feel rich as a king.
It seems the “feeling” of wealth has more to do with external factors (like thoughts on the economy, politics, global affairs, etc.) than it does on someone’s personal situation. As you pointed out, people’s feelings about the world in general has to be skewing these results. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense how people can feel more wealthy when everything around us is getting more expensive.
Lifestyle change may explain some of it, but I’m not sure I believe that all of a sudden a huge number of Americans have bucked historical spending trends in favor of more frugal living.
I live in Chicago, which oftentimes gets lumped into the Midwest (for obvious reasons), but is not exactly like the rest of the Midwest. Cost of living is certainly less than the coasts but more expensive than other big Midwest cities.
For example, looking at recent housing trends, Chicago is up there with New York as the two metro areas seeing the biggest increases year over year. Chicago has long been known as a more affordable city than New York, San Francisco, etc., but housing supply is so low that Chicago is becoming less affordable.
To feel truly wealthy in Chicago, I think $5M is a good place to start. Adjust upwards if you have kids or want to live in the most expensive area. Adjust down if you’re good with being a bit further away from the city.
Great article!
Matt
I live in the DC area. Once our HHI surpassed $250k, we started to feel very comfortable. While this won’t apply to everyone living in this area, it is working for us because we bought our house before the pandemic and locked in a 3% interest rate. We’re in no rush to pay off this mortgage. Even when we first bought the house, the mortgage payment was very manageable. But with our increased income, it now feels like living in cheat mode.
If we were to purchase this same exact house today, our mortgage payment would likely double. In fact, renting a comparable home would also cost about twice what we currently pay in mortgage. Our kids are also no longer in daycare, so we don’t have any major recurring expenses except our mortgage. We don’t have a car payment. Our major expenses are food & travel.
As of right now, in this moment (July 2025), my goal is to reach a $5 million NW. I’ll feel “wealthy” once I hit that target. At that amount, in addition to the 4% withdrawal rate, and other additional source of income, I’ll have more than enough to maintain our current lifestyle. This number would feel like “wealth” to me.
I hope you get there! And please report back when you do, if you truly feel wealthy!
Many have often shared with me a feeling of let down when they do, and how they want more.