Are you Ri¢h?

Definition of ‘Rich’ Changes With Income

Excerpt:

I asked survey respondents to tell me how much money the people in their household would have to earn in a year for them to consider themselves rich. I evaluated answers that began at $10,000 and went through $4 million. In households in the lowest quartile of income, those earning less than $25,000 a year, people thought they needed about $293,000, on average, to consider themselves rich. And in households earning between $30,000 and $60,000 of annual income, the magic number was closer to $394,000. As people earn more, the multiplier on current income goes down, but the absolute number goes up in a somewhat linear fashion. In households with annual income between $60,001 and $120,000, the dream of becoming rich comes true at $426,000, on average; and, for the top 15 percent of incomes ($120,000 and up), the average number was $501,000.

Comment:  See earlier Richie Rich blog post. So much could be said about this from a Christian perspective. Off the top of my head:

• "When you have your health, you have everything. When you do not have your health, nothing else matters at all" (This is not a Christian perspective ... but a frequently quoted axiom. Actually one could be sick unto death and suffering and have true riches!)
• The Bible speaks of "true riches" (Luke 16)
• "Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful." (Matthew 13:22)
• Romans 2:4, "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"
• Romans 11:33, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!"
• Ephesians 3:8, "o me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,"

Are you a Ri¢hie Ri¢h?

A Look at Household Net Worth and Household Income By Age Group from the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances
  Excerpt:

The median American household earned $45,800 pre-tax. So if your family generates more than $3,817 per month in pre-tax income (before payroll taxes, retirement savings, and other reductions), you are in the top half of society. You are in the richest 1 out of 2 Americans. ...

To ... rank in the top 5% of households (making you richer than 95 out of 100 families), you and your spouse need a combined pre-tax income of $205,300 and a net worth of $1,864,100.

.. What is fascinating to me is the fact that for the 35-and-under household group, median net worth is only $9,300. That is all it takes to have a higher net worth than half of people in the same demographic. It’s insane. Short of catastrophic health problems or unexpected tragedy, the only reason someone should have a net worth that low by 35, a full 17 years after they entered the work force, is because they spend too much money. This is a cultural problem. Thriftiness, self-sufficiency, and independence are not valued and taught as they once were.

... Roughly 9 out of 10 young people 35 and younger don’t have a stock investment account. At the very moment in life when time is at its statistical greatest, when stocks and long-term investments have their most value, they are completely neglected.

Comments: Image is 1st edition of Richie Rich. From a closely related article: To Earn More In Dividend Income Than 50% of the World Earns Working Each Year Requires Only 1,074 Shares of General Electric. Ultimate riches is to know the Lord Jesus Christ:

• For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him (Romans 10:12)
• For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9)
• In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7)