Average ER.org'er is top 5% of the nation

[HillCountry]

According to the latest Federal Reserve Survey, top 5% of the nation (2016) NW is 2.387M, which is pretty close to the average here.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/scf17.pdf

Good job!

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Well of course I had to reacquaint myself with the definitions between mean and median. Once I solved that mystery, I noticed I was never in the top 10 % of wage earners. I did manage to finish solidly in the top 10% of wealth holders.

 

[stepford]

Well of course I had to reacquaint myself with the definitions between mean and median. Once I solved that mystery, I noticed I was never in the top 10 % of wage earners. I did manage to finish solidly in the top 10% of wealth holders.

Count your total compensation (including not only wages, but the value of the annual incremental increase in your pension) and I suspect you'll find you were significantly higher up the curve than you thought.

 

[PatrickA5]

Man, there is ton of information in that report. But, basically the rich are getting richer, the poorer aren't. And, it pays to go to college.

 

[Mdlerth]

See footnote 6 on page 3

Count your total compensation (including not only wages, but the value of the annual incremental increase in your pension) and I suspect you'll find you were significantly higher up the curve than you thought.

The survey did not ask respondents about non-cash employment benefits. Pensions, 401k matches, health insurance kickers, dental plans, uniform allowances... a lot of types of compensation won't have been included. BCG may well be higher up the curve than his pay stub suggested, although you wouldn't be able to conclude that from the survey.

However, even in the absence of conclusive data, I'm not surprised by BCG's implication that he is disproportionately wealthy compared to his salary peer group. That anomaly is a routine feature on this board.

 

[DrRoy]

Yes, that seems to be about right. Who do you think has the means to RE?
My wealth percentile is also rather higher than my income percentile was.

 

[knucklehead 61]

Man, there is ton of information in that report. But, basically the rich are getting richer, the poorer aren't. And, it pays to go to college.

i didn't go to college, but rather went straight to work. it worked out great for me.

 

[Midpack]

i didn't go to college, but rather went straight to work. it worked out great for me.

That’s great. Seems less likely for an 18 year old today, but maybe I’m mistaken.

 

[omni550]

That’s great. Seems less likely for an 18 year old today, but maybe I’m mistaken.

It depends.

I worked for a Fortune 5 company. I remember going to a company-affiliated after hours event...and one of the union guys, approximately our age, was giving us engineers hell for having wasted 4-6 years in college pursuing our educations. He had hired in right after high school, and worked his way up in the skilled trades (plumber, electrician, etc.) within the union. Compared to us, he had 4-6 years more seniority, a very nice hourly wage, got paid for every minute of overtime, and a much better benefits package. Plus he didn't waste money buying business suits to wear to work.

omni

 

[youbet]

It depends.

Not really. Midpack is right on about the situation for folks entering the working world today.

I worked for a Fortune 5 company. I remember going to a company-affiliated after hours event...and one of the union guys, approximately our age, was giving us engineers hell for having wasted 4-6 years in college pursuing our educations. He had hired in right after high school, and worked his way up in the skilled trades (plumber, electrician, etc.) within the union. Compared to us, he had 4-6 years more seniority, a very nice hourly wage, got paid for every minute of overtime, and a much better benefits package. Plus he didn't waste money buying business suits to wear to work.

omni

If you're implying that high paying, long term, union, skilled-trades jobs are as available today as they were "back in the day" when you were a young engineer, you might be mistaken. Times change omni!

 

[MRG]

That’s great. Seems less likely for an 18 year old today, but maybe I’m mistaken.

I did it. I later went back to school at night.

I wouldn't try to do it today.

 

[pj.mask]

Lots of field staff at the major companies now need associates degrees. They make roughly starting engineer salary their whole career. But can get OT

 

[Sittinginthesun]

No degree and I will make well over $500k this year. In hindsight I should have stuck it out and completed a degree but I was too immature and completely lacking in self confidence at that age. Not that it would have led to more career satisfaction or higher income. I got into B2B commission paid sales in my mid-20's and was making six figures by 28 loving what I was doing. VERY high job security when you are a sales leader. That career lead to starting a business in my mid-30's and now I make big piles of money with excellent work/life balance and my wife is a SAHM.

I do want my kids to focus on their education and plan on paying for whatever degree(s) they pursue. Education leads to choice. I had no choice but to bust my ass and make something happen or be stuck in a very low income job. I either got lucky or made my own luck depending on how you look at it.

 

[target2019]

I went to college right out of high school, and worked part-time each year.
I went for masters program as I worked full-time for megacorp.
My specialty now is me-time!

In the referenced article, which I'll read later, I had to chuckle when I saw we may be in the bottom 90th percentile, according to one chart. Never really thought of it that way. Still, we'll be ok.

 

[dunkelblau]

Man, there is ton of information in that report. But, basically the rich are getting richer, the poorer aren't. And, it pays to go to college.

I was surprised by that table showing the break points back to 2004 on Page #37. Their numbers show the net worth quartile thresholds all lost significant ground from 2004 to 2016-- with the largest percentage drops at the low end. Only the top decile had a gain assuming these values are inflation adjusted.

Maybe this is down to the difference between bricks and mortar vs paper assets? Incomes show a similar trend (losses on the quintile breaks vs a gain at the top decile break) but at least they're single-digit percentages (2004 to 2016).

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

No degree and I will make well over $500k this year.... That career lead to starting a business in my mid-30's and now I make big piles of money with excellent work/life balance and my wife is a SAHM.....

You should be a motivational speaker!, I was ready to sign up for your training program, I love the post, and am very happy for your success, both in the business world, and the home life.

This type of post makes me happy.There is hope on the horizon for the kids that arent college material, either by lack of funds, desire, or encouragement.

 

[adrift]

These websites take a closer look at the Survey of Consumer Finance Data. They've both been updated with the recently released 2016 data.

https://dqydj.com/net-worth-brackets-wealth-brackets-one-percent/

https://www.shnugi.com/networth-percentile-calculator/

 

[Chuckanut]

Plumbers and electricians in my area make a pretty good living. 80 to 100k with overtime.

 

[fritz]

Yes, that seems to be about right. Who do you think has the means to RE?
My wealth percentile is also rather higher than my income percentile was.

We retired at 58/57 in 2009. Our investments should carry us comfortably through retirement (no pensions) and allow for nice inheritances to DDs. That being said, the never ending articles on wealth and what it takes to keep up always remind me of how much it has cost us overall to retire early. When you take into account the end of wages/contributions to retirement funds and the starting of withdrawals from them, it brings home how we are moving downward in the yearly net worth percentiles in those articles (although our actual net worth is up considerably from when we first retired). No regrets and would do it all over again, but it did cost us plenty to retire early.

 

[Sojourner]

According to the linked DQYDJ article, a household would need about $10.4 million to rank in the top 1% of all households by net worth. I assume this is based on mean, not median, household net worth? It's hard to imagine one out of every hundred families in the US with a NW of over $10MM.

 

[Amethyst]

Actually it's not, when you consider that such families tend to cluster in certain areas (we live in one such, although we are nowhere near the 1%).

It's hard to imagine one out of every hundred families in the US with a NW of over $10MM.

 

[pj.mask]

Plumbers and electricians in my area make a pretty good living. 80 to 100k with overtime.

Don’t they require some training or certification? I know my previous megacorp had a lot of them on staff.

I think a good degree is required for a number of positions. There are always antidotal stories of someone being successful without a degree - just like those interviews with rap/sports stars. You may succeed but also a big chance that you don’t. A degree is usually a safer bet.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Usually skilled trades people participate in a 4 year apprenticeship program. For the first 2 years they work 4 days a week and attend a technical school for 1 day/week. So they are learning both on the job and with formal schooling.

 

[jazz4cash]

It depends.

I worked for a Fortune 5 company. I remember going to a company-affiliated after hours event...and one of the union guys, approximately our age, was giving us engineers hell for having wasted 4-6 years in college pursuing our educations. He had hired in right after high school, and worked his way up in the skilled trades (plumber, electrician, etc.) within the union. Compared to us, he had 4-6 years more seniority, a very nice hourly wage, got paid for every minute of overtime, and a much better benefits package. Plus he didn't waste money buying business suits to wear to work.

omni

When did this occur? I have lots of similar experiences but they go back quite a bit.