Is $250,000 Affluent?

[mickeyd]

I have no current definition for the word affluent, but I have a sense of what it means, and it means a lot more that $250,000. I'm not sure how much above a million dollars affluent begins, but it's up there. I do not consider myself affluent, even though I have a nice stash north of a million.

What's affluent for you?

Money isn’t everything, according to a group of affluent Americans surveyed by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. Focusing on family and friends, it turns out, gained in importance through the recession.
Just over half of retired respondents with at least $250,000 to invest said they wished they had focused more on their “life goals” than on “the numbers,”

what-retirees-would-have-done-differently: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

 

[MasterBlaster]

Well I suppose $250k is affluent relative to most Boomers who are in the hole with credit card debt.

I remember posting an article from (Fidelity ) that polled it's affluent account holders. They didn't feel rich, based on the survey, until they were wortyh $19M.

 

[traineeinvestor]

Affluent for who?

For a young person with no debts. no dependants and a steady job living in a low cost area, $250K probably does make them affluent.

For a couple at or near retirement with no pension, no SS or other welfare and still having children to support living in a high cost city it is not much.

Put another way, if you can get a real return of 4% pa - you get income of $10K pa. In most developed countries, that will not go far. In a lot of places it may not even be enough to pay the rent.

 

[unclemick]

400k - PER YR - INCOME! That's affluent.



Not dinky 40k from a 1 mil portfolio!

I am poor, poor, poor I tell you.

heh heh heh - And I am shiftless - after seeing ER(16yrs) - I ain't going back to work neither. So there.

 

[Keim]

According to Dictionary.com
1.having an abundance of wealth, property, or other material goods; prosperous; rich: an affluent person. 2.abounding in anything; abundant.3.flowing freely: an affluent fountain.
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By that definition I think it depends on whether one feels $250k is an abundance. My neighbors with no savings probably think it is. I do not.

But I'll take it over $125k.

 

[bbbamI]

Seems as if the financial institution that knew my old Megacorp plans and wanted to assist retirees regarding financial matters would only deal with folks who had $250k or more in their portfolios.

I think they set the bar. YMMV.

 

[Rustic23]

While I do not think of us a affluent, I think we most likely are when compared with the majority of the population. We have surplus income. Not a lot, but still there is more coming in than going out on a regular basis. We buy what we want when we want it. It's just we don't want expensive things. One car, shop Wally World, Taco Bell is going out to eat. Is there a difference between Rich and Affluent? Because Warren and Bill are Rich, and I by no means think we are Rich.

 

[Bestwifeever]

A person with anet worth of $250,000 is not affluent imho. But someone with an extra uninvested $250,000 lying around waiting for paid advice from someone at MLynch about where to invest it? Probably.

 

[W2R]

In 2004, people aged 55–64 with a college degree had a median net worth excluding home equity of $128,478

2008: Retirement Resources - Net Worth

So, I would conclude that a net worth of $250K (excluding home equity) would be affluent.

That would be the objective measure. But subjectively, "affluent" means having at least twice what I have at the moment. Always has.

 

[eridanus]

In 2004, people aged 55–64 with a college degree had a median net worth excluding home equity of $128,478

But: "Note: Net worth data do not include pension wealth."

 

[FUEGO]

I certainly feel affluent. I even walk around with my nose tilted at a slightly upward angle. But I'm 29, full of myself, and have means well above the mere quarter million mark.

If my real life acquaintances knew my net worth, they would probably consider me affluent. However I like to roll incognito. So my secret is safe. But for a reference point, I was at the in-laws doing some lite computing on my netbook recently when my BIL caught a glimpse of me checking the DW's 401k balance at Fidelity. It's balance is between $50,000 and $100,000. When he saw the account balance, to him that made us rich. He's older than DW and I, but has just never accumulated any kind of net worth. Probably pretty typical for the lower quarter or lower half of people in their 20's and 30's in general. So yes, $250,000 investable assets would make one affluent to the average person at least in their 20's 30's and maybe 40's.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Fuego feeling affluent and BIL feeling bad cause he didn't save for retirement

 

[FUEGO]

Fuego feeling affluent and BIL feeling bad cause he didn't save for retirement

That's not my in-laws, that's my blood relatives! They didn't save for retirement either.

 

[brewer12345]

I guess I will remain a slave to the financial industry in this respect: $1MM in investable assets is affluent in my book. Under 50 and 500k-1MM in assets is "emerging affluent."

 

[Animorph]

I'll bet the $250k Merrill is talking about excludes workplace retirement accounts like 401k's. Normally they're only interested in the value of what you have free to invest with them. That raises the bar a bit.

By itself $250k * .04 = $10k/year isn't close to affluent in my book.

 

[soupcxan]

Heck, when I saw this thread's title, I was on the fence if $250k income was affluent. And I come to find out we're talking about $250k in assets? No way.

 

[GoodSense]

2008: Retirement Resources - Net Worth

So, I would conclude that a net worth of $250K (excluding home equity) would be affluent.

That would be the objective measure. But subjectively, "affluent" means having at least twice what I have at the moment. Always has.

I haven't seen this article before. Really?? That's a lot lower than I thought. Of course my perspectives are very distorted hanging out on this forum. In any case, I hope most of those surveyed have some sort of pension because they are in pretty poor shape otherwise!

 

[toofrugalformycat]

Affluent means you spend most of your day comfortably, doing what you choose to do, and have the means to do it for as long as you like.
How much money/stuff you must have to achieve this varies widely depending on where you are on the planet and what activities please you.

 

[jdw_fire]

Affluent means you spend most of your day comfortably, doing what you choose to do, and have the means to do it for as long as you like.

Naaaa that is FI not affluent. you can be affluent and still be working. affluent just means you have/make more that most others. therefore whether $250k in assets is affluent depends on what group you are comparing to. if that be the population of the USA then yes it is, if that be the population of the world then yes it definately is, however if it is the population that frequents this board, maybe not.

 

[chemist]

I belong to a survey panel called "Affluent Dynamics". Periodically they send me short surveys to fill out and give me 3000 United Airline miles as a reward.

Their criterion for acceptance to the panel was a liquid net worth (not including home equity) of $1 MM.

 

[tuixiu]

Retired couple in rural Alabama with nice govt pension and home they own outright, no debt, and with 250k to invest = possibly affluent.

Retired couple in New York with no pension, a mortgage, car payments and cc debt with 250k to invest = possibly not.

 

[travelover]

I belong to a survey panel called "Affluent Dynamics". Periodically they send me short surveys to fill out and give me 3000 United Airline miles as a reward.

Their criterion for acceptance to the panel was a liquid net worth (not including home equity) of $1 MM.

How do they define liquid? Do you need to keep it in a savings account?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Yet Another definition of Affluent

 

[bbbamI]

Hmmm...I dunno....maybe her own money and rechargeable batteries...

 

[tmm99]

To me, affluent is someone who can spend money (big and small, but not as big as a house) frivelously without giong into debt, and who actually accumulates high quality material possessions. So by my definition, someone with tons of money (in the millions) who lives on the cheap, is not affluent.

Either way, 250K won't cut it.