The Average ER.org'er has $2.9M Net Worth, $84K/yr Spending, 3.4% Withdrawal Rate...

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion It is kind of interesting that it is socially acceptable to tout how much net worth one has but not really as nice and acceptable to tout how healthy one is compared to others.

Maybe I'm in the wrong social circle but I don't see it as socially acceptable to tout or gloat about one's net worth. I have noticed more and more of it on this forum lately though.

[Midpack]

Persistent though somewhat infrequent, there have always been posts here speculating on what the norms are on this forum. The purpose of the thread was to attempt to loosely quantify the most common parameters for those who want to know, using polls that have been conducted here - you can search them any time just like I did. As I acknowledged in post #1 the distributions are broad (so we all have plenty of peers) and determining the exact means for each isn't possible. The polls are anonymous with deliberately wide bin ranges. I have seen few if any members "touting" their specifics (we're all anonymous anyway), and this thread certainly wasn't meant to encourage it.

[Luck_Club]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 Maybe I'm in the wrong social circle but I don't see it as socially acceptable to tout or gloat about one's net worth. I have noticed more and more of it on this forum lately though.

I think Fermion was referring to it being more acceptable to show your tail feathers a little on this forum as opposed to in our everyday life.

I would never go open Komono with my friends. This group has been exposed more to my financial life then even my accountant, since he only get to account after the fact and has no involvement in the strategies.

This reminds me of when one of our friends asked us ( two couples) if we wanted to know how much he made? Despite a resounding NO from the group, he told us, and we remained silent.

[dtbach]

Good thread. I suspected that the average ER was in the millionaire club. I'm shy of the net worth but pension above 25% so I'm probably just about average. Anyway thanks for the info.

[Fermion]

I don't really know what I am trying to say actually. It is just a feeling that pointing out the relatively high average net worth of people on this forum might tend to discourage some from participating. I am also trying to point out that a good chunk of the high net worth of people comes from some amount of luck (home price appreciation in certain hot markets, stock options that went boom instead of bust, pensions that didn't get driven under a truck and then backed over again for good measure). Some patting on the back is ok in my book but when we get threads like "I have more money than a small country's GDP, can I retire?" it gets a little tiresome." Similar are the threads that say their SWR is 0%. Yay?

Anyway, I can always flip back to cheaprvliving where the average net worth is more like $2900 instead of $2,900,000 and get my smugness on.

[GrayHare]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perryinva So my NW is much lower but income much higher. Guess I'd rather have it that way.

No one can draw useful comparisons from that data because you don't know if your household size matches that in the survey. If you're single but the survey represents a 1.9 person household on average, you might be misled into thinking, for example, your NW is much lower than average when in reality it would not be.

[LRDave]

Two thoughts:


1) This is really a GREAT online community and I'd have a beer with any one of you. But I opine that there is a little #humblebrag and embellishment here from time-to-time. That said, it might not impact the results much and still would not change the offer to buy you (the collective you) a drink.


2) As Big_Hitter pointed out, maybe median is a better stat to consider then mean.....

[LRDave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LRDave Two thoughts: 1) This is really a GREAT online community and I'd have a beer with any one of you. But I opine that there is a little #humblebrag and embellishment here from time-to-time. That said, it might not impact the results much and still would not change the offer to buy you (the collective you) a drink. 2) As Big_Hitter pointed out, maybe median is a better stat to consider then mean.....

Forgot to point out, I'm in the lower 50th percentile - mean or median.

[kevdude]

This is pretty interesting data to me. That being said, it has no other impact on me other than to say, "Huh, we're (either above or below) the numbers." And I'll go on with my day.

And thanks, Midpack, for compiling everything.

[flintnational]

Copied from the forum header, " Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community". I am not sure how you can have this type of forum and not discuss net worth and spending. It would be like joining a fishing forum and never discussing the fish you caught.

Thanks again for the data.

FN

[Perryinva]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Income? OP was talking about spending I thought.

You are 100% correct. So except the pensions being well above 25% of income, I'm a drag on the averages. Actually, I didn't participate because I'm 30 months from retirement. I'm only predicting spending above 85k.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flintnational Copied from the forum header, " Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community". I am not sure how you can have this type of forum and not discuss net worth and spending. It would be like joining a fishing forum and never discussing the fish you caught. Thanks again for the data. FN

Percentages work in most cases.

Absolute spending? "It depends" ™. There are people who manage a nice life (for them) on very little. Others would not be happy at that level. There is no right or wrong. But the % for a withdrawal rate is independent of amount.

It's about the process, not the amount (for most of us).

-ERD50

[brucethebroker]

Somebody is holding an extra 2+ million to average me out, apparently....how about a loan??

[RobbieB]

Sure. How about 1%? A month -

[HadEnuff]

This is one class where being average ain't too shabby.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff This is one class where being average ain't too shabby.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff This is one class where being average ain't too shabby.

In most areas of my life, I've been thrilled if I'm able to achieve mediocrity!

-ERD50

[MarieIG]

I find the observations of OP interesting. I think he started a few of those polls. Anyway, I have no problem with anyone here touting about how well they've done. I'm happy for them. A large part of this forum is about managing finances, to the extent people want to, they should be able to talk about them without being afraid of being slapped down for touting.

[stepford]

That's why I find these sorts of polls useful rather than intrusive. By seeing how our financial situations compare to our fellow forum members we can get an idea whether their RE experiences will be germane to our own. While I would hope we all make our own RE decisions based on our own individual criteria it provides a substantial degree of reassurance to see that we (mostly) fall somewhere the comfortable center of the bell curve when it comes to all these financial parameters.

Conversely it's a useful warning signal if one finds one's financial situation departs too drastically from these averages.

[alaska55]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stepford That's why I find these sorts of polls useful rather than intrusive. By seeing how our financial situations compare to our fellow forum members we can get an idea whether their RE experiences will be germane to our own. While I would hope we all make our own RE decisions based on our own individual criteria it provides a substantial degree of reassurance to see that we (mostly) fall somewhere the comfortable center of the bell curve when it comes to all these financial parameters. Conversely it's a useful warning signal if one finds one's financial situation departs too drastically from these averages.

Really Only if you worry about keeping up with the Jones, How much is too drastically below 2.9 million NW. It takes about 1.87 million to be in the top 5%. It drops fast it only takes 428k to be in the top 20% and just shy of a million to be in the top 10%. I would say spend some of that NW and spread the wealth.