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How to Determine If You're Wealthy
From "The Millionaire Next Door" by Stanley and Danko. (Highly recommended, by the way--you will learn a lot about who really has money in this country, and what they do with it, and why. It's not who you might think.)
"Multiply your age times your realized pretax annual household income from all sources except inheritances. Divide by ten. This, less any inherited wealth, is what your net worth should be."
If you have this figure, you are an AAW or average accumulator of wealth. If you have 2x or more, you are a PAW or a prodigious accumulator of wealth. If your net worth is 1/2 what the AAW of your age and income has--or less--then you are an UAW, an under accumulator of wealth.
In other words, income is no guarantee, possessions are no guarantee that a person is wealthy. Why read this book, if you feel you're not in the running?
Because they tell you how it's done. And anyone with discipline can do it. True American millionaires usually become millionaires because they don't want to be held hostage to a job, to fears of losing a job or to health problems--they never want to fear poverty in old age when they can't work. So they save, or they live well below their means and invest--and they get clever about passive sources of income, which I'm trying to learn about.
This is not offered to depress people. I thought I was in horrible shape--but I've found out I'm a PAW, and although I may have to spend some of it to try and keep ahead of the illness, I have some money to spend. You may not be in as bad a shape as you think--most people are in average to horrible shape. Can I retire yet? Heck, no.
You can catch up. I bought this book used for eight bucks, and you can find the paperback even cheaper. Check your library for it. This year--plan for your future.
Re: Not yet