What Net Worth Puts You In The Top 10% and Top 1% in US (2025)?

Matt | Personal Finance

Have you ever wondered how much wealth you need to have to be in the top 1% or the top 10% in the US?   In this video, I’ve done the research and will share the average Net Worth figures for households in these groups, based on the latest data from the Federal Reserve (including how much money does an average American have)   I also walk you through 5 actionable tips to help you increase your Net Worth   #networth #wealth #personalfinance #moneytips #saving #wealthbuilding #top1%

Transcript

00:00Have you ever wondered just how much wealth you need to have to be in the top 1%? I've done the

00:04research and in this video I'm going to share the average net worth figures for US households

00:09for the top 10% and the top 1% based on data from the Federal Reserve. If you're new to this channel

00:15I'm Matt, I'm a finance consultant. I've spent over eight years working for one of the top

00:19consulting companies in London. I now run my own company and on this channel I talk all things

00:24personal finance. So before we get going it's worth explaining what net worth is and how it's

00:29calculated. It's the calculation of what you own your assets minus what you owe your debts and

00:36liabilities. So for example if you had a $350,000 house, $50,000 in your pension and $10,000 in cash

00:45in a bank account then you would have a total of $410,000 worth of assets. However for your net worth

00:51you need to subtract any debts that you had. So if you had a $250,000 mortgage and $2,000 worth of

00:59credit card debt then the total net worth would actually be the $410,000 minus the $252,000

01:07equaling a total net worth of $158,000. You can use an online net worth calculator to help you calculate

01:14your own net worth. The key categories of net worth are firstly physical wealth which includes things like

01:20the value of any cars that you own or household possessions such as jewelry, watches, electronics

01:26or expensive furniture. Secondly property wealth which includes your home or main residence and then

01:32any other properties that you might own such as rental properties or a holiday home. It's the value

01:38of these properties minus any mortgage debt. Thirdly is the value of your pension wealth and investments

01:43and fourthly is your financial wealth from things like savings, stocks and shares and any other

01:49financial investments that you might have minus any financial liabilities like credit card debts or

01:54personal loans. Importantly it's not to be confused with earned income which is your paycheck or your

02:00salary that you earn each month. You could be earning over $100,000 a year but if you spend it all rather

02:06than saving, investing and having assets then your net worth is going to be zero. So let's start with the

02:12net worth for people aged between 18 and 24. For a lot of people at this age they're either in or

02:17finishing college or university they're just starting their careers and they've often got large amounts

02:23of student debt to pay back. However surprisingly we still see the top 10% with net worth of over

02:29$184,000 and the top 1% already has around $653,000. For the age group between 25 and 29 who are really at

02:39the early part of their career the top 10% have net worth of almost $297,000 and the top 1% have a

02:47staggering amount for their age group at around $2.1 million. In the early 30s age group between 30 and

02:5434 the net worth for the top 10% increases again when compared to the late 20s age group. The net worth is

03:01over $538,000 and for the top 1% is around $2.6 million. And then by middle to late 30s net worth increases

03:10much more rapidly almost doubling by 35 to 39. The net worth for the top 10% is over $864,000 and for

03:20the top 1% is $4.7 million. In the late 40s and 50s age groups again we see big increases in net worth.

03:28This is where people's pensions and investments have grown. They've likely owned and held property

03:33which is appreciated in value over time and they might also own businesses which has also contributed

03:39to their net worth. It's also the age groups where on average they earn the most amount of money they

03:45will do over their lifetime. So they're able to save, invest and grow their wealth at a much faster

03:50rate. For the age group between 40 and 44 the net worth for the top 10% is now over $1.1 million

03:56and for the top 1% is around $7.8 million. And then if you go from early 40s to mid to late 50s

04:04the net worth shoots up and doubles. For the age group between 55 and 59 the net worth for the top

04:1110% is now over $2.6 million and for the top 1% is around $15.3 million. Mind-blowing. And then from

04:20mid to late 60s net wealth peaks and then gradually starts to decline from early to mid 70s when pension

04:27and retirement spending is increasing. Often at this point people start turning their investment

04:32strategies from wealth appreciation to wealth preservation to support their retirement plans.

04:37For the 65 to 69 age group the net worth for the top 10% is over $2.9 million and it peaks for the top

04:451% at around $22.1 million. And then for the 70 to 74 age group we then start to see the net worth

04:52decline for the top 1% to around $18.7 million. That's still a very nice pension to be living off.

04:59If you're thinking well I'm nowhere close to these numbers don't be disheartened these are heavily

05:04skewed by very wealthy households pulling up the average. Think of people like Elon Musk and Michael

05:09Jordan and all of the billions of dollars that they own. Looking at the median net worth of people

05:15in the US is a more accurate representation for most people. The overall median net worth for US

05:21households is just over $192,000. That might help you breathe a little easier. If you're wondering

05:28how you can build and increase your own net worth I'm going to share five tips for how you can do this.

05:34The first one is on how you manage your income and expenses and stopping the cycle of lifestyle

05:38inflation. As you earn more money you spend more money. Many of the people with large wealth aren't

05:44actually the same people that spend lots of money on designer clothes, sports cars or multiple holidays

05:50abroad. If you can do your best to keep your expenses at a similar level or below your means while your

05:56income goes up you'll find you're able to grow your wealth at a much faster rate. One of the things I

06:01found really helpful was to have an income and expenses tracker. It helped me to set a goal on where

06:06I wanted to get to to identify what I could save and invest and it also helped me to target to reduce

06:13the cost of large monthly expenses so I could manage my budget to be within my means each month.

06:18Second is to pay off any high interest debts that you have such as credit card debts, car loans,

06:23personal loans or student debt. It's very difficult to build your savings and your wealth if you have

06:29high interest debt. It can often feel like you're living paycheck to paycheck, your income comes in,

06:35you pay your rent, you pay your bills, you pay off any credit card interest and then at the end of

06:39the month you find you haven't got any money left to save and invest. So if you have any high interest

06:44debt make it a priority to pay off as soon as possible start by listing any debts that you have

06:50with an interest rate of greater than seven percent and pay off the highest interest rate first. The

06:55third point is to save at least 20 percent of your annual income and to put it into your pension

07:00investments. If you haven't done this already start by opening a tax-free investment account such as a

07:05Roth IRA and maximize any employer match pension benefits like 401k. Fourth is to focus on ways to

07:12increase your income so you're able to save more each month. There are a few ways to do this one

07:18way is by investing in yourself to increase your skills so you're more valuable in the job market

07:23either to be able to negotiate a higher salary or to be able to move to a higher paying job.

07:28For example if you're currently a waiter in a restaurant and you manage to save up five hundred

07:33dollars and you take that money and you pay for a sales course which enables you to get a sales job

07:38paying you more money if you're then able to add the ability to do marketing on top while you're

07:43doing your sales job then you're now able to run an ad campaign get customer leads in and close sales

07:50your earning potential has just gone up tenfold compared to the pay you were getting as a waiter.

07:54Another way to increase your income is to start a side hustle business there are lots of videos on

08:00youtube and online giving ideas of what you can start from scratch and many of these don't require

08:05lots of startup money to get going with yourself for example it could be teaching a short course

08:10online about how to edit photos which you can do on platforms such as udemy have a think about what

08:17strengths and skills you already have which could help you to earn some additional money on the side

08:21and the fifth and final point is to invest with a long-term mindset the trend for most people is

08:26that net worth increases as you get older and it's essential to be as consistent as you can with

08:32your investments so that compound interest can do its job in helping your money grow over the long

08:38term if someone who is 30 were to invest 500 per month over a 35 year period assuming an average annual

08:46rate of return of eight percent they would have just over one million dollars by 65 that's pretty good

08:53going the earlier you can save and invest the more benefit you can get from compounding your investments

08:59the other part of this is acquiring assets which grow in value over the long term if you look at

09:04some of the wealthiest people in the world people like elon musk warren buffett bill gates their wealth

09:10is not based on having cash in the bank it's based on the value of the assets they own they've acquired

09:15assets such as businesses or property and their wealth grows from the equity value increasing and also

09:22from the assets generating income and that income is then reinvested in buying more assets and that cycle

09:28keeps compounding growing the size and value of their assets and wealth so these are my top five tips

09:33for helping you grow your net worth and wealth i hope this video has been helpful feel free to leave

09:39any questions in the comments and give the video a like and a subscribe and i'll see you on the next video

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