Top 10%, 5%, and 1% of Net Worth - Here’s what it takes in 2026

Dollars tell part of the story, and lifestyle tells the rest. I'm 75 years old, and my goal was to retire comfortably. At age 62, I started SS with no regrets. We enjoy $1,000 a week of disposable (entertainment) income. If I won a million-dollar lotto, not much would change. We have more than enough, and the time to enjoy it.

I wish there was a way to view the seminar. I cannot be on the camera. I am battling a Bells Palsy and my face became disfigured and loads of steroids have me in a non camera mood.

Too bad...i like the quality of your work

"Grass is always greener" Comparing wealth is a fools errand! If you are happy! You are the Top Percent of all that is truly important!

I have been focusing on passive income while working my day job for last 20 years.... With 3 major streams of income - real estate rental income, portfolio income consisting of dividend stocks, CEFs, REITS, MLPs and BDCs and lastly my W-2 income. At 53 i continue to work my W-2 job for the benefits of health insurance and maxing out my 401k. Goal is to retire from the day job @ 58 and live off of the portfolio and real estate income

I have a income portfolio (stocks, ETFs, CEFs, REITS, MLPs & BDCs) giving me 100k annually and then i have a real estate rental portfolio producing about 125k annually. I also work full time but am considering leaving my day job. I am 53 and plan to retire by 58 from my day job

I'm a carpenter and built custom homes from the ground up for my boss. Every check I got, I took 20% of it and purchased as many physical ounces of gold that I could afford and the change left over went into physical silver. The other 80% went into purchasing tools, living expenses and saving up for a debt free lot to build on. I purchased debt free land and a small used travel trailer that I parked on my land to save money on rent. Then on the nights and weekends built a custom home that I sold. I had to wait several pay checks to afford some of the material packages because I didn't have any capital to work with besides my precious metals that I wasn't willing to trade for cash. I took 20% of the profits of the sale of the first home and purchased more gold and silver. Then I purchased lot #2, moved my travel trailer over to the new location, got it all set up and started to design and build my second custom home. I sold that second home, took 20% of the profits and purchased more gold and silver. Then I purchased lot #3, moved my travel trailer to my new location and got it all set up. Now I had plenty of capital to work with. Then I designed an affordable rental and a detached mother in law home and quit my job. Everything I built from this point forward, I kept for rental income. I still take 20% from every financial increase and purchase more gold and silver. I was able to retire at 30 years old by doing this and have reached the about 2% according to these numbers. I feel that it's more about the cash flow than the saving up to $11m because it's much easier to reach a monthly number than it is a supper large number. I decided to buy a nice sailboat and am now enjoying life traveling around the world. I fly back every now and then to manage my properties but hire others to do the work for me. I could purchase multi family land and hire a prime contractor to build for me while I'm off sailing around the world but I don't need to. I have way more monthly cash flow than I can spend with the lifestyle I chose to live.

What are the numbers for the Top 3 Percent, 2 Percent as the Numbers of the Top 1 Percent are very high

I know a family member Who is top 1%. With stock and bond holdings of 85% and 15% of real estate and enough cash at hand ! All self managed investments for 35-40 years. His children with $ 0.00 for education loans! Son an experienced Commercial pilot with major airline. Daughter worked for A REIT AS MARKETING DIRECTOR FOR 7 YEARS. NOW RAISING 3 children and HUSBAND A VP WITH A HEDGE FUND.

PERSONAL INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY 50-70% in VTI, VOO OR SPY. 10-15 % QQQ and 10-15 % VGT, LEFTOVER FOR SELECT INDIVIDUAL STOCKS AND BOND ETF. DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO ✅✅ ! NO TRADING, NO ADVISOR , ONLY A PERSONAL ATTORNEY FOR TRUST AND WILL ! A PERSONAL ACCOUNTANT FOR TAX RETURN ETC. REPORTED ANNUALIZED RETURN 15 % !
HE RAN PRIVATE MEDICAL IMAGING CENTER AS A PART OF PRACTICE AND LIFTED HIS EMPLOYEES AND MANAGER WITH GUIDANCE APPROPRIATE FOR THEIR INCOME, NEED AND TOLERANCE 👍👍 IT WILL TAKE TIME TO LEARN , EXECUTE AND PATIENCE! HE LEARNED A LOT FROM BOB BRINKER AND MR. BOGLE OF THE VANGUARD ✅✅$$ 🌅🌅

Stock market $5.3million...all taxable, dang it. House paid for, worth $240k. Where do i fit? Always lived below my means. Dont need $$ to live on but take $100k distribution every year to reduce rmd and use it to help family.

If during your life you have hit the objective objectives that mattered most to you, you are in the top 10 percent regardless of your net worth.

20-minute sales pitch

one other question, are the investable assets also excluding business equity ? I found a different calculator which excludes primary home and the levels are a little higher than yours (ie, top 5% was around 3 mm I think, top 1% around 12mm)

top 10% is still better than other 90%.

Good video, but needs Time Stamps.

You will always run into challenging or even frightening situations when you start investing, and it is a necessary part of the process. I hired a fiduclary in 2023 after suffering significant losses in my portfolio, and they successfully rebalanced it. Since then, my portfolio has increased by more than 200%.

Just use AI to manage at essentially no cost. You don’t need to be in the top 1%. Know when enough is enough.

You need 3.6% and 2% levels added.

I am the outlier which proves the rule ? my total asset is broken into JUST 2 parts： 21% in real estate and 79% in investable equitities。NO, INCOME GENERATING BUSINESS。own my home outright, zero mortgage, actually debt free。i stand somewhere between the top 5% and the top 1% according to your reported figures 。

Are these percentages household networth or individuals?

Loved this video. We’re 45/47 and our property is only at 23% of our net worth. We’re around 5% now. Nothing too exciting about our situation. Just saved a lot and lived below our means. Lately we’ve started to spend a bit more on travel and some convenience services, as we value free time and experiences, but we’re still modest with our “stuff”.
It’s not a goal of mine to get to 1% but I have been thinking a lot about estate and legacy planning. I’d also love to diversify more later on and look at private equity and real estate.

If one is retired at 95th percentile and after 30 years ends up at 90th percentile, looks to me focusing on non-financial matters would lend itself to a much more fulfilling life. In the end, you cannot take it with you.

I million isn’t bad if you have a pension along with health care and supplemental health insurance ( that you don’t have to pay for), social security , have no debt and own your own home ( separate from your net worth) . You’re not wealthy, but you are comfortable .

Amazing video, A friend of mine referred me to a financial adviser sometime ago and we got talking about investment and money. I started investing with $120k and in the first 2 months , my portfolio was reading $274,800. Crazy right!, I decided to reinvest my profit and gets more interesting. For over a year we have been working together making consistent profit just bought my second home 2 weeks ago and care for my family...

Truth is by 2027 unless you're a trillionaire your basically broke.

Im tired of these channels in my feed. These channels are garbage. First of all this data is wrong. $11 million is an average of the 1% household, not the threshold of reaching top 1% for an individua liquid.

The breakdown is about like this:

individual liquid $1 million = top 3%

individual liquid $2 million = 2%

$3+ million = 1%

Just focus on individal liquid $1 million. Thats top 3%, thats nearly financial freedom for most single guys and youre well on your way to retirement.

These channels have a very negative outcome in discouraging people because the numbers are not attainable

Just focus on $1 million.

The data is from 2022! Prices have gone up considerable since then. Would this not mean that the net worth would have increased.😊

Owning my house saves me from paying rent.

So many scammers in your comments. Why are you encouraging them?

And what if you are 60 and still renting?

For the 1% net worth group with 40% of their net worth being business ownership, how fuzzy are those numbers? Can they really sell that business? Or are they just a highly paid professional using a business wrapper. In other words, when they stop working a huge part of their net worth instantly evaporates. I would say a fair number of those $12 million net worth people are realistically $7 million net worth and $3.5 or less after the divorce.

Those numbers are “household” so if you’re single cut that number in half. Also, numbers are massively skewed by home equity and “business ownership” which is illiquid and difficult to value honestly. Someone with a million in liquid assets very well could be financially independent if they know how to manage money.

I think there’s a typo at 18:20. The middle one can’t be 842k.
By the way, my net asset is almost aud 8 mil but I have never thought about having a dedicated with management resource.

CAN you supporting me

Wish you'd stop using "real estate" in this video as a generic thing, when it's clear you mean "a house you live in", which you correctly note is a continuing financial obligation. "Real estate" also includes productive property like rentals that do both add to your net worth and generate an income stream as well as depreciation and tax benefits.

Working on moving from Top 10 to Top 5 is a topic that isn't specifically highlighted enough. I'm tired of watching generic personal finance stuff, I want to really zone in on people that are doing things and making moves between 10 and 5. Really great overview

This is a great video

$1MM in 1980 is $5MM today inflation adjusted

Business ownership - what does it mean exactly? I have been looking into quitting my tech job and buying a small local business… but isn’t it like buying a different job?

Very informative. Thank you!

wow - i can tell my wife we are in the 1%.

To listen to someone who puts all his eggs in one basket is questionable

Reality check....Most people in Top 5% investable income will never get to Top 1%... and that's ok. You're still wealthy and will have a wonderful retirement.

The fact that the 1 percenters are 450% more heavily invested in business ownership assets likely has more to do with already successful business owners reaching the top 1 percent than it does with successful savers diversifying into business ownership.

Correlation is not the same as causation.

Wealthy business people are going to own business interests. As apex capitalists they are most likely to land in the top 1 percent.

Successful highly-paid workers like doctors, pilots, attorneys, etc. are probably going to stay in their lane. They’re good at earning and saving money, but know little about running businesses, and might not really care to.

At some point many high earners figure they have enough and would simply prefer to keep life simple and enjoy what they have.

My goal was to have 1 million in investable assets by 40. Im 39 and currently have 4.75 million. Goal achieved. 🥳

My total net worth is short of the top 10%. It is only $1,120,000. However, unlike many at our level we are not house rich and cash poor. The liquid part of our net worth is $775,000.00. That liquidity buys a lot of piece of mind. I retired 10 years ago. My best year working was almost $60,000.00. We are not big spenders, pensions and social security take care of normal monthly expenses. 94% of the monthly income is tied to COLA. As a result the money continues accumulating.