How Many Millionaires Inherited Their Wealth? 21% of millionaires received some inheritance, but only 3% received an inheritance of $1 million or above.
There are over 24.4 million people in the United States with wealth greater than $1 million, according to the Global Wealth Report by Credit Suisse. Possessing a net worth—the value of all of your holdings minus your liabilities—of $1 million will not automatically place you in the gilded top 1%.
There are 5.3 million millionaires and 770 billionaires living in the United States. Millionaires make up about 2% of the U.S. adult population. While an ultra-high net worth will be out of reach for most, you can amass $1 million by managing money well and investing regularly.
Bottom Line
While the average inheritance is $46,200, only a small percentage of households end up actually inheriting money. For households that do receive inheritances, the size of those windfalls can vary greatly for those in the top 1% of households compared to those in the bottom half.
During the past 20 years, Australian inheritances have added up to almost $1.4 trillion — about $67 billion a year. The average inheritance is about $125,000 and goes to a recipient about 50 years old, who is usually well-established in their career.
In general, a large inheritance is considered to be a sum of money or assets that is significantly larger than the individual's typical annual income. Specifically, for some individuals, a large inheritance may be considered to be $100,000 or more, while for others, it may be several million dollars.
That said, an inheritance of $100,000 or more is generally considered large. This is a considerable sum of money, and receiving such a windfall can be intimidating, especially if you have limited experience managing excess funds.
A 2021 University of Pennsylvania study found that households in the top 5 percent of the nation's income distribution receive inheritances between 4 to 12 times larger than households in the bottom 80 percent. And regardless of income, the median inheritance for someone aged 56-65 was about $19,800.
Inherited assets currently total about A$120 billion per year in Australia, and this figure is expected to quadruple to almost A$500 billion per year over the next 25 years. The large increase reflects the expectation that property values will increase significantly over the longer term, as they have in the past.
Dave Ramsey, personal finance expert and founder of Ramsey Solutions, says this myth of primarily inherited riches is “flat wrong.” When Ramsey's National Study of Millionaires asked where the riches came from, they found that a whopping 79% didn't receive any inheritance from parents or other family members.
Still commonly used is multimillionaire, which refers to individuals with net assets of 2 million or more of a currency.
The average age of millionaires is 57. There were 5.2 million new millionaires in 2020. The minimum net worth of millionaires is about $11.1 million. China will increase its millionaire count by 92.7% by 2025.
A net-worth millionaire is someone who has a net worth of at least $1,000,000. Net worth is a fancy way to say 'what you own minus what you owe. ' If that amount ends up being $1,000,000+, you're a net-worth millionaire." These definitions have distinct differences that affect real wealth calculations.
What Is a Millionaire? A millionaire is somebody with a net worth of one million dollars. It's a simple math formula based on your net worth. When what you own (your assets) minus what you owe (your liabilities) equals more than a million dollars, you're a millionaire.
You might need $5 million to $10 million to qualify as having a very high net worth while it may take $30 million or more to be considered ultra-high net worth. That's how financial advisors typically view wealth.
Wealth in Australia, as in other countries, is very unequally distributed, and indeed much more so than income. The wealthiest 10 per cent of households have a mean net worth of $1.56 million, with the median being $1.19 million. The wealthiest 5 per cent actually average $2.15 million, with a median of $1.65 million.
Key statistics
Average net worth for all Australian households in 2019–20 was $1.04 million. Total average liabilities for households saw a statistically significant increase from $189,500 in 2017–18 to $203,800 in 2019–20.
In 2022, there were 47 billionaires living in Australia. With an estimated 27 billion U.S. dollars net worth in 2023, mining magnate Gina Rinehart has topped the Australian rich list for over ten years running, and is one of the wealthiest women worldwide, after building her wealth through iron ore.
We find that inheritance size is highly correlated with income, particularly at the top end of the income distribution; the bulk of inheritances are received between the ages of 46 and 75; and that most inheritances come from parents.
Deposit the money into a safe account
Your first action to take when receiving a lump sum is to deposit the money into an FDIC-insured bank account. This will allow for safekeeping while you consider how to make the best use of your inheritance.
Some examples of goals you may want to use this money for include retiring the way you want, paying off your debt, or purchasing a new home. Spend some time in thought, then meet with your advisor to review your options and identify the most appropriate course of action and map out a plan to implement it.
The authors find that 30 to 40 percent of households eventually receive an inheritance. This figure is a little higher than our estimate of around 30 percent (see Section 4). They also surmise that inheritances reflect a mixture of intentional and accidental bequests, with the latter twice as prevalent.