For the youngest generation, $428,474 is needed to classify yourself as rich. That's more than six times greater than the median personal income of $52,338, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
On a mean wealth basis, Australia was the fourth-richest country in 2021 behind Switzerland, the US and Hong Kong. The average Australian adult was worth $US550,110 at the end of last year, after enjoying a $US66,350 annual increase in wealth.
How much money do you need to be considered rich? According to Schwab's 2022 Modern Wealth Survey (opens in new tab), Americans believe it takes an average net worth of $2.2 million to qualify a person as being wealthy. (Net worth is the sum of your assets minus your liabilities.)
A net-worth millionaire is someone who has a net worth of at least $1,000,000.
The wealthiest 1 per cent of Australians held 21.8 per cent of the country's wealth in 2021, up from 19.6 per cent in 2007. “The strong rise in financial assets resulted in an increase in inequality in 2021,” the report by Credit Suisse, which helps manage the fortunes of many of the world's richest people, said.
Household wealth inequality
The study found that household wealth in Australia is very unequally divided. The highest 10 per cent of households by wealth has an average of $6.1 million or 46 per cent of all wealth. The next 30 per cent has an average of $1.7 million or 38 per cent.
Wealthy Individuals within Australia are generally deemed to be those with net investible assets (NIA) over $1M (or net of over $2.5M including the family home) and earning more than $250,000 per annum. Having said this, the ATO categorise 'Wealthy Individuals' as those who control a net wealth of $5M or more.
For most people, the answer is probably yes, a millionaire is considered rich. The median net worth of U.S. families in 2019 was $121,700, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Reserve Board Survey of Consumer Finances. 4 That's significantly less than a net worth of $1 million.
An annual income of $1 million or more was the most popular answer, with 22% of respondents saying they need to rake in seven figures to feel rich.
Their Defining Characteristics
The rich are often defined by their net worth, which is the value of their assets minus their liabilities. In contrast, the wealthy are defined more by their annual income. The rich tend to have a save and invest mindset, while the wealthy have a spend and enjoy mindset.
To some extent it depends on fluidity of membership of the top 1% (which in Australia means earning a pretax income of at least A$246,000).
Millionaire Statistics by Age
The average millionaire is 57 years old. As of 2013, 42% of millionaires are baby boomers (between 57 and 75 years of age), the majority of any age group. As of 2013, 19% of millionaires are millennials (between 18 and 31 years of age).
Getting to the top 1% net worth by age is a very impressive goal. But how much money do you need to get there? Overall, to have a top 1% net worth in 2022 requires having at least $10 million. $10 million is also the ideal net worth amount for retirement, based on my experience and the polling of thousands of others.
It then goes on to describe those middle income Australians as individuals earning between $120,000 and $160,000 a year.
All in all, only two percent of Australia's 14.3 million workers take over $200,000 a year. Only three percent of Australians earn $188,667.
So if you're on $100k or more, congratulations, you're in the top 20% of Aussie income earners. If not, don't worry, you're in the good company of 80% of Aussies.
At $200,000 a year, you are considered upper middle class in expensive coastal cities and rich in lower cost areas of the country. After $19,000 in retirement contributions to your 401(k), you are left with $181,000 in gross income, leaving you with roughly $126,700 in after tax income using a 30% effective tax rate.
All of the top 10 jobs earn an average income of over $155,000 a year, before tax or the Medicare levy are factored in. This is based on the mean, rather than the median average for each job. We've also taken a look at the average take-home pay, based on income tax rates for the 2022-2023 financial year.
The worst performing states are Tasmania, with incomes 26% below the national income and wealth average, as well as South Australia which is 19% below the average household income and 20% below the national net wealth.
Bogan (/ˈboʊɡən/ BOHG-ən) is Australian slang for a person whose speech, clothing, attitude and behaviour are considered unrefined or unsophisticated. Depending on the context, the term can be pejorative or self-deprecating.
The most expensive street in Australia, Ray White found, is Wolseley Road in Point Piper, a long street of almost 1km lined by mansions with panoramic harbour vistas from living rooms. In the last 12 months, deals of up to $45 million have been inked in Wolseley, leaving it with a median of $33 million.