By the time you reach age 40, prevailing wisdom says you should have a net worth equal to about twice your annual salary. Hopefully, you climbed the salary ladder a bit in your 30s, too. If you're making $80,000 annually, for example, your goal should be to have a net worth of $160,000 at age 40.
The average American's net worth at 40
Having said that, according to the most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, which is conducted every three years by the Federal Reserve, the median net worth of a household in the 35-44 age group is $91,300. However, the average net worth in this age group is $436,200.
Top 1% net worth for ages 18-24: $435,076.59. Top 1% net worth for ages 25-29: $606,188.36. Top 1% net worth for ages 30-34: $956,944.74. Top 1% net worth for ages 35-39: $4,034,486.45.
A common rule of thumb is to have at least three months and ideally six months worth of living expenses in your savings at a minimum. This is to ensure you can manage if you were to suddenly be out of a job, if a health problem emerges or a change in personal circumstances occurs.
If you retire with $500k in assets, the 4% rule says that you should be able to withdraw $20,000 per year for a 30-year (or longer) retirement. So, if you retire at 60, the money should ideally last through age 90. If 4% sounds too low to you, remember that you'll take an income that increases with inflation.
Australians wanting to be in the country's top 1% for wealth need to have an individual net worth of US$5.5 million ($8.3 million), Knight Frank's 2023 Wealth Report has found.
While $10 million is a lot of money, retiring at 50 means you can plan on approximately 40 years of retirement if you expect to live to around the average age. Even if nothing catastrophic happens to you or the economy in the meantime, inflation alone can make a dent in what you can expect from your savings.
An investor with less than $1 million but more than $100,000 is considered to be a sub-HNWI. The upper end of HNWI is around $5 million, at which point the client is referred to as a very-HNWI. More than $30 million in wealth classifies a person as an ultra-HNWI.
As you can see, the average savings by 40 is higher than $48,000 but likely lower than $148,000. However, it's worth noting that just because that's the average, that amount may not be what you might want to consider having saved. Keep reading for more information.
It takes $2.2 million to be considered wealthy
The data also demonstrated that the 48% of Americans who feel wealthy today have an average net worth of $560,000, compared to the $2.2 million they say it takes to be considered wealthy.
Millionaire stats show that roughly 6% of the millionaires in the US are under 29, and only 2% are between the ages of 30 and 39. About 1.79 million people under 30 in the United States are millionaires—about 8% of the millionaires in America.
The data show the median household had a net worth of $579,200 in 2019-20. This figure captures the total value of assets such as real estate, shares and superannuation, and deducts a household's liabilities such as credit card debt and home loans.
She said people under 35 should aim to have at least three months' salary saved in the bank, and people over 35 should aim to stretch it to six months' salary. “Simply look over your last few bank statements to work out how much you are earning and spending each month, and use that as a guide,” she explained.
Someone earning $200,000 a year would be among the top 3.5 per cent of Australians who fall into the top tax bracket which cuts in at $180,000 a year. Mr Derbas suggested in the video that singles living in the Harbour City would do incredibly well on the same salary.
Retiring at 40 with $2 million is an ambitious goal, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. While you'll need a decent salary or other sources of income or wealth, saving $2 million is not out of reach.
Is $4 million enough to retire at 50? Yes, you can retire at 50 with four million dollars. At age 50, an annuity will provide a guaranteed level income of $215,000 annually starting immediately for the rest of the insured's lifetime. The income will stay the same and never decrease.
If you're retiring at 55 instead of 66, you have 11 extra years of expenses and 11 fewer years of income that your savings will need to cover. The good news: As long as you plan carefully, $3 million should be a comfortable amount to retire on at 55.
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.
Average Australian Salaries in 2023
A taxable income that was $131,501 or higher was within the top 10% of earners in Australia last year. About 5% of taxpayers had incomes above $180,000. Someone who earned more than $253,066 was in the top 1%.
But the number might surprise you. To be considered in Australia's highest percentage of wealth, you must have a total net worth of a staggering US$5.5 million (A$8.26 million).
Retiring at 45 with $2 million takes diligent saving and detailed planning, but it is possible. However, you'll have between 20 and 25 years to save, so you must save nearly $3,000 each to hit your goal.
You can probably retire in financial comfort at age 45 if you have $3 million in savings. Although it's much younger than most people retire, that much money can likely generate adequate income for as long as you live.
Achieving retirement before 50 may seem unreachable, but it's entirely doable if you can save $1 million over your career. The keys to making this happen within a little more than two decades are a rigorous budget and a comprehensive retirement plan.