There’s a lot of it! Cautioning that federal spending had a way of getting out of control, Erik Dirksen reportedly observed, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.” In 2022, the value of currency in circulation in the United States amounted to roughly $2.26 trillion, a slight increase compared to the previous year.

Not surprising, money in the U.S. isn’t evenly distributed. Now the caveats:

(1) numbers vary, depending on year reported and source, but the patterns are stable.

(2) “Average” is usually the arithmetic average, or ”mean.” Averages tend to be skewed, pulled high or low by the extreme numbers. Often median is the more useful number: the median is the mid-point where half are higher and half are lower. For example, in 2024, the mean family income in Virginia was $123,883 while the median family income was $93,284.

Caveats aside, I hope you find what follows interesting.

American Wealth

America is, indeed, a rich country. According to an annual assessment of wealth and assets compiled and published by the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, in the middle of 2021, there were 56 million people worldwide whose assets exceeded one million US dollars. Over 40% lived in the United States .

So, worldwide, the United States is home to the largest number of millionaires: 22 million in 2023, representing 6.6 percent of the country’s population.

At the other end of the spectrum, in 2022, 41.89 million people in the U.S. were living in poverty. The most recent data from the US Census Bureau showed the national poverty rate at 11.5%. To put that into perspective, that’s 37.9 million people living in poverty in America.

About 50 million Americans are “poor”: i.e., they have household incomes below 125% of poverty, including more than 15 million children. In 2022, household incomes below 125% of poverty correspond to annual incomes below $34,500 for a family of four or $17,500 for an individual.

Just as being poor isn’t identical with living in poverty, having a million dollars isn’t the same as being “rich.”

For example, you may be considered rich if you’re in the nation’s top 1% of earners. In 2022, that group saw an average annual income from wages of $785,968—nearly 19 times higher than the bottom 90%, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The top 5% of income earners make $335,891 per year.

American Net Worth

Another measure of wealth is net worth. Net worth is the difference between the values of your assets and liabilities. The average American net worth is $1,063,700, as of 2022. Net worth averages increase with age from $183,500 for those 35 and under to $1,794,600 for those 65 to 74.

A high-net-worth individual, or HNWI, might be defined differently among certain financial institutions. But in all cases, a high-net-worth individual is someone with a large amount of wealth. Typically, a high-net-worth individual has assets of between $1 million and $5 million. To be considered very high net worth, one might need assets ranging from $5 million to $10 million, while an ultra-high net worth would require $30 million or more.

According to Schwab’s Modern Wealth Survey, in 2023, Americans said that it takes an average net worth of $2.2 million to qualify a person as being wealthy—i.e., high-net-worth according to the above labels.

Rich or Wealthy?

There’s a difference between being rich and being wealthy. Wealth is all about the money you hold onto. Being rich is having things: the nice house, car, clothes. And free time. We’re all familiar with “Time is money.” For the rich, money is time, time available to do whatever one pleases.

Two studies consistently found that rich people are more conscientious, open to experience, and extraverted than the average population. They are also less agreeable (that is, less likely to shy away from conflict) and less neurotic (as in, more psychologically stable).

Traits of rich people (from sources across the web)

• Emotional stability
• Conscientious
• Less neurotic
• Sociopathy
• Passion
• Healthy habits
• Lack of empathy
• Optimistic and opportunistic
• Less likely to assign blame
• Strategic use of credit and investments
• Confidence (often over-confidence)
• Education (important, but not required)
• Narcissism
• Self-centered
• Resilience
• Risk taking
• Extroverted
• Decisive

The rich are often quieter than the poor because they have less to worry about. Money can buy you food, shelter, and a financially secure future. It can also buy you freedom from want and fear. When you have enough money, you don’t have to worry about where your next meal is coming from or whether you’ll be able to pay your rent. Wealthy people don’t have to live with the constant fear that a single illness, car malfunction, or unexpected bill will send them spiraling into homelessness.

Poor or Impoverished?

Though America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, huge swaths of the population are only one or two paychecks away from financial disaster. Living near or below the poverty line has drastic effects on peoples’ mental and physical health, some of which show up as behavioral patterns. People who cannot afford to lose their jobs are more likely to put up with bad conditions at work. Taking the bus to work and doing your own home cleaning and repairs leaves very little time or energy to visit with friends. Not being able to afford seeing a doctor often means minor ailments develop into serious health complaints. If your mind is consumed with how to pay the electric bill and afford medication, you’re liable to pay less attention to international politics.

Traits of impoverished people

• Likely to develop chronic stress health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, etc.)
• Adaptability
• Focus on short-term goals
• Innovation
• Community involvement
• Tendency to unhealthy coping mechanisms (alcohol, drugs, etc.)
• Missing work or obligations due to unreliable transportation
• Shorter lifespans
• Empathy
• Lack of access to routine healthcare
• Patience
• Malnutrition or poor diet
• Lack of trust in institutions
• Wide-ranging skill sets
• Have less time for hobbies or social engagement
• Lower sense of control

Children Without Money

Children who grow up without financial stability are more likely to develop a myriad of health issues, including depression, asthma, diabetes, PTSD, obesity, lack of impulse control, and delayed cognitive and social development. Poverty can drastically impact a child’s performance in school. A person who grows up in poverty will likely continue to feel the echoes of these ills into adulthood.

Signs of Poverty & Neglect in Children: 

• Poor hygiene and general lack of cleanliness 
• Inappropriate uniform, shoes, or clothing 
• Lack of food provided or money for food 
• Malnutrition 
• Missing school equipment or other required items 
• Poor or inappropriate living conditions 
• Negative impact on mental health and self-worth 
• Tiredness or inability to concentrate at school 
• Stealing or taking things to use, eat, or sell 
• Being left home alone 

Signs of Poverty	Signs of Neglect
Parents requesting support from school	No or limited access to health care
Children working jobs outside school	Repeated absence from school
Children concerned about parents and situation	Lack of parental involvement

Many of the signs are the same for both neglect and poverty.

Does Money Buy Happiness?

The folk wisdom is that money can’t buy happiness, but the lack of it can “buy” a lot of misery.

And, actually, self-reports of life satisfaction indicate that as income/money goes up, so does satisfaction, although at the high end, there are diminishing returns. More money is associated with more happiness for most, but not all, people. For 80% of people, happiness continues to rise with income past $75,000.

And much depends on where you start. “If you’re rich and miserable, more money won’t help,” said Matthew Killingsworth in a UPenn release. Further, the extent to which money affects happiness differs for people with different levels of emotional well- being. According to the UPenn release, the collaborative 2021 paper found that “for the least happy group, happiness rises with income until $100,000, then shows no further increase as income grows. For those in the middle range of emotional well-being, happiness increases linearly with income, and for the happiest group, the association actually accelerates above $100,000.”

John Jennings gave a great summary in Forbes: “While the link between income and happiness is real, it’s modest and conditional. We must be careful not to overemphasize money’s role in happiness. Happiness is a complex topic involving various factors —money being just one of them. Genetics, health, relationships, leisure time, and purpose likely matter more for well-being than dollars alone.

“As the Beatles sang, ‘Money can’t buy me love.’ Yet, used wisely, money can enhance our sense of well-being and improve our lives.”

How Do You View Money?

In my opinion, people in the United States have a skewed view of money. Between depictions of wealth and “the good life” in the media, not to mention the incomes publicized for professional athletes and others, there’s a tendency to think more is always better.

For people living in poverty or just above, life is hand-to-mouth, and there is virtually no wiggle-room. For the rest of us, we should look at our relationship with money and its place in our lives. Many years ago, I read Your Money or Your Life (Dominguez & Robin, 1992). I highly recommend it for getting one’s head on straight about money.

Bottom Line: Consider the place of money in your life and make the most of both money and your life.