$100,000 is no small sum. After all, it’s the cost of cloning two pet dogs like Barbara Streisand once did and the projected price of a ticket to space in 10 years. It’s also the projected net worth of the average adult in 2024.
So finds a new report from investment bank Credit Suisse. Despite what your bank account and economists might say, individual fortunes are projected to continue to grow internationally by 28% per adult in just under two years.
More people in general are reaching the upper echelon of wealth, with Credit Suisse predicting that the number of millionaires will increase by a whopping 40% by 2026. While a recession may drive a temporary decrease in the immense accumulation of wealth, the Swiss bank’s research indicates it won’t stop the trajectory of wealth growth over the next five years.
The U.S. also added the most household wealth in 2021, Credit Suisse found, although inflation hit record highs this year. Millennials and Gen X households have gained the most wealth since 2019, while African American and Hispanic households experienced the greatest growth in wealth, per the report.
Even so, $100,000 isn’t what it used to be—at least not in the U.S., where the cost of raising a child is three times that number and the median sale price for a house is a bit over $400,000. The cost of living has also soared, and many Americans are now dipping into their pandemic-era savings to pay for monthly bills and groceries.
As prices go up and salaries stay more or less the same, the middle class is continuing to shrink. Only a third of Americans are now considered to be financially healthy, a 3% drop down from 34% in 2021, per Financial Health Pulse’s 2022 U.S. Trends Report. As pandemic-era assistance programs ended, the percentage of people who reported spending less or equal to what they were earning hit a five-year low of 79%.
Despite the hike in prices and an overall pessimism about finances, there is a sign that the tides might soon change: Gas is cheaper, and the inflation expectations are declining.
With a bit of shock to the markets and a pinch to the wallets, Americans are currently feeling stressed about their finances. But the Swiss bank paints a bigger picture of a less anxiety-provoking situation. That is, if inflation abates and $100,000 stretches a little further by 2024.
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