Half of Americans feel wealthy when they own a home

Americans said it takes $2.4 million to be considered truly 'wealthy'

By Francis Monfort

09 Jul 2018

Owning a home makes almost half of Americans feel wealthy in their day-to-day lives, according to the Modern Wealth Index released by Charles Schwab.

When Schwab asked a thousand Americans about their personal definitions of wealth in their lives, nearly half at 49% said they believe saving and investing is the way to achieve wealth over time. However, other things, including homeownership, make them feel wealthy in their day-to-day lives.

The survey revealed that 49% of Americans feel wealthy when they own a home. However, homeownership was not the top was Americans defined wealth. Sixty-two percent of the respondents defined wealth as spending time with family, while 55% said wealth means having time to themselves. Owning a home came in third. Americans also said they felt wealth in their daily lives when they eat out or have meals delivered (41%) and when they have subscription services like movie/TV and music streaming (33%).

The company also asked the respondents to focus just on numbers. Respondents said they believe it takes $1.4 million to be considered financially comfortable, while it takes $2.4 million to be considered truly “wealthy.”