# 1 in 7 white households has over a million dollars in assets? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986 "2017-10-04T22:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/61 "2017-10-06T15:19:22Z")
> [@treis](#): > > I think home value increases are much more geographically limited that people think. Yeah, if you bought a house 30 years ago in San Francisco or Chicago or DC you made out. But what if you bought in Detroit, Cleveland, or Buffalo? > > House equity probably helps the median get up to 177k but the average is driven by the super wealthy. But also consider that the population of the SF bay area plus NYC metro alone make up for probably a good 5% of the entire US population. That’s a good number of million dollar homes. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/62 "2017-10-06T15:23:34Z")
I’ve been trying to find a breakdown of home values. Median is only like $200k, but what’s the top decile/quintile/quartile? I can’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/63 "2017-10-06T15:28:04Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > The 7% example I worked out to show my kids was this: > > Invest the following amount each week for the the ages listed and you will be a millionaire at 67. > > $25 : 22-30 > $50 : 31-35 > $75 : 36-40 > $100 : 41-45 > $150 : 46-50 > $200 : 51-67 > > Increase it by $25/week and it is almost $1.5M. > [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > Invest in what? I recommend a simple S&P 500 index fund. The average return of the S&P since 1928 (which includes the Great Depression) is over 10%. > [@](#): > > If the investments arent in guaranteed return, arent you risking a lot? > > I hear too much negative from Wall Street investments, why cant banks give higher interest rates anymore?? You are hearing wrong. Study after study has shown that low-fee index fund investing is the easiest way to wealth. Just an anecdote, but 37 years ago I left a job with $2200 in a retirement account invested in stocks. It is now $76,000 - over 10% return. Many times it dropped, in 2008 over 40% - but I left it alone and it kept growing. Bank interest rates were never in your favor anyway - and with inflation, you lost money in many cases. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/64 "2017-10-06T15:29:55Z")
2MM homes valued $1MM or more in May 2016 [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-19/the-number-of-million-dollar-homes-in-the-u-s-has-doubled-in-four-years](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-19/the-number-of-million-dollar-homes-in-the-u-s-has-doubled-in-four-years) That’s out of 126MM households. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/65 "2017-10-06T15:35:39Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > 2MM homes valued $1MM or more in May 2016 > [The Number of Million-Dollar Homes in the U.S. Has Doubled in Four Years - Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-19/the-number-of-million-dollar-homes-in-the-u-s-has-doubled-in-four-years) > > That’s out of 126MM households. Just a style question: what’s with abbreviating “million” as “MM”? Why not just “M”? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/66 "2017-10-06T16:39:34Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Just a style question: what’s with abbreviating “million” as “MM”? Why not just “M”? I think it’s because M is thousand (Roman number), so in shorthand sense MM is a thousand, thousand. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/67 "2017-10-06T17:48:29Z")
But in Roman numerals, “MM” would be two thousand. ETA: And I don’t think anyone here would take “$1M” as “one thousand dollars.” ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/68 "2017-10-06T18:04:44Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Many times it dropped, in 2008 over 40% - but I left it alone and it kept growing. My cousin lost 75k in 2008. > [@Ruken](#): > > Securities, mostly. Investments without risk don’t pay much. Obviously. Just seems too risky for the majority of your investment dollars ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/69 "2017-10-06T18:56:05Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > My cousin lost 75k in 2008. I lost many times that much in 2008 - but I made ten times that much within a few years. I didn’t panic, didn’t sell and just rode it out. I had picked good investments for good reasons - a recession did not change that. Everything was down. Less than two years later I had it all back. > [@](#): > > Obviously. Just seems too risky for the majority of your investment dollars No risk, no reward. Nothing ventured, nothing gained - and all the other platitudes. The riskiest thing to do with the investing game is to never play. There are low cost ways to invest and one can pick a mix of bonds and stocks appropriate to your risk tolerance. Then as you age, you adjust that mix to limit losses in retirement. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/70 "2017-10-06T19:22:19Z")
There is likely some element of [survivorship bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias) here. We’re seeing the folks who stuck it out. Not the ones who lost their jobs and got sick and had to tap into resources at the worst possible time. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/71 "2017-10-06T19:31:31Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > The riskiest thing to do with the investing game is to never play. Well, I think it’s even riskier to play it _badly_, like WildBlueYonder’s cousin probably did based on his comment. If you don’t have the fortitude to stick out the dips, you can end up buying when the market is up and then selling when it takes a dive. I know this happens a lot. I also lost a hell of a lot more than $75k in 2008 (I won’t tell you how much I lost in 2001), but I stuck it out and am glad I did. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/72 "2017-10-06T19:31:45Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > My cousin lost 75k in 2008. Only if your cousin cashed out then. If they didn’t, they are undoubtedly much higher now. I lost over 75K during that drop but I kept putting money in and it is now worth a lot more. Index funds are a great thing. Now for short-term investing, you should look elsewhere. It all depends on the timeframe. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/73 "2017-10-06T20:40:10Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > There is likely some element of [survivorship bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias) here. We’re seeing the folks who stuck it out. Not the ones who lost their jobs and got sick and had to tap into resources at the worst possible time. I lost my job in March 2009, days after the market bottomed out and have not worked since. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/74 "2017-10-06T21:33:11Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Well, I think it’s even riskier to play it _badly_, like WildBlueYonder’s cousin probably did based on his comment. If you don’t have the fortitude to stick out the dips, you can end up buying when the market is up and then selling when it takes a dive. I know this happens a lot. > > I also lost a hell of a lot more than $75k in 2008 (I won’t tell you how much I lost in 2001), but I stuck it out and am glad I did. Me too. I remember that Dan Ariely said on Marketplace back then that the best investment strategy was to not open your monthly statement. Worked for me. Plus, if you were lucky enough to keep your job and your 401K, you were buying a lot of stock at low prices. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/75 "2017-10-06T21:36:06Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > 2MM homes valued $1MM or more in May 2016 > [The Number of Million-Dollar Homes in the U.S. Has Doubled in Four Years - Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-19/the-number-of-million-dollar-homes-in-the-u-s-has-doubled-in-four-years) > > That’s out of 126MM households. Probably a lot more now. The original homes in our development, around 1500 sq ft, were maybe $850K then but seem to be going for over a million now. These are very average 1955 vintage housing development houses, not anything like McMansions. However, the house being worth a million does not mean it counts as an asset of a million, since I bet the average owner owes $900K on it at least. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/76 "2017-10-06T21:41:11Z")
> [@arseNal](#): > > But also consider that the population of the SF bay area plus NYC metro alone make up for probably a good 5% of the entire US population. That’s a good number of million dollar homes. But not a million dollars in net assets, due to mortgages. More telling is that the median income in Santa Clara county is over $100 K - median, not average. Oops, make that [$113K](http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/22/in-costly-bay-area-even-six-figure-salaries-are-considered-low-income/). And you can make over $100K and are considered to have low income. Anyhow, a million buck around here is not like a million bucks in Indiana. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/77 "2017-10-06T22:43:27Z")
People are always worrying about those who are not saving for retirement. If you can’t get good jobs, you won’t be able to do much more than pay your bills, so investing is too far out of reach to consider. Since 2008, jobs are much harder to find. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986/78 "2017-10-06T23:32:08Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > People are always worrying about those who are not saving for retirement. If you can’t get good jobs, you won’t be able to do much more than pay your bills, so investing is too far out of reach to consider. Since 2008, jobs are much harder to find. Depends on where you are. Around here every store, restaurant and ice cream truck has a help wanted sign on the window. Being able to afford to live here on what they pay is another matter. (The minimum wage increase in Silicon Valley hasn’t hurt employment at all.) The Times today, in an article said that half of men not in the work force take pain medication daily. [Cite](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/business/economy/recession-recovery.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness&action=click&contentCollection=business®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=15&pgtype=sectionfront) The impression of jobs being hard to find lasts longer then the reality. People were complaining about jobs being tough to find in 1998 also. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-7-white-households-has-over-a-million-dollars-in-assets/797986.md?page=3)