Building wealth is one of the primary tenets of financial planning, but do you ever wonder how your net worth compares to the rest of the world? We can talk about financial security all day, but what does that really mean in the grand scheme of things?

Bloomberg Businessweek sought to answer this question, and came up with an interesting scale to describe net worth. The results are fascinating, and say a lot about how economics is working in today’s world.

Your “net worth number” is determined by your assets, and the quality of life you can theoretically afford, using your overall worth to the power of 10. So a millionaire is 10 to the sixth power, or a 6. Someone with only 100 dollars is 10 to the second power, or a 2, and so on. People with a negative net worth (owing more than they have) comprise the brackets assigned a negative number.

The largest bracket (3) contains 1.7 billion people, who have a net worth of approximately 1,000 dollars. The highest income bracket is also the smallest, and contains just two people – Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. Even Elon Musk is only assigned a 10.

This information is interesting, but of course we shouldn’t get too hung up on comparing ourselves to others. The real question is whether you feel comfortable with your position, or would you prefer to build more assets? Particularly with regard to retirement planning, you might wish to evaluate whether your income is dependable for the future and falls in line with your goals.

Give us a call about that, and we’ll be happy to help.