On Oct 17, 2008, at 6:52 PM, John Thornton wrote:
> All this is seats of the pants stuff so maybe someone will come
> along with hard data and show me that 18% of the US has savings of
> $100,000 or more and it really is "not at all uncommon" but I'm not
> holding my breath.
Here are some numbers I worked up from the SCF 2004. It shows net worth by percentile, divided into residential (value of principal residence less mortgage on that residence) and nonresidential (excluding value of principal residence and mortgage on that residence). The "average" nonresidential net worth for the bottom half of the U.S. pop is $9,975. Even the 50th to the 90th "averages" $179,308. That average is pulled up massively by its upper reaches. No further breakdowns are available from this source, but it's a safe bet that you have to get up to the 70th percentile before you hit six figures.
residential nonres all 111,055 337,211 0-50 12,859 9,975 50-90 134,217 179,308 90-95 299,964 775,946 95-99 549,156 2,145,622 99-100 1,423,091 13,826,364