Money On Their Minds: A Look At Investments

Author:

Steve Kraus

Source:

This month, a closer look at Affluents and their money, using data from our just-released 2012 survey…
 
Defining Affluents as the 59 million U.S. adults living in households with $100,000 or more in annual household income (HHI), we find they average $192K in HHI, and their average of $500K in liquid assets is spread across a variety of accounts. Essentially, all have a banking (checking/savings) account, and nearly as many (87%) have a retirement account, including 63% with a 401K. They have a variety of insurance accounts as well, with personal insurance being the second-largest category of Affluent expenditures (behind automotive).
 
Most Affluents could be described as “self-directed” in the broadest sense of the term. This includes both embracing an ethic of personal financial responsibility (72% agree, “A person is responsible for his or her financial security after retirement”), and being...