this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2026
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Work Reform

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

Most NYC millionaires are working class

I mean, it depends on how you define the term. Approximately 8% of Americans are defined as individuals with a net worth in excess of a million dollars. Most of the millionaires I know are just retirees, or people on the brink of retirement, who have accumulated 401ks / retirement funds + real estate in excess of a million dollars. Given the exploding price of housing, this isn't a terribly hard bar to clear so long as you got into the market before the 21st century. My aunt bought a flat in Lower Manhattan in the 1970s for around $80k and now it's worth north of $3M.

The bigger problem is household debts - educational debts, credit card debts, outstanding mortgage payments, etc - plus the burndown of late-stage retirement caused by end-of-life medical costs and care.

But when you get into multi-millionaires (particularly decimillionaires and centimillionaires) you're getting into a level of wealth that provides a million or more dollars of passive income annually. And that's a very different socio-economic condition to be in.