Planning Briefs

Are You "Rich" Or Not? New Survey Hits The High Points

Published Monday, September 18, 2017 at: 7:00 AM EDT

Do you consider yourself rich? If you own a couple of mansions, a fleet of luxury cars, and financial accounts reaching high into the millions, it may be easy to answer that question. But other well-to-do people might struggle with the issue of whether they are "rich" or not.

To get a better grasp of perceptions, Yahoo Finance recently posed a series of questions about personal wealth, to which more than 25,000 people responded. The survey concluded that people call themselves rich if they have a median income of $425,000 and a net worth of $5 million.

But this exercise also turned up other interesting results. For instance, the median amounts respondents required to consider other people rich were an income of $500,000 and a net worth of $10 million. In other words, more people called themselves rich than were actually rich by their own standards. On the other hand, it's noteworthy that people earning $300,000 a year with a couple of millions of dollars of assets didn't think themselves rich—far from it.

But even if you're not rich in your own mind, you may get there by sticking to a financial plan designed to increase personal wealth. And, if you're already rich, follow the same approach for preserving your status. We can help you make provisions for the future.

This article was written by a professional financial journalist for Preferred NY Financial Group,LLC and is not intended as legal or investment advice.

An individual retirement account (IRA) allows individuals to direct pretax incom, up to specific annual limits, toward retirements that can grow tax-deferred (no capital gains or dividend income is taxed). Individual taxpayers are allowed to contribute 100% of compensation up to a specified maximum dollar amount to their Tranditional IRA. Contributions to the Tranditional IRA may be tax-deductible depending on the taxpayer's income, tax-filling status and other factors. Taxed must be paid upon withdrawal of any deducted contributions plus earnings and on the earnings from your non-deducted contributions. Prior to age 59%, distributions may be taken for certain reasons without incurring a 10 percent penalty on earnings. None of the information in this document should be considered tax or legal advice. Please consult with your legal or tax advisor for more information concerning your individual situation.

Contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax deductible and these is no mandatory distribution age. All earnings and principal are tax free if rules and regulations are followed. Eligibility for a Roth account depends on income. Principal contributions can be withdrawn any time without penalty (subject to some minimal conditions).