Even Millionaires Don't Feel Wealthy These Days
Even Millionaires Don't Feel Wealthy These Days
Daniel de Visé, USA TODAY December 3, 2025
A million dollars is not what it used to be.
Only 36% of American millionaires consider themselves wealthy in 2025, according to new research from Northwestern Mutual. The finding comes from the 2025 Planning & Progress Study, updated in early November. It draws on a Harris Poll survey of 4,626 Americans, including 969 people with household investable assets greater than $1 million.
Even the wealthiest Americans worry about money, the study found. They fret about having enough of it, deciding how to spend it and whether to pass it on to heirs. If $1 million isn’t enough, then how much money does it take to feel wealthy?
“There’s no definitive number,” said Mark Mascarenhas, a private wealth adviser with Northwestern Mutual’s Haven Wealth Advisors.
Many millionaires don't consider themselves wealthy
Feeling wealthy has a lot to do with context and perspective, he said.
A million dollars might go a long way in West Virginia or rural Kansas. In New York or Los Angeles, it might not feel like nearly enough.
A millionaire who hangs out with other millionaires is bound to make unflattering comparisons to wealthier friends.
“All of my clients who are millionaires do not consider themselves wealthy, not by a long shot,” Liz Windisch, a certified financial planner in Denver.
“People with that much money inevitably spend time with other people who are millionaires, and who have even more money than they do and – just like the rest of us – compare themselves to others who have more,” she said.
Nearly half of U.S. millionaires say their financial planning “needs improvement,” Northwestern Mutual found. Only 53% said they expect to leave an inheritance or charitable gift.
“It’s not that they don’t want to leave an inheritance. It’s just that they’re worried about funding their own retirement,” Mascarenhas said.
The top retirement concern for millionaires, the study found, is the prospect of outliving their savings.
The Rise Of Everyday Millionaires
The United States is home to nearly 24 million millionaires, the largest number of any nation in U.S. dollar terms, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report.
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