What Household Balance Sheets Tell Us About Wealth-Building

If you have ever wondered what balance sheets of typical U.S. households looks like, the Fed's triennial Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is a good place to go for insight. Because results of the 2004 survey will not be announced until early 2006, I reference data from the 2001 survey, as reported in a paper by Arthur B. Kennickell.

Taking a look at balance sheets of average households in different percentile classes arranged by net worth ranking, we have:

Category: "Poor," "Middle Class," "Well-Off," "Rich," "Super-Rich"
Net Worth Percentile Class: Bottom 50%, Next 40%, Next 5%, Next 4%, Top 1%
(Figures shown below are percentages based on total assets of 100%)

Asset Percentages:
Cash accounts: 5, 5, 6, 5, 4
Bonds, CDs: 1, 3, 4, 3, 5
Stocks, retirement accts.: 9, 22, 33, 32, 27
Other financial accts.: 4, 6, 8, 8, 9
Vehicles: 17, 6, 3, 1, 1
House: 60, 46, 28, 19, 8
Other real estate: 2, 7, 8, 13, 11
Business (closely held): 1, 6, 10, 18, 34
Collectibles, etc.: 1, 1, 1, 1, 2
Total: 100, 100, 100, 100, 100

Debt Percentages: 56, 19, 9, 6, 2

Net Worth Percentages: 44, 81, 91, 94, 98

Average Net Worth Per Household: $23k, $270k, $1.0 mil., $2.5 mil., $13 mil.
(The total 106.5 million U.S. households have an aggregate net worth of $42.4 trillion.)

From the structure of the balance sheets revealed using a percentage breakdown of assets and debt, we can see how the typical consumer balance sheet changes with rising net worth:

1. Leverage: The poorest households have the highest debt burden (56% debt-to-asset percentage), versus the other extreme of almost no household leverage for the super-rich (only 2% debt-to-asset percentage). (Note: High net worth households tend to have "indirect" leverage through ownership of equity in both public companies and closely held businesses, which in turn have liabilities at the company level. This indirect leverage is not quantified in the SCF data.)

2. Primary Asset: The primary asset of the "poor" and "middle class" households (bottom 90%) is home ownership. With increasing household net worth, the primary asset shifts to stock ownership and retirement accounts for the "well-off" and "rich" (next 9% of households). For the "super-rich" (top 1% of households), closely held businesses become the primary asset, followed by stock ownership.

3. Fixed Income: Across all net worth categories, bonds, CDs and other fixed income investments represent less than 5% of household net worth.

4. Cash: Consistently across all categories, cash represents around 5% of household net worth.

In terms of a gaming analogy, the data reflect typical "levels" along the road to riches:

Level 1: Get a job.
Level 2: Buy a house.
Level 3: Invest in stock, retirement accounts and maybe some additional real estate.
Level 4: Become an entrepreneur and open a successful business.

The poorest U.S. households have a difficult time getting beyond Level 1. Most households advance to Level 2, realizing the "dream" of home ownership. Only about 10% of households become full-fledged Level 3 participants, with investments supplanting home ownership as the household's primary asset. Finally, really only about 1% of households reach Level 4 status, with a truly successful business becoming the primary asset, allowing net worth to grow by leaps and bounds.

Lesson: You can become very rich by investing; however, if you are interested in becoming super-rich, you are likely better off turning your attention to starting and nurturing a highly successful business.