You would think declaring if someone is rich or not would be a relatively easy thing to assess. But according to a recent Gallup poll of Americans, it may not be that clear.

In fact, it depends on your perspective. It depends on things like if you are a man or a woman, if you are a college graduate or not, if you are over or under age 50, you have children or not, and so on.

I looked up rich in the dictionary and here’s what I found: having abundant possessions and especially material wealth. Okay. I think most people would agree with that interpretation. But how do we agree on “abundant”?  This is Gallup’s attempt at answering that question.

“Americans generally would consider themselves rich if they made $150,000 per year or had $1 million in net worth. That seems to differ a bit from the federal government's definition of rich. For example, the federal government's top tax bracket of 35% begins with individuals and married couples earning $379,000 or more annually. Also, when Congress debated extending the 2001-2003 federal income tax cuts, the debate centered around whether to extend those for single Americans earning $200,000 and couples earning $250,000 or more per year.”

This is a great quick read and obviously has policy implications as we enter into the 2012 elections. What is “rich” for you and how much is enough? To read the full article, click here: Americans Set "Rich" Threshold at $150,000 in Annual Income.

Jeff Smith has been helping families in the Marin community for more than 17 years. As a trusted financial advisor and mortgage advisor, Jeff helps his clients make better financial decisions to improve the outcomes of the financial choices in life.