Nick Maggiulli: The Wealth Ladder Has Six Rungs (and Most People Never Climb Past Four)

Here's the thing about personal finance advice: what works when you have $10,000 won't work when you have $1 million.

Yet most financial guidance treats everyone the same, whether you're scraping together a $1,000 emergency fund or deciding whether to upgrade to business class.

Nick Maggiulli, author of "The Wealth Ladder," joins us to break down how money strategies must evolve as your net worth grows. He's mapped out 6 distinct wealth levels, each requiring different approaches to spending, saving and investing.

The levels start simple.

Level 1 covers anyone with less than $10,000 in net worth — that's 20 percent of American households. Here, bad luck gets amplified. A flat tire that costs $200 could spiral into job loss and debt if you can't afford the repair.

Level 2 spans $10,000 to $100,000 in net worth. Maggiulli calls this "grocery freedom" — you can splurge on the nicer eggs without checking your bank balance.

Level 3, from $100,000 to $1 million, brings "restaurant freedom."

Level 4, the $1 million to $10 million range, unlocks "travel freedom."

Getting beyond Level 4 — into the $10 million-plus territory — requires business ownership or extreme patience. Maggiulli calculates that even saving $100,000 annually after hitting $1 million takes 23 years to reach $10 million, assuming 5 percent annual returns.

The data shows income matters more than frugality, especially in the early levels. The median household income in Level 1 is $32,000, but in Level 4 it's $197,000, and in Level 6 it reaches $4.3 million.

We discuss why homeownership dominates wealth in Levels 2 and 3, how investment assets become crucial in higher levels, and why many people in Level 4 choose "Coast FIRE" over the grinding path to Level 5.


Timestamps:
(0:00) Welcome & intro to Nick Magguilli, author of The Wealth Ladder
(2:36) The 0.01% rule
(9:20) The 2X rule
(10:42) The 6 stages of the wealth ladder
(12:26) Level 1 – Net worth under $10,000
(20:33) Level 2 – Net worth between $10,000 to $100,000
(28:37) How long will it take to reach level 3
(35:18) Going beyond level 4 – Net worth between $1M - $10M
(44:20) You have reached level 4, now what?
(48:16) Can investing get you to Level 5?
(50:26) What happens when you reach level 5
(57:19) Key takeaways

Resources mentioned:
https://amzn.to/477eM14 | The Wealth Ladder (book)
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