A study conducted by wealth management company Charles Schwab has us sighing deeply as we stare into our empty coffee cups this morning. According to 1,001 Bay Area residents aged 21 to 75 interviewed about their financial circumstances and retirement plans, you need at least $6,386,000 to be considered wealthy around these gilded parts. And to be merely comfortable? Why, that requires $1,446,000 in net worth.
The study, picked up by the Chronicle, adds a frustrating level of specificity to the general feeling pervading these parts — even the rich don't feel rich around here, and the rest of us just feel poor.
"Local residents think it takes more than double the net worth to be considered wealthy in the Bay Area than it does in the rest of the country," reads the study. "Nearly all Bay Area residents believe the local cost of living is unreasonable."
Interestingly, the study finds that only "a quarter of Bay Area residents are natives, and 14% have lived in the area for less than 5 years." When coupled with that fact that 66 percent of respondents said the main impediment to living in their city of choice is that it's too expensive, it is not unreasonable to infer a pattern of natives being priced out.
While upsetting, this news is hardly shocking. After all, this is the city that considers "homes from the low $1,000,000s" a good deal.
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