US economy and its financial markets continued to perform well in 2014–2015

The US economy and its financial markets continued to perform well in 2014-2015, leading to a seventh successive year of rising wealth. Average wealth was USD 209,000 at the turn of the century and rose fairly steadily until 2006, before falling as a result of the financial crisis. Wealth per adult has now fully recovered and is 21% above the 2006 level. Despite the termination of quantitative easing, the US economy is doing well. There is some uncertainty about stock market prospects going forward, but otherwise the signs are positive for household wealth in the immediate future. 

The USA is unusual in having a very high proportion of assets (69%) reported as held in financial form, partly because it includes business equity wholly as a financial asset. Adopting the more usual procedure of treating unincorporated enterprises as part of the household sector, the share would be about 61%, which is still relatively high. The USA has a larger number of direct shareholders than most other countries. Moreover, compared with many other OECD countries, it has more economic activity in the private sector relative to the public sector and more outward foreign investment - both of which rely partly on financing by households. Debts of USD 58,700 per adult are not extreme by international standards. 

Compared to the rest of the world, US wealth distribution has a high proportion of the population with wealth above USD 100,000. The percentage of people with wealth at higher levels is even more disproportionate. The USA has by far the greatest number of members of the top 1% global wealth group and currently accounts for 46% of the world's millionaires. The number of UHNW individuals with wealth above USD 50 million is six times that of the next country, China.