What Changes for Retirees Above $500,000? (New Federal Reserve Data)

What does a typical month look like for a retired household worth $100,000, $500,000, $1 million or $5 million? For the first time, the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances asked American families how much they spend in a year, not just what they own. This video sorts every retired household in America into a seven-floor building by net worth and visits each floor: a typical month of spending, the home, eating out, and what comes in. Then it looks at the lines that change around half a million dollars, right in the middle of the building. In this video: • How many retired households live on each floor, from under $100,000 to $5 million and up • A typical month of spending on each floor, not counting rent or a mortgage • Paid-off homes, eating out and cars, floor by floor • The first floor where most households took a trip last year • Who spends less than they take in, and who pays bills late • Which floor carries a credit card balance most often • Why wealth grows more than a thousand times from the ground floor to the top, but spending only about eight times CHAPTERS 0:00 The $3,400 question 1:23 The building: 29 million retired households 2:19 Floor 1: under $100K 2:59 Floor 2: $100K to $250K 3:18 Floor 3: $250K to $500K 3:38 Floor 4: $500K to $1M 4:05 Floor 5: $1M to $2M 4:31 Floor 6: $2M to $5M 4:45 Floor 7: $5M and up 5:20 What flips at floor four: trips 5:57 Spending less than they take in 6:15 Late bills 6:26 Credit card balances 6:47 The paid-off front door 6:59 The spending gap 7:43 Age doesn't sort the building 7:53 One last look SOURCES Federal Reserve, 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances (released October 9, 2026), data and documentation: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances" (Federal Reserve Bulletin): https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/scf26.pdf "Measuring Spending in the Survey of Consumer Finances" (FEDS Notes, October 9, 2026): https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/measuring-spending-in-the-survey-of-consumer-finances-20261009.html 2025 SCF codebook (question wording): https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/files/codebk2025.txt How it was counted: "Retired households" are households where the head is 65 or older and not working: about 29.4 million in 2025. Net worth is everything a household owns (the home, retirement accounts, savings, stocks and funds, businesses, other real estate, vehicles and more) minus every debt, with a married couple counted once. The seven floors are net worth groups: under $100,000; $100,000 to $250,000; $250,000 to $500,000; $500,000 to $1 million; $1 million to $2 million; $2 million to $5 million; $5 million and up. Every number on a floor is the median household on that floor (the one in the middle), except shares such as "6 in 10". Spending is the survey's new question on all spending over the past 12 months, which asks families not to count rent, mortgage or loan payments, investments or retirement plan contributions; a typical month is that yearly amount divided by 12. Trips are the survey's new question on spending for vacations or trips (travel, lodging, meals and entertainment on the trip). Eating out, rent, vehicle value, income and late payments use the survey's standard questions. "Spent less than they took in" means the family said its spending over the past year was less than its income. "Carry a card balance" means a balance was still owed after the last payment. "Paid-off home" means the family owns its home with no mortgage or home equity loan on it. The Fed interviewed 4,367 families for the 2025 survey, about 790 of them retired households, and weights them to represent the whole country, so every number here is an estimate; floor numbers are rounded for that reason. This channel is educational only and is not financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Old Man Miller is a fictional animated narrator, not a financial advisor. Research and script by the channel's creator. #retirement #networth #retirees