<p>The Federal Reserve has two statistical programs that I believe might address your question. The first is the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and the second is the Flow of Funds (FoF). You should be able to find the data on the Fed's website.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-10T22:28:32.337Z
2020-05-10T22:28:32.337Z
bbecon
<p><strong>Wealthy individuals have invested most of their money.</strong>  </p>

<p>One of the biggest reasons for this is inflation.  Most countries, especially those in the West, have a small, positive rate of inflation.  Inflation is why a dollar when our grandparents were children was worth much more than a dollar is worth today.<br>
If the "rich" simply stored their money in their mattresses or personal vaults, their <em>real</em> wealth would slowly decrease due to inflation.  </p>

<p>Another reason that these individuals invest their money is to continue building more wealth.  There is a remote chance that the artist on the street will become the next Rembrandt and their paintings will be worth millions.  But chances are more likely that a specific business will do well or that the economy will rebound (increasing the value of their stock and increasing the investor's net worth). </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-10T22:52:29.663Z
2020-05-10T22:52:29.663Z
Mathematician
<p>I often read about really rich people with billions of dollars, and I'd like to   know if they have, for example, just a big part of their wealth in shares of their company or they have lots of wealth in not productive activities?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-09T03:37:01.153Z
Some of the richest people in the world own a large position in companies they founded. They will skew any “average.” Otherwise, getting information on personal wealth is difficult.
Brian Romanchuk
<inequality><wealth>
Do rich people on average have the vast majority of their wealth invested or they have lots of liquid cash/no productive properties?
Tortar
# Do rich people on average have the vast majority of their wealth invested or they have lots of liquid cash/no productive properties?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-05-08)

I often read about really rich people with billions of dollars, and I'd like to know if they have, for example, just a big part of their wealth in shares of their company or they have lots of wealth in not productive activities?

**Tags:** inequality, wealth

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Some of the richest people in the world own a large position in companies they founded. They will skew any “average.” Otherwise, getting information on personal wealth is difficult.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-05-10. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The Federal Reserve has two statistical programs that I believe might address your question. The first is the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and the second is the Flow of Funds (FoF). You should be able to find the data on the Fed's website.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-05-10. Score: 1

**Wealthy individuals have invested most of their money.**

One of the biggest reasons for this is inflation. Most countries, especially those in the West, have a small, positive rate of inflation. Inflation is why a dollar when our grandparents were children was worth much more than a dollar is worth today.  
If the "rich" simply stored their money in their mattresses or personal vaults, their *real* wealth would slowly decrease due to inflation.

Another reason that these individuals invest their money is to continue building more wealth. There is a remote chance that the artist on the street will become the next Rembrandt and their paintings will be worth millions. But chances are more likely that a specific business will do well or that the economy will rebound (increasing the value of their stock and increasing the investor's net worth).


---

