Summary

Everyone knows that the Affluent is the segment to target for sales. After all, "That's where the money is!" And recent information released by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank suggests that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer:

• In 1989, the wealthiest 1% of U.S. households—those with a net worth of $2.3 million—owned 40% of the nation's wealth.
• The top 20% of U.S. households by net worth ($180 000 or more) owned 80% of the nation's wealth.
• The top 20% of U.S. households by income ($55 000 or more annually) had 55% of the after-tax income.

So it's a no-brainer: If you want to make money by providing financial services you should target the top 20% of households. Right? Not so fast. Let's take a good, hard look at affluent households and how they have changed since 1992.