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MacroMonitor Market Trends October 2012

MacroMonitor Market Trends is a newsletter from Consumer Financial Decisions (CFD) that highlights topical news and trends of interest to you and your colleagues. If you would like more information about the topic in the newsletter or would like to discuss other ways that we can assist you in your research or marketing efforts, please contact us.

Much Ado about HENRY

HENRYs—high earners not rich yet—are in the news because HENRYs represent a concentration of income and wealth that is of great interest to a variety of marketers—in particular, financial-services marketers. We define HENRYs as households with a primary head between the ages of 20 and 70 who is not retired and with total household income between $100,000 and $249,999.

When we look at high-level trends for HENRYs, we see a growing bright spot in the US economy. In the decade between 2000 and 2010, the number of households that qualify as HENRYs has increased from 18 million to 21.5 million—an increase of 19.4%. At the same time, their financial assets (indexed for inflation to 2010 dollars) has increased by nearly 60%, from $5.2 trillion in 2000 to $8.3 trillion in 2010, and their total annual household income has increased by 55%, from $2 trillion to $3.1 trillion.

Figure 1: HENRY-Household Trends

On one side of the ledger, the trends suggest that the divide between the haves and the have-nots must surely be widening. For each HENRY household, at least one non-HENRY household is failing to gain a foothold on middle-class status or is slipping near or below that critical economic distinction. On the other side of the ledger, this group represents enormous opportunity for institutions marketing a wide range of financial products and services. Every reason exists to believe that as a fuller economic recovery and expansion takes hold, this segment of financial-services consumers will continue to expand its influence and impact in the marketplace disproportionately.

MacroMonitor sponsors may access a Segment SummaryHENRY (High Earners Not Rich Yet)—on Strategic Business Insights' CFD website. Sponsors may also request a full presentation about any of the featured segments, or order a proprietary Segment Summary such as about HENRY households with a primary head age 35 or younger. To learn more, please contact CFD.