Happy Saturday. There's a lot of noise happening in the economy right now, and today's issue cuts through it to what actually matters for your money.
On The Money Today:
What actually happens to your Social Security if your spouse dies first
How a trusted caregiver can quietly walk away with a home nobody saw coming
Why $1 million isn't the net worth milestone it used to be
Let's get into it.
BEHIND THE HEADLINE
What it took to be top 10% by net worth over the past 20 years
The bar that separates the top 10% from everyone else has climbed fast. In 2004, $835K in net worth put a household in that top bracket. By 2013, it had barely moved to $942K. Then, in under a decade, it more than doubled to $1.9 million. Keep reading to find out what's actually driving that jump, and where your own number might really stand.
INVESTING
If you lose a spouse, can you collect both Social Security checks
Losing a spouse suddenly leaves you juggling grief, logistics and confusing SSA rules all at once. Here's what actually happens to your benefits, and the survivor income most people don't realize they're eligible for.
Why it matters: Close to 6 million Americans currently receive survivor benefits, averaging about $1,635 a month, but the rules on timing your claim can significantly change what you actually receive.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FarmTogether
A stake in the land that grows your food. Farmland hasn't moved with stocks or bonds in past downturns
Your grocery bill is proof farmland never stops producing value, but most people never get the chance to own a piece of it. FarmTogether opens that door to accredited investors, giving you real farmland that has historically moved differently than stocks or bonds during downturns, plus potential income from what it grows.
New Deal: Ventura Valley Avocado Grove
Moorpark, California (Ventura County)
Target hold period: 10 years
Minimum investment: $15,000
FarmTogether accepts less than 1% of the deals it reviews, and it currently manages $217 million across 51 funded deals nationwide.
NEWS
My aunt has Alzheimer's and is fading, and her new caregiver just had the house deed changed. What are my rights here?
Elder financial exploitation doesn't always look like a scam call or a stranger. Sometimes it's someone your family trusts completely, and the warning signs are easy to miss until it's too late.
Why it matters: Challenging a deed transfer after the fact means proving the person lacked capacity or was pressured into signing, a legal process that gets harder the longer you wait.
MUST READ
Being a millionaire isn't enough to join America's top 10%: here's the net worth it actually takes to be in the top
The overall top 10% benchmark looks intimidating, but the real number changes dramatically depending on how far along your career and investing journey you are. Your bracket may be far more within reach than the national figure suggests.
Why it matters: Comparing yourself to the flat $2 million cutoff can make you feel behind even if you're not. Your real benchmark depends heavily on your age bracket, and that number keeps climbing as markets rise, so the bracket you're measuring against today may already be outdated.
MONEY IQ
What share of the U.S. stock market's total value is owned by the wealthiest 10% of households?
ALSO MAKING THE ROUNDS TODAY
NEWS: More than 153 million driver's license records turned up for sale on the dark web, and senior government officials were among those caught in the breach, so find out if you're exposed
INVESTING: Stocks are near record highs and bonds are behaving unpredictably, and experts have a specific answer for where $10,000 should go right now
MANAGING MONEY: Just under a quarter of Americans have a will, which means state law decides who inherits everything, even a child you've been estranged from for years, unless a simple estate plan changes that
RETIREMENT: Half of Americans wildly overestimate how much income their savings can produce, and the real math tells a very different story than what most people assume
MONEY IQ ANSWER: HOW DID YOU DO?
The correct answer is A) About 93%. Nearly all stock market wealth sits with the top 10%, a big reason the gap between "comfortable" and "top 10%" keeps widening even when the overall market is up.
That's a wrap for today! Before you go, we'd love to know what you thought of today's newsletter. Hit REPLY if you have more to share — we read every one.
See you soon with another quick roundup of the financial news that matters.
Today's newsletter was written by Shirley Sze and edited by Rudro Chakrabarti. Stories by Clay Halton, Rebecca Stropoli, Brian O'Connell, Jing Pan, Eric Esposito and Christy Bieber.