Are you in the top 1%?

PHOTO: 123RFIn New Zealand, total wealth rose 4.2 per cent of the 12 months to mid-2019 and wealth per adult increased 3.1 per cent to US$304,120.

Owning a New Zealand house can make you one of the world’s wealthiest

This story was first published in October.

Picture someone in the world’s wealthiest 1 per cent. You might think of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, maybe Elon Musk. But what about Karen with a typical Auckland house and a few thousand in her KiwiSaver account?

Credit Suisse has released its latest global wealth report, which placed New Zealand fifth in the world on a wealth-per-adult basis.

It found about 5 per cent of adult New Zealanders were in the global top 1 per cent wealthiest.

To enter that bracket, they had to have wealth of US$936,430 ($1.461 million).

In New Zealand, total wealth rose 4.2 per cent of the 12 months to mid-2019 and wealth per adult increased 3.1 per cent to US$304,120. The median was US$116,440.

Eric Crampton, chief economist at the New Zealand Initiative, said people might be surprised to think of themselves as among the top global 1 per cent.

But they could achieve that level of wealth with a paid-off house in Auckland or a partly paid-off house and a few other assets, such as KiwiSaver.

“We are, globally speaking, pretty rich.”