Instead, there is a subset of high-income earners who aspire to accumulate that nest egg but continue to scrape by. Unlike many older Americans with higher net worth, these workers are called HENRYs — high-earners, not-yet-wealthy, a term first coined more than 20 years ago by Fortune’s Shawn Tully. They might one day have the assets to become millionaires, but for now, they’re content to rake in big paydays.
So who are the HENRYs?
To analyze the demographics of American HENRYs, we used the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, released this year, to analyze Americans who earned $200,000 or more per year but whose net worth was less than $1 million. dollars.
So who are these laminated HENRYs? They are a bit older than HENRY’s broader base, primarily white, and most likely employed.
Generally speaking, we know that these tend to be millennials or younger Gen Xers. Most HENRYs are between 40 and 49 years old, but 5.3% are between 20 and 29 years old. Nearly 28% are between 30 and 39 years old and more than a fifth are between 50 and 59 years old. The average age of a HENRY is around 46 years old.
The HENRYs are also massively coupled.
A little over 90% of HENRYs are married. As Business Insider’s Noah Sheidlower previously reported, many HENRYs are likely DINKs, meaning they are in dual-income households with no children.
For some couples, being DINKS means the ability and freedom to travel, save and prepare for early retirement. Our analysis of this HENRY group found that about 31 percent were married without children, a higher rate than the 20 percent of U.S. adults who researchers say might choose not to have any more children. A little less than 60% of HENRYs are married and have children.
The HENRYs all hold financial assets; they also overwhelmingly have checking accounts and the vast majority have cars and homes.
Many HENRYs also have debt, which makes sense since many have mortgages. Unlike their millionaire or billionaire counterparts who derive most of their wealth from their assets, HENRYs are likely still paying off some debt.
Indebted HENRYs have an average of $319,170 in debt; just over three-quarters of HENRYs have mortgages and home equity loans, and these loans have an average balance of about $312,185.
Meanwhile, about 43% of HENRYs benefit from student loans; these average about $74,864.
Right now, Americans are, on the whole, going through something of a credit crisis. Credit card balances continue to reach record levels, and Fortune found that U.S. cardholders carry an average credit card balance of $5,733. The HENRYs carry almost double this quantity. Like other consumers, HENRYs have credit card debt and just under half carry credit card balances.
Despite this, HENRYs tend to earn their money the same way as most Americans: they work at a job that pays them a salary. Although salaries make up the majority of the HENRYs’ income, a good portion derive their income from capital gains and the businesses they own.
This is a key distinction between the HENRYs and those who might be considered ultra-rich. Billionaires tend to get most of their compensation in the form of capital gains – money they earn from selling assets like stocks – which are taxed at a lower rate than a normal salary.
But as HENRYs pay off their debts and continue to accumulate real estate or stocks, they could move from high-income countries to asset-rich countries – but not quite yet.
Are you a HENRY, or an aspiring HENRY? Contact this journalist at jkaplan@businessinsider.com.
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