#104 – US Wealth & Key Principles

Good morning everyone,

Hope you’re having a great week!

Let’s jump in.

read online on my website 

read time 3 minutes 

#104 at a Glance:

• Quote: The hardest work there is.

• Podcast: Joe Rogan x Ryan Holiday.

• Deep Dive: USA Wealth Report 2025.

• Hack: Make note of your key principles.

• Tweet: What are you really good at?

Quote I’ve been thinking about:

Podcast I listened to:

The Joe Rogan Experience #1836 – Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday is a writer, media strategist, and author of multiple books including The Obstacle Is The Way, Lives Of The Stoics, Courage Is Calling, and Discipline Is Destiny.

This podcast was epic.

Marcus Aurelius, stoicism, history, philosophy, empires, and pretty much everything I look for in a podcast.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

[Podcast Length: 2 hours 56 minutes]

Deep Dive:

The USA Wealth Report 2025 

Continuing on from my recent deep dive the other week into the World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2025, I’ve decided to delve a little further into wealth trends, this time double clicking on the land of the free and the home of the brave: America.

The United States is an undeniable global powerhouse. With a stronghold in the areas of politics, business, sport, economics, and culture, its influence is felt in every corner of the globe.

But…

Is the tide beginning to shift away from US exceptionalism? What are the wealth trends that are occurring amidst all of this geopolitical uncertainty? Are there longer-term structural factors driving this volatility?

With the view that the world’s wealthiest individuals shape our economies as much as economies shape wealth creation, there is a symbiotic relationship that drives a clear pattern: capital follows talent, talent follows opportunity, and opportunity clusters in locations that understand this dynamic.

This is ultimately my question: Is the US still one of those locations?

The USA Wealth Report 2025 is published by Henley & Partners, the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment, in partnership with wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth.

The report provides a comprehensive review of America’s wealth sector, including high-net-worth and city wealth trends, and private wealth and investment migration insights.

These were some of the most notable takeaways that I extracted from the report:

• The US is the wealthiest country in the world when ranked by number of resident millionaires with liquid investable wealth of USD 1 million or more, with over 6 million millionaires. The country accounts for a staggering 34% of global liquid wealth.

• Compare this to second place China (827,900 millionaires) and third place Germany (781,900).

  • It really is quite remarkable how far out in front the US is compared to every other nation on the planet.

• The US has also experienced the highest millionaire growth (78%) in the 10-year period from 2014-2024. Followed by China in second place (74%) and, surprisingly, Australia in third (30%).

• The Top 10 Wealthiest Cities in the US (no. of millionaires):

  • New York City, New York (384,500)

  • The Bay Area, California (342,400)

  • Los Angeles, California (220,600)

  • Chicago, Illinois (127,100)

  • Houston, Texas (81,800)

  • Dallas, Texas (72,400)

  • Seattle, Washington (53,100)

  • Boston, Massachusetts (45,000)

  • Miami, Florida (38,800)

  • Austin, Texas (32,000)

• The Top 5 Fastest Growing Wealth Hubs in the US (millionaire growth % from 2014 to 2024):

  • Scottsdale, Arizona (125%)

  • West Palm Beach, Florida (112%)

  • The Bay Area, California (98%)

  • Miami, Florida (94%)

  • Washington, D.C. (92%)

• These growth hubs have largely been fuelled by an influx of tech companies and skilled workforces.

• The US presents a fascinating paradox: as the world’s wealthiest nation and home to the largest concentration of millionaires, it simultaneously serves as both the primary source market for outbound investment migration and a powerful magnet attracting wealthy individuals from around the globe.

  • With such a large and diverse population, it is inevitable that you are going to get high-net-worth individuals in both camps. Those who have made their money and can’t wait to ditch the US for a safer and more relaxed lifestyle, as well as those from other nations who continue to flock to both the East and West coasts in search for more expansive growth opportunities.

  • I believe the latter can be largely attributed to the lagging sentiment of America’s allure as the ‘land of opportunity’, the commercial reality of which is underpinned by their large population, tech-enabled infrastructure, and geopolitical dominance (as it currently stands).

• The remarkable strength of the US stock market has been particularly impactful, with the average American centi-millionaire (liquid investable wealth of USD 100 million or more) holding over 50% of their liquid wealth in US equities.

• Despite this wealth, Henley & Partners are witnessing unprecedented interest from American citizens in obtaining alternative residence and citizenship options abroad. Their data reveals a 183% increase in enquiries from US nationals in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024 (only 12 months!).

• Understanding that we live and operate in a complex and highly interconnected global ecosystem where ‘butterfly effects’ exist, the US policy shocks have the capacity to reshape global investment.

  • The policies that pose the greatest impact on wealth trends include the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at the end of the year, tariff uncertainty, and immigration reform.

• An important factor to remember about the US is that its wealth is not evenly distributed; it is heavily concentrated in specific hubs such as New York City and the Bay Area. These hubs are often more resilient to international disruptions due to their economic entrenchment, however, the ongoing tensions between the US and China pose a risk for sectors reliant on Chinese manufacturing and market access.

Interesting times indeed…

Although wealth trends don’t change overnight and we are yet to fully realise the effect of the current geopolitical landscape, there is a lot of noise that needs to be filtered through. America’s position as one of the most powerful and influential nations in the world was not built overnight – and the notion that it will decline more rapidly than its dominance has grown seems very unlikely.

What are your thoughts?

You can read the full report by Henley & Partners here.

Hack I’ve been using:

Make Note Of Your Key Principles

One of the things I’ve started doing lately is making a note of ‘key principles’ as and when they come up in the course of my day-to-day life.

What are key principles?

They’re ideas, beliefs, themes, tenets, concepts that are fundamental to how I want to show up in the world.

I believe it’s really important to jot them down whenever they come to mind for two reasons:

1. If you were asked to list all of the concepts that are important to you and would like to keep top of mind, it would be near enough impossible. These sorts of thoughts tend to be very situational and manifest themselves under a set of unique circumstances. I’ve found it’s best to jot them down as I go.

2. Not every day is rosy. Sometimes, it really helps to have these triggers which can guide your mentality and your actions when you might find yourself going astray.

Below is the running Apple note that I’ve been using on my phone as an example:

Hope it helps.

Tweet I liked:

What Are You Really Good At?

Or perhaps a better question is: what are you becoming good at?

Thanks for reading! Grateful for your support.

Stay hungry, stay humble, stay curious. ⚡

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