America's top 1%?

Question

I heard from some where that in order to be considered top 1% richest in US, you have to have 5 million dollar net worth. Does this mean 5 million dollar net worth without any mortgages and debts? 5 million dollar quite a lot for 2 million Americans to have.

Answer 1

It refers to $5 million after deducting debts, such as mortgages.  

$5 million is not outrageous money in this era.  I can easily believe that 1% of America has that net worth.

Answer 2

Net worth is defined as the value of all you assets less the amount of all your liabilities (debts). If you had total assets of $7,000,000 and debts of $2,000,000 your net worth would be $5,000,000. If $5,000,000 is the cut off, I'm not in the top 1%. Darn!