Trillions Climbing the Wealth Ladder with Nick Maggiulli
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Sep 25, 2025 
Nick Maggiulli, Chief Operating Officer at Ritholtz Wealth Management and author of The Wealth Ladder, delves into the evolving landscape of wealth-building. He explores the diminishing value of money, breaking down how $10,000 versus $1 million impacts lives differently. Discussing the six wealth levels, Nick reveals how market dynamics shape net worth. He champions low-cost ETFs and income-producing assets as essential for investing. For those on their financial journeys, he offers actionable steps to navigate the wealth ladder effectively.
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Wealth Stages Change Strategy
- Maggiulli defines the Wealth Ladder as six net-worth tiers that change optimal financial decisions at each step.
- He argues financial advice should match your ladder level just like fitness coaching matches physical condition.
Money’s Diminishing Returns
- Money has diminishing marginal utility: each additional dollar yields less life change as wealth rises.
- Maggiulli uses this to argue wealth effects and goals should be considered non-linear.
Controversial Net-Worth Bands
- Maggiulli shared his ladder bands: <10k, 10k–100k, 100k–1M, 1M–10M, 10M–100M, 100M+ with social-class labels.
- He noted controversy but defended using agnostic bands and cited US distribution percentages.
