Trillions

Climbing the Wealth Ladder with Nick Maggiulli

26 snips
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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INSIGHT

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.
INSIGHT

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.
ANECDOTE

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.
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