December, 2014 – This article from the December 2014 issue of the Strategic Business Insights VALS Lens newsletter discusses the expected holiday spending of the wealthiest 10% of US households.

 

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December 2014

 

In this issue:

  • In 2014: Affluent Holiday Spending
  • In Beverages: Coffee
  • In the Economy: Millennials Predominate

 

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In 2014: Affluent Holiday Spending

Ninety-seven percent of the wealthiest 10% of US households—households with a net worth of $800K or more—will spend an estimated average of $2623 on gifts this holiday: $31 billion in total. The average expenditure of these affluent households is about four times that of the general public, based on estimates from the National Retail Federation and similar research by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Wealthy household’s estimated holiday spending will remain the same in 2014 as it was in 2013, according to Ron Kurtz, founder of the American Affluence Research Center (AARC). The AARC has been tracking the Affluent since 2002. Almost two-thirds of high-net-worth households have Innovators or Thinkers heads (VALSâ„¢/GfK MRI Spring 2014). Innovators households typically have higher annual household incomes than Thinkers households do, but Thinkers households often have higher net worth because they are conservative spenders and dedicated savers and investors. Kurtz reports that the top two gifts that the Affluent want to receive has remained the same for several years: “gift cards or some form of currency and clothing” always top the list, plus “fine jewelry for women and sports equipment for men.”

Read highlights from AARC’s most recent survey.

 

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