Brenton Peck

Brenton Peck is Vice President of Financial Health Strategy at U.S. Bank, where he leads the development and implementation of financial health initiatives for customers, employees, and communities. Before joining U.S. Bank in 2024, he led consulting projects at the Financial Health Network and held roles at Filene Research Institute, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

A New Wealth Benchmark Finds Only 26% of U.S. Households Have Enough to Thrive

The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program’s Essential Wealth report argues that financial security cannot be measured by income and expenses alone: households also need savings and assets to absorb shocks, build for the future and make choices. Using 2022 data, the report estimates that 26% of U.S. households meet its essential-wealth threshold, while another 17% meet a lower threshold for emergent wealth. Aspen FSP presents the metric as a first version—a tool to identify gaps, not a solution to them—and argues that researchers, policymakers and institutions can use it to assess whether programs help families build wealth.

The Aspen InstituteSep 24, 202612 min read