The costs of ultra-luxurious living have grown more than the fortunes of Forbes 400 billionaires
The cost of living a luxurious life continues to rise. For more than 40 years, Forbes has been tracking a basket of ultra-luxury goods and services to calculate our Annual Cost of Living Extremely Well Index (IACVL) – a kind of barometer for the price of a billionaire’s lifestyle. This year, the IACVL is up 4.9% – less than the average annual gain of 5.1% over the past four decades, but more than the 3.2% increase in the U.S. Consumer Price Index in the last year. That’s a significant slowdown from the previous two years: IACVL increased by 7% in 2022 and an impressive 10.1% in 2021.
Many amenities of luxury living have risen much higher than average. For example: A three-course dinner for 40 people provided by Ridgewells of Maryland was up 9% from the previous year, according to Ridgewells CEO Susan Lacz, citing rising food prices and rising labor costs. , how much transportation as contributors to the increase. A dozen tailored cotton shirts from London’s Turnbull & Asser are going for $10,020, up 7%. The price of an Olympic-sized swimming pool rose for the eleventh year in a row, to US$4.8 million, an increase of 6%. Talking about your problems with a psychiatrist on the Upper East Side now costs $500 per 45-minute session, a 5% increase.
Some good news: not everything went up. The hourly rate for discussing estate planning at a New York law firm remained unchanged at $1,250.
But there’s no need to worry about America’s richest, they can more than afford their lavish lifestyles. The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member increased 13% from last year to $11.3 billion.
How is the Luxury Living Cost Index composed?
Over the four decades that Forbes has been tracking the IACVL, the price of ultra-luxury living has outpaced inflation but grown much more slowly than the fortunes of billionaire Forbes 400 members.
LEISURE AND ENTERTAINMENT
+7.4%
Opera
US$5,880 | 2.1%
Two Tickets, Six Saturday Night Performances, Premium Seating at Center Parterre, Metropolitan Opera, New York
Piano
US$217,300 | 9.5%
Model D concert-grand in ebony, Steinway & Sons, New York
Motor Yacht
US$63,000,000 | 21.2%
Amels 60, Netherlands
Sailing Yacht
US$3,115,000 | 7.4%
Oyster 595, UK
Sports Shotguns
US$340,880 | 17.3%
Pair of Purdey & Sons 12 gauge, two parallel barrels, Griffin & Howe, New Jersey
Pure blood
US$517,314 | 1.2%
Average Price for a Foal, Keeneland, Kentucky September Sale
Train Set
US$250 | 0%
Thomas and Friends Set by Lionel Christmas with Bluetooth, North Carolina
Cigars
US$1,020 | 8.2%
25 Davidoff Dominican Aniversario Double ‘R’, New York
Magazine
US$20 | 0%
Forbes, One Year Subscription, New York
