I write this one for my fellow Malaysians.

In July this year, my friend Nick Maggiulli released his international bestseller “The Wealth Ladder.” It’s a tremendous read — I wish I’d read it in my 20s. Then I would have understood why people fight over innocent-sounding financial advice. Answer: What works for Person A’s level of wealth doesn’t work for Person B who’s at a different level.

Imagine a billionaire asking you to buy an island because it could go up 10x next year. It might work for him, but probably doesn’t make sense for you.

Anyway, Nick’s book lays out six levels of wealth. Based on USA household net worth in US dollars.

What does the wealth ladder look like for a Malaysian household living in Malaysia? Here’s my take:

The Six Levels of Wealth in Malaysia

Based on Household Wealth (Net Worth):

1. Struggle (<RM25k)
2. Working Class (RM25k – RM250k)
3. Middle Class (RM250k – RM2.5M)
4. Affluent (RM2.5M – RM10M)
5. Rich (RM10M – RM50M)
6. Super Rich (>RM50M)

*Household Wealth = Assets (home, investments, savings accounts) minus Liabilities (credit cards, loans)
**RM1 = US$0.24

How I Came Up With the Numbers

Before we get into the inevitable debate, let me tell you the assumptions I had to make when proposing the Malaysian Wealth Ladder:

Is “Rich” Income or Wealth?

• Almost all Malaysian data I could find was about household income. For example, the B40, M40, T20 classifications everyone loves to hate are measurements of income, not wealth.
• I think this makes sense for a developing nation. When most of the population is struggling, income is an easier gauge of prosperity. Higher income means richer.
  • Likewise, poverty is classified by income, not net worth. You need actual cash to pay the bills, not calculated numbers on a screen.
• On the other hand, I’m proposing this wealth ladder based on net worth. This is more useful at the higher levels of wealth, as it can tell you:
  • Not just how good you are at making money (income), but how good you are at keeping money.
  • If you’re good at investing.
  • Whether you have too much debt.

How To Approximate Levels of Wealth?

• As far as I can tell, there are no official levels of wealth in Malaysia. However, I’ve used data from the EPF (KWSP)¹ as a starting point.
• This might be controversial, so stay with me. Why start with the EPF?
  • It’s the largest publicly-available data set on Malaysians’ assets, covering 16 million Malaysians.
  • Even Khazanah Research Institute has used EPF data as a proxy for Malaysians’ wealth before.
• Limitations to using EPF data:
  • EPF captures only people working in the private sector, so it likely skews wealth higher. It excludes people working in government and the informal sectors.
• I’ve also made a HUGE assumption that EPF savings make up 20% of every household’s net worth? Based on:
  • At least 23% of every private employee’s salary goes into the EPF.
  • Middle-class people and below have most of their wealth in their primary home. At the upper levels, people have more investments in financial assets (e.g. stocks and bonds). With the lack of official data, and so many age²/wealth ranges, there’s no perfect number to represent EPF as a percentage of wealth. But I’m going to assume it’s close to the mandatory savings number above. Hence 20%.
  • The latest Bank Negara data I could find has EPF as ~18% of Malaysian household assets.
  • There are actually 9.3 million households in Malaysia, averaging 3.7 individuals per household. Some households have 2 EPF contributors, while others have none. For simplicity, I’m assuming every EPF member represents one Malaysian household.

Incorporating all of the above, here’s my complete table for the Malaysian levels of wealth:

How Each Level of Wealth Feels

Level 1: Struggle. Household Wealth <RM25k

Every Ringgit you spend matters.

You’re one emergency away from going broke.

Using my methodology above, 37% of Malaysian households struggle here.

Sadly, a 2012 UKM paper estimated 15% of Malaysians had no wealth at all.

Action: Manage debt. Build emergency savings.

Level 2: Working Class. Household Wealth RM25k – RM250k

The higher you go in this range, the less the price of groceries matter.

You’ve not in the danger zone, but still worry about money.

35% of Malaysian households are here. Median household wealth in Malaysia falls here too.

Based on:

• UBS’ 2022 Global Wealth Databook: median wealth per Malaysian adult is US$8,523 (RM36k)
• UKM’s 2012 paper: median wealth per Malaysian household is RM72k

Action: Increase income.

Level 3: Middle Class. Household Wealth RM250k – RM2.5 million

The higher you go in this range, the less the price of restaurants matter.

According to Khazanah Research Institute, this is where middle-class (“aspirational consumption”) standard of living starts.

The word “middle” might be confusing, so let’s clear it up. True middle (median) — where if there are 101 people, you’re number 51 — that’s in Level 2.

Level 3 is middle-class standard of living: You don’t worry about food anymore. You worry about more expensive things — when you’ll get the latest iPhone, where’s your next vacation.

25% of Malaysian households are here.

Action: Invest wisely.

Level 4: Affluent. Household Wealth RM2.5 million – RM10 million

The higher you go in this range, the less the price of vacations matter.

Business class? Sure. Want to send your kids to uni in the UK? Done.

Some would call this “upper-middle class,” but in the Malaysian context, I think affluent is a better word.

By my methodology, ~2% of Malaysian households are here. Others³ say you’re already in the top 1%.

Welcome to the top.

Action: Learn to be satisfied in Level 4, or if you want to climb higher: start a business.

Level 5: Rich. Household Wealth RM10 million – RM50 million

You can afford your dream home.

I think this is where you ditch the psychological humble-safety of “I’m just upper-middle class” and finally admit that you’re rich.

Not super rich, because no private jet yet. But so far ahead of everyone that you’ll never lose your wealth, if you’re sensible.

Less than 0.7% of Malaysian households are here.

This doesn’t fit in neatly with my wealth ladder, but in 2022, Malaysia had 85,126 individuals worth >US$1 million.

Action: Consider whether to focus on your business, or other things in life. To get to Level 6, you’ll need to scale.

Level 6: Super Rich. Household Wealth >RM50 million

You can use your wealth to impact the lives of many people. May you use it well.

Less than 0.02% of Malaysian households are here. The richest of the rich.

To put into context how rare this is, here’s how few Malaysians there are at the highest levels⁴:

• >US$10 million: 7,490
• >US$30 million: 721
• >US$335 million: 50
• >US$1 billion: 20

Action: Protect your wealth and legacy. Don’t forget the things money can’t buy. Things you can actually find at every level of wealth, but the pursuit of money often distracts us from: health, friendship, love.

Understanding Your Place in the Wealth Ladder

Much of the world’s population struggles in Level 1. Most Malaysians are in Level 2. If we’re being realistic, I think Level 3 is a good target for most households.

Why Level 3? Apart from your physical quality of life (e.g. house, car), this gives you enough wealth to handle emergencies + explore life’s opportunities. For example, in case you fall sick and can’t work for 6 months. Or if you want to make a high-risk-high-return career/investment move.

If the wealth ladder feels daunting, remember that the number of people in higher levels is miniscule. Level 3 is middle class, but only has 25% of households. At Level 4, it’s only ~2% of the population.

The “happiness hack” for Levels 1-3 is finding a job you like, working with people you like. You can’t stop working because you need the money, but at least most parts of work feel enjoyable. And you have friends.

The other shortcut to wealth is mental: by not wanting much. Focusing on the most important things in life. For most people this isn’t a Mercedes and a mansion, but a healthy, balanced life surrounded by loved ones.

Above a certain level of wealth — by my calculation, somewhere in Level 3 — feeling rich is a choice.

– – –

Footnotes and References:

1. EPF data via The Edge
2. Age is a tricky one, because people get wealthier as they grow older. EPF has savings data across multiple age ranges, meaning you could actually build different wealth ladders for different age groups. This would give richer insights and perhaps be more relatable. To keep things simple though, I’ve gone with a one-size-fits-all wealth ladder.
3. Knight Frank’s 2023 report said you “only” need RM2.2 million to be in the top 1%.
4. Data from Knight Frank (2022, 2025) and Forbes (2025)
5. Buy my friend Nick Maggiulli’s book: The Wealth Ladder
6. Thank you data guru Thevesh, and my financial advisers Stev Yong + Samuel Lee for reading a draft of this article, and giving your valuable feedback.
7. Got a different definition for the levels of wealth? Let me know in the comments.