Frequently Asked Questions

How Poor Am I? is a free, open-source tool that shows where you stand in your country's wealth distribution. Enter your income or net wealth and instantly see your percentile, how your wealth compares to the national median, and how long it would take you to match the richest person in your country.

Your percentile is calculated using piecewise linear interpolation on wealth distribution data from WID.world (World Inequality Database). The data provides wealth shares for specific percentile groups (bottom 50%, middle 40%, top 10%, top 1%, etc.), and we interpolate between these points to estimate where your net wealth falls within the distribution.

Net wealth is your total assets minus your total debts. Assets include property, investments, savings, pensions, and any other valuables. Debts include mortgages, student loans, car loans, credit card debt, and any other liabilities. The resulting figure — positive or negative — is what determines your position in the wealth distribution.

No. Everything runs entirely in your browser. Your income, wealth, and personal details are never sent to any server. There are no cookies, no tracking scripts, and no analytics. The app works fully offline once loaded.

It is an approximation. When you enter your income instead of net wealth directly, the tool uses up to 18 factors — including age, homeownership, savings rate, and debt — to estimate your likely net wealth. A range is shown to reflect the inherent uncertainty. For the most accurate result, enter your net wealth directly.

Wealth distribution data comes from WID.world (World Inequality Database), maintained by economists including Thomas Piketty. Economic indicators come from the OECD. Gini coefficients are sourced from the SWIID (Standardized World Income Inequality Database). Billionaire net worth figures come from the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list.

Wealth is far more concentrated than income. The bottom 50% in most countries holds between 1% and 5% of total wealth. This happens because wealth accumulates over time through asset appreciation (property, stocks), inheritance, and compound returns — mechanisms that disproportionately benefit those who already have capital. Meanwhile, many people carry debts that offset or exceed their assets, leaving them with zero or negative net wealth.

It is a simple division: the billionaire's net worth divided by your annual income gives the number of years it would take you to earn the equivalent amount (before taxes, with no spending). The result is then expressed in relatable units — years, lifetimes, or historical eras — to make the scale of the gap tangible.

Economists and policymakers have proposed a range of approaches, including progressive taxation on income and capital gains, inheritance and estate taxes, universal basic assets or savings programs, broader access to education and homeownership, and stronger labor protections. Each approach has trade-offs, and outcomes depend heavily on implementation. This tool does not advocate for any specific policy — it aims to make the data visible so people can form their own views.

No. How Poor Am I? is an educational tool designed to visualize wealth inequality data. It does not provide financial, tax, or investment advice. For personal financial decisions, consult a qualified financial advisor.

The data is bundled into the application at build time and updated periodically as new datasets become available from WID.world, OECD, SWIID, and Forbes. Because the underlying research databases are typically updated annually, the data reflects the most recent available year for each country.

Yes. The entire codebase is open source under the MIT License. You can inspect the data processing pipeline, suggest improvements, report bugs, or run your own instance. The repository is available on GitHub at github.com/yrunhaar/howpoorami.