By: Dr. Tamara Patzer
In brief: The Federal Reserve’s newest Survey of Consumer Finances, released October 9, 2026, shows a median family net worth of $215,900 and a mean of $1.24 million. A New Orleans tax attorney reads the gap as a clue to who actually needs coordination and what a family office does for them.
On October 9, 2026, the Federal Reserve released its latest family finances release for 2025. The headline figures are median family net worth of $215,900, up 2% after inflation from 2022, and mean family net worth of $1.24 million, up 7%. Most readers will look at the growth. A planner looks at the gap between the two numbers, since it reveals where complicated wealth lives. Attorney Todd M. Villarrubia of New Orleans, author of Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™, reads it this way.
What does the gap between median and mean tell us?
That wealth is unevenly distributed. The median is the middle family: half hold less and half hold more. The mean is the arithmetic average, pulled upward by families with very large holdings. When the mean is several times the median, as it is here, a minority of households account for a large share of the total.
That is a statement about distribution. It is not a statement about any one family. It does, however, help explain why a service designed for complex wealth is relevant to a small share of households and why many families do not need it.
Where does the top of the distribution sit?
In the second quarter of 2026, about $60.3 trillion of net worth sat with the top 1%, according to the Fed’s distributional series on FRED. This is a separate Fed dataset, updated quarterly and built to estimate how wealth is divided.
At that scale, wealth is often held in many forms: operating businesses, real estate, investment portfolios, trusts and personal property. That variety is what creates the coordination problem the book describes.
Does the survey say who needs a family office?
No, and it would be wrong to claim that it does. The survey measures wealth. It does not measure complexity, though the two are related. The book makes the distinction in a sentence that applies directly: “The decision to establish a family office isn’t solely about wealth level, although economics are a factor.”
A family at the median may have only a house, a retirement account and some savings. Coordination for that household means keeping documents current and beneficiary designations correct. A family above the mean may hold a company, several properties and trusts for the next generation. For that household, coordination is a larger task.
Where do business owners fit?
Often between the two. Federal small-business data counts 36,207,130 firms nationwide, with 62.3 million workers on their payrolls. An owner of such a company may have a net worth near the median in cash terms and far above it on paper, because the value sits in the business.
The book speaks to that situation directly. “It isn’t until a liquidity event that their wealth is fully realized; until then, it’s largely paper value.” A national average cannot capture that kind of wealth, and a family that relies on averages to judge its own position can be misled.
What does coordination look like for each tier?
For a median household, it is basic: updated wills, correct beneficiaries, a list of accounts, a trusted person who knows where things are. For an owner of a closely held company, it adds entity records, an agreement among owners, succession planning and a conversation among the lawyer, accountant and financial adviser. For a family with large holdings, it adds governance, a calendar of events and often staff.
The point is that coordination scales. The principle of one set of facts, a named responsible person and regular check-ins applies to all three. Only the intensity changes.
What does the book offer as a general rule?
That scale of wealth should not be confused with scale of need. In Villarrubia’s phrase, “Not every family requires a full-service family office.” He is not selling a single solution. He is describing a method that families can use at the level that fits.
He adds that the method matters more than the label. “The answer lies in establishing a family office, which not only manages assets but also simplifies complexity.” Families that cannot build an office can still seek simplification.
How should a reader use the new data?
As context, not as a verdict. Find your own situation in the picture: where your wealth sits, how liquid it is, who depends on it. Then ask whether anyone is responsible for the whole picture. If not, the next step is an ordinary one: a map, a calendar and a conversation with your advisers.
What should be kept in perspective?
The figures are averages across families, collected at a point in time and adjusted for inflation1. They are not forecasts, and they do not describe any one household. The growth rates in the release compare 2025 with 2022, and a family’s own path may differ greatly. A household with a business, a rental or an inheritance on the way can look very different from the statistics within a single year.
The practical habit is to compare your own balance sheet with your own goals first, and with national figures only for context. A family that has a plan and a team is better placed than one that merely sits above a national midpoint.
What should a reader do with a national average?
Use it as a mirror, not a target. Place your own household beside it and ask what is different: a business, a property, a dependent, an inheritance on the way. Those differences, not the headline number, decide what coordination you need. Then write down one question for your attorney and one for your tax professional, and bring both to your next meeting. A family that asks specific questions gets specific answers, and that habit does more good than any comparison with an average. It also builds the relationship with advisers that every later decision will rely on.
Common questions
Does a higher mean mean most families are getting richer? Not necessarily. A rising mean can reflect gains concentrated among higher-wealth families.
Is $215,900 the right target? No. It is a midpoint, and it does not measure whether a family is on track for its own goals.
Who can tell me what I need? A licensed attorney and a tax professional can assess your situation.
Sources
- Federal Reserve Board, press release on the 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances
- Federal Reserve Distributional Financial Accounts, Net Worth Held by the Top 1% (FRED)
- U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Businesses 2026
About the author. Dr. Tamara Patzer is a publisher and former newspaper editor. She was on the staff of The Charlotte Sun when it was named a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for its Hurricane Charley coverage.
About the source. Todd M. Villarrubia is an attorney with an LL.M. in Taxation and a Juris Doctorate. He is an Accredited Estate Planner, a Board Certified Expert in Estate Planning and Administration, and a Fiduciary Investment Advisor Representative. He is the author of Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™. Wealth Planning Law Group, 101 W. Robert E. Lee Blvd., Ste 404, New Orleans, LA 70124. Phone: 504-982-8207; email: todd@lawealthplan.com; website: https://lawealthplan.com/?utm_source=newsanchored&utm_medium=us-insider&utm_campaign=family-office
Disclaimer: Sponsored feature written on behalf of Todd M. Villarrubia. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results vary.
