From Gucci loafers to opera tickets to sailing yachts, here’s how much more expensive it’s gotten to live like the ultrawealthy.
By Andrea Murphy, Forbes Staff
Every year it gets pricier to live rich. This past year is no different. For more than four decades, Forbes has been tracking a basket of ultraluxe items and services–including thoroughbred yearlings, Chanel handbags and custom floral arrangements for your home–to create our Cost of Living Extremely Well Index (CLEWI). This year CLEWI increased by 4.7%, a bit below last year’s 4.9% bump and notably less than the 10.1% jump in 2021. Inflation for the super-rich is easing. Still, CLEWI outpaced the Consumer Price Index, which measures the broader economy and eased to 2.7% this year.
Though CLEWI is a barometer of the top end of the market, prices for luxury goods are affected by similar forces as the rest of the economy, such as higher raw materials and labor costs. A 60-foot Oyster 595 sailing yacht now comes with a price tag of $3.9 million, up 25% from last year. A week at California’s Golden Door spa runs 8.4% more and a pair of Gucci loafers will set you back $1,050, a 14% jump. But not everything is more expensive this year. A kilo of Ossetra caviar from Petrossian and a 45-minute session with an Upper East Side psychiatrist haven’t budged, at $12,980 and $500, respectively.
Of course, while rising prices are a concern for ordinary Americans, members of The Forbes 400 list of richest Americans don’t have such concerns. Their collective net worth hit $5.4 trillion this year—a 20% increase over last year, making CLEWI’s 4.7% increase easily affordable for this lucky bunch.
ENTERTAINMENT AND TOYS
+5.4%
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Robert Nickelsberg/getty images
Opera
$5,940 | 1%
Two tickets to six Saturday night performances, Center Parterre Premium seats, Metropolitan Opera, New York
•
Steinway & Sons
Piano
$223,900 | 3%
Ebonized Model D concert-grand, Steinway & Sons, New York
•
Damen Yachting
Motor Yacht
$63,000,000 | 0%
Amels 60, Netherlands
•
Oyster Yachts
Sailing Yacht
$3,890,000 | 24.9%
Oyster 595, United Kingdom
•
Griffin & Howe
Sporting Shotguns
$371,289 | 8.9%
Matching pair of James Purdey & Sons 12-bore side-by-side, Griffin & Howe, New Jersey
•
Keeneland
Thoroughbred
$528,194 | 2.1%
Average price for a yearling, Keeneland September sale, Kentucky
•
Train set
$250 | 0%
Thomas and Friends Lionel Christmas set with Bluetooth, North Carolina
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tk
Cigars
$1,112.50 | 9.1%
25 Davidoff Dominican Aniversario Double 'R', New York
•
Forbes
Magazine
$20 | 0%
Forbes, one-year subscription, New York
FASHION
+8%
•
Emanuele Cremaschi/getty images
Necklace
$122,000 | 2.5%
Vintage Alhambra long necklace, 18K, white gold, diamond, Van Cleef & Arpels, France
•
John Lobb
Shoes
$7,000 | 7.4%
Men’s black calf wing tips, custom-made, John Lobb, United Kingdom
•
Gucci
Dress
$3,700 | New
Black wool crepe, Gucci, Italy
•
Peter Dazeley/getty images
Dress Shirts
$11,940 | 19.2%
12 cotton bespoke, Turnbull & Asser, United Kingdom
•
Gucci
Loafers
$1,050 | 14.1%
Horsebit leather, Gucci, Italy
•
Chanel
Perfume
$370 | 4.2%
Chanel No. 5, 1 oz, France
•
Audemars Piguet
Watch
$28,600 | 2.9%
Royal Oak by Audemars Piguet, stainless steel case and bracelet, Switzerland
•
Handbag
$10,800 | 5.9%
Chanel Maxi 2.55 black, aged calfskin, gold-tone metal, France
FOOD
+2.1%
•
Ridgewells
Catered Dinner
$13,320 | 0%
40-person 3-course meal from Ridgewells, Maryland
•
PETROSSIAN
Caviar
$12,980 | 0%
Kilo of Petrossian Special Reserve Ossetra, California & New York
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Floortje/Eplus/Getty Images
Champagne
$2,940 | 5.3%
Case of 2008 Krug Vintage Brut, Astor Wine & Spirits, New York
•
Lobel's
Chateaubriand
$1,120 | 0%
7 pounds of tenderloin, Lobel’s, New York
•
Daniel Krieger
Dinner
$505 | 5.2%
Le Bernadin tasting menu, per person, with wine pairing (excluding tip), New York
HOUSEHOLD
+4.9%
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Mavocado/getty images
Flowers
$11,750 | 3.1%
In season arrangements for 6 rooms per month, Jerome Florists, New York
•
Frette
Sheets
$3,700 | 0%
Queen-size cotton sateen Ultimate, Frette, Italy
•
Georg Jensen
Sterling Silver Flatware
$14,400 | 3%
Acorn pattern, 5-piece dinner set for 12, Georg Jensen, Denmark
•
Sauna360
Sauna
$25,550 | 5.2%
8-by-10-by-7 feet, eight-person in Nordic Spruce, Finnleo Sauna, Minnesota
•
Mission Pools
Swimming Pool
$5,474,000 | 15%
Olympic-size, Mission Pools, California
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Younes Kraske/getty images
Tennis Court
$65,685 | 3%
Har Tru (crushed stone), Putnam Tennis and Recreation, Connecticut
SERVICES
+2.8%
•
Groton School
School
$60,895 | 1.5%
Year’s tuition, room and board at Groton School, Massachusetts
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Brooks Kraft/getty images
University
$87,0686 | 4.2%
Year’s tuition, room & board, fees and insurance at Harvard, Massachusetts
•
Face-lift
$100,000 | 0%
Experienced plastic surgeon, New York
•
Estate Manager
$400,000 | 5.3%
Minimum salary San Francisco area, British American Household Staffing, New York
•
Katarzyna Bialasiewicz/getty images
Psychiatrist
$500 | 0%
45 minutes Upper East Side doctor, New York
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Lawyer
$1,250 | 0%
Hourly fee for estate planning by partner, Schlesinger Lazetera & Auchincloss, New York
•
Golden Door
Spa
$12,950 | 8.4%
Coed weekly rate, Golden Door, California
Travel
+2%
•
Mandarin Oriental
Hotel
$9,500 | NEW
New York Skyline Suite, Mandarin Oriental, New York
•
Bombardier
Airplane
$78,000,000 | 4%
Global 7500, standard equipment, certified, Bombardier, Canada
•
Concierge
$180,000 | 0%
One-year bespoke membership, Pure Entertainment Group, Canada
•
Rolls Royce
Car
$595,000 | 2.1%
2025 Rolls Royce Phantom with extended wheelbase, United Kingdom
•
Louis Vuitton