Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Oct 20, 2025

How wealthy Americans are spending their money this holiday season

How wealthy Americans are spending their money this holiday season

Amid supply chain issues and inflation, the 2021 holiday spending of millionaires isn't shifting much compared to last year.

Despite supply chain disruptions and inflationary issues, retail trade groups and industry watchers are forecasting record levels of sales this holiday season.

But a majority of the millionaires (68%) surveyed in the CNBC Millionaire Survey said they will spend the same this holiday season as last year. Furthermore, the largest percentage of millionaires said they will spend less than $2,500 this holiday season, significantly lower than in 2019.

Here are some of the ways millionaires say they will be spending their money this holiday season.

Smaller sums


When it comes to how much millionaires expect to spend this holiday season, the largest percentage (29%) said they would spend between $1,000 and $2,499, slightly up from 28% last year but down from 34% in 2019.

Smaller sums — between $0-$499 and $500-$999 — saw slight decreases from 2020 but were still higher than what was recorded in 2019. For example, 26% of millionaires said they'd spend between $0-$499 this year, compared to 27% last year and 19% in 2019.

The percentage of people who said they were planning on spending over $25,000 increased one percentage point compared to last year to 4%, which is up from 2% in 2019.

Across the board, 68% of millionaires said they would be spending the same as last year, while 12% said they were spending less and 21% said they were spending more.

Of the millionaires that said they were going to be spending much more this year, at least 10% or more, 39% of those respondents were millennials.

Supply chain issues, inflation and spending


Inflation and supply chain issues have snarled holiday shopping, and millionaires say they are also feeling that crunch.

More than a quarter (28%) of millionaires said they would be giving more gift cards this year and less tangible gifts because of possible shortages and disruptions in the supply chain, while 33% said they were doing their holiday shopping sooner because of that.

Seven percent of millionaires said they will be giving less gifts this year due to inflation.

Twenty percent said they would be increasing their charitable contributions this year, while 7% said they would be increasing their spending and giving this year after having problems last year due to the pandemic.

Who the wealthy are spending on


Perhaps unsurprisingly, the age of the millionaire drastically impacts who they plan to spend the most on this holiday season.

For millennial millionaires, 32% said they'd spend the most on their children, 26% said they'd spend the most on their spouse, and 19% said they'd spend the most on themselves.

In comparison, 27% of baby boomer millionaires said they'd spend the most on their grandchildren, 24% on their children, 24% on their spouse and 3% on themselves.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
×