Being rich or poor isn't a matter of how much you have. It's a matter of how much you have compared to everyone else. Last month Wall Street Journal writer Robert Frank worked with someone at the Federal Reserve Board to figure out just how much money it takes to be rich or poor in the United States, based on your household's net worth. (Net worth is the total of all your assets--equity in home, money in the bank, investments, current worth of your other possessions--minus any debts you have--credit card debt, Student Loan debt, etc.)

The numbers are based on 2004 data, which is the latest available, and I found them interesting. If your household net worth is $93,000, you're smack dab in the middle, richer than half of households, poorer than the other half. That sounds about right. What's interesting is that 8 percent of households are now "millionaire households," with a net worth of a million or more, and 18 percent have at least a half million. The number of millionaires has doubled since 1995.

It's hard to know what to make of the trends, as I think home values have had a lot to do with many people becoming millionaires, and in most areas home values are now at standstill or going up very little in value. Will 16% of households be millionaire households in 2017? I don't think so, although obviously the number will rise as inflation ensures that being a millionaire is not the ticket to a life of leisure that it used to be.

Whether you feel rich at a $100,000 or $1,000,000 net worth obviously depends on where you live as well. Millionaires in San Francisco may find themselves sitting on a lot of money on paper in the form of home equity, but the only way they'll realize that money is to move away. So many of them probably don't feel rich at all. On the other hand, your $100,000 in Owensboro, Kentucky will have you sitting pretty. (Just don't try taking it to San Francisco, unless you want to go back to renting.)

But we all like to compare our situation to others, so here's another way to see how you stack up.