Definition of wealth
Saez 19, Professor @ University of California, Berkeley, with Gabriel Zucman, Professor @ University of California, Berkeley (Emmanuel, “Progressive Wealth Taxation,” Brookings, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Saez-Zucman_conference-draft.pdf)//BB
The standard and broadest measure of household wealth includes all financial and non-financial assets valued at their prevailing market prices, net of debts. Assets include all property that is marketable or, even if not directly marketable, whose underlying assets are marketable.5 Financial assets include fixed-claimed assets (checking and saving accounts, bonds, loans, and other interest-generating assets), corporate equity (shares in corporations), and non-corporate equity (shares in non-corporate businesses, for instance shares in a partnership). Financial assets can be held either directly or indirectly through mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, and trusts. Non-financial assets include real estate, i.e., land and buildings.6 Debts primarily include mortgage housing debt, consumer credit (such as auto-loans and credit card debt), and student debt. Assets owned by businesses, such as a headquarter building or a patent, contribute to household wealth through their effect on share prices. Net wealth does not include “human capital” such as future wages and pension rights that have not yet been accrued.7 Wealth also excludes the present value of future government transfers (such as future Social Security benefits or health benefits), which is not marketable.