You're "High Net Worth" on Paper — and Probably Underinsured

There's a specific kind of wealthy that doesn't feel wealthy: the person whose net worth lives almost entirely in a brokerage account full of their employer's stock.

You didn't inherit it. You didn't sell a company. You just showed up, did good work for several years, and watched equity grants vest into a number that would have seemed absurd when you started. You still drive the same car, still mentally file yourself under "doing fine," and still carry the insurance you set up before any of this happened. That last part is where the risk hides.

What actually counts as high net worth

There's no legal cutoff, but in financial-services terms, "high net worth" generally starts around $1 million in investable assets — not counting your primary home. By that standard, a few years of vested equity plus some savings clears the bar easily. The label isn't about lifestyle; it's about how much you have to lose. And from an insurance standpoint, that's the only definition that matters.

The reason it matters: liability claims scale to your assets. A standard homeowners or auto policy was designed to protect a typical household with a typical balance sheet. Once your balance sheet is anything but typical, those default limits quietly become the weakest part of your financial picture.

The three gaps equity wealth tends to leave

1. Liability limits set for a smaller life. Most people never raise the $100k–$300k liability limits they started with. After equity vests, a serious at-fault claim can exceed those limits and reach into your investment accounts.

2. No umbrella policy — or one that's too small. A personal umbrella adds $1M+ of liability protection above your home and auto for $150–$300 a year. Many newly wealthy households have none, or a $1M policy that no longer matches a $2–3M net worth.

3. A home insured at the wrong number. If you bought an Eastside home in a bidding war, its rebuild cost and your coverage may not line up — and high-value homes often need broader policies than a standard carrier writes.

Why "on paper" wealth is still very real to a court

It's tempting to discount equity because it doesn't feel spendable — it's earmarked for a house, or you think of it as not-quite-yours until you sell. A plaintiff's attorney does not share that view. Vested, liquid, visible assets are exactly what gets pursued in a lawsuit, and concentrated stock positions are about as visible as wealth gets. The fact that it doesn't feel like money is precisely why the coverage gap goes unaddressed.

What to do about it

You don't need to overhaul everything. You need a one-time review that re-bases your coverage on the net worth you actually have:

• Confirm your home and auto liability limits are high enough to support an umbrella.
• Add or right-size a personal umbrella to at least your net worth.
• Make sure your home is insured to rebuild cost, not purchase price.
• Schedule high-value items (jewelry, watches) that exceed standard sub-limits.

Frequently asked questions

Am I high net worth if my money is in company stock? Yes — vested equity counts as investable assets. If your vested stock, cash, and other holdings clear roughly $1 million, you're in high-net-worth territory for insurance purposes, regardless of how liquid it feels.

Does it matter that my stock isn't sold yet? For liability exposure, vested-but-unsold stock is still your asset and can be reached in a judgment. It counts toward how much protection you need.

What's the single most important coverage to fix first? For most equity-wealthy households, it's the personal umbrella, paired with raising the underlying home and auto limits it sits on top of. It's the cheapest dollar-for-dollar protection available.

More in this series: Asset Protection When Most of Your Wealth Is Equity · The Insurance Gaps High-Income Tech Employees Miss

Related: Coverage Gap Calculator → · The Equity-Wealthy Household’s Insurance Guide →

Because protecting sudden or equity-driven wealth spans more than one policy, it's worth reading Is a $1 Million Umbrella Policy Enough? and Guaranteed Replacement Cost, Explained alongside this.

Trella Insurance is an independent brokerage in Bellevue, WA. We help equity-wealthy households re-base their coverage on the net worth they actually have. Start with a free coverage review.