The internet is currently tearing itself apart over whether ₦100 million still makes you a High Net Worth Individual (HNI) in Nigeria. On one side, you have people saying it is small money in this economy. On the other, you have people correctly pointing out that the vast majority of the country will never see that amount of liquidity in a lifetime. Well, let's strip away any emotion and focus strictly on the mechanics of money. In 2013, ₦100M was roughly $625,000. You were approaching global dollar-millionaire status. Today, at ~₦1,330/$1, that same ₦100M is approximately $75,000. Let that sink in. In terms of global purchasing power, the HNI benchmark has collapsed by nearly 90%. A sum that used to buy you a semi-detached duplex in a prime Lagos zone now barely buys a respectable 3-bedroom apartment in a mid-tier estate. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) draws the line at ₦100M in investable assets (cash, stocks, bonds, excluding your house and car). This number is a risk filter. Nothing more. A regulatory classification threshold that was never meant to rank wealth. The government assumes that if you have ₦100M in liquid cash, you can afford to lose some of it on riskier, complex investments like Private Equity or Venture Capital without becoming destitute. So, legally? Yes. If you have ₦100M in a portfolio, you are an HNI. Your bank will assign you a relationship manager, and you’ll get access to deals the average retail investor never sees. The most important part of the SEC definition is what it excludes: your primary residence. You can live in a ₦400 million house in Lekki, but if you struggle to raise ₦5 million cash for an emergency, you are not an HNI. You are just a broke person living in an expensive box. Meanwhile, a tenant renting in Surulere with ₦105 million in a money market fund is an HNI. Real wealth in this economy is liquidity, not valuation. The bottom line is for Nigerians to stop fighting over the label. HNI is just a banking category that lets you fill out different forms. The goal shouldn't be hitting ₦100M so you can relax. It's knowing that amount is the safety buffer you build on the road to real, generational wealth. That said, do you think the SEC needs to update the benchmark to ₦500 million to reflect our reality?