A look at Americans' journey to rebuild wealth

Americans had a net worth of $66 trillion before the recession hit. They have slowly rebuilt their wealth after seeing it fall to nearly $49 trillion in the January-March quarter of 2009.

Here's a quarter-by-quarter look at that journey from the bottom. Net worth is the value of assets such as homes, checking accounts and investments, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards. Information is compiled by the Federal Reserve.

— Third quarter 2010: $54.9 trillion, a 2.2 percent increase from prior quarter.

— Second quarter 2010: $53.7 trillion, a 2.6 percent drop from prior quarter.

— First quarter 2010: $55.1 trillion, a 2.5 percent increase from prior quarter.

— Fourth quarter 2009: $53.8 trillion, a 1.2 percent increase from prior quarter

— Third quarter 2009: $53.1 trillion, a 4.9 percent increase from prior quarter.

— Second quarter 2009: $50.1 trillion, a 3.6 percent increase from prior quarter.

— First quarter 2009, $48.9 trillion, a 5 percent drop from prior quarter.