Individual, group, and temporal perspectives on the link between wealth and realistic threat

•Living in a country with a lower objective wealth and perceiving the country's relative wealth as low are associated with higher levels of perceived realistic threat.•An anticipated decrease in personal wealth in the future is associated with higher threat perceptions only in low HDI countries.•Perceived realistic threat is fostered by a perceived decline in the current wealth of the country.•Country-level wealth may play a role in calibrating threat responses to anticipated personal wealth.