In a much publicized press release, Merrill Lynch and Capgemeni last week released the findings of their global wealth survey for 2007. The results: about 10.1 million individuals globally have $1 million or more in assets (up 6.1% over 2006), with the average net worth in the group equal to about $4M. The fastest growing part of the group comes from the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America, however, India is the country whose ranks of millionaires grew at the fastest rate. It had 22% more millionaires in 2007 compared to the previous year.
CNN also reported that the group of ultra-rich, those with $30M or more in assets, grew to a total of 103,000 globally. I guess you can say it's good to be the king...
So, all that leads to the question: when will my wife and I join those growing ranks? I guess that depends on the question of how you define a millionaire... the survey looked at individuals, not couples, so I am guessing that to get a realistic answer I would need to divide our net worth by two. Also, net worth for the purpose of the survey does not include the value of the primary residence. In our case, we rent, so in that sense we have an unfair advantage for the purpose of the calculation. Taking all of this into account, my best guess is that if everything goes smoothly (typical rates of return, no global melt downs, no major periods of unemployment, no run away inflation, our typical savings rate, etc.) we should be able join the ranks of millionaires, as the survey defines them, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2020. So, as I said, we are about to join the millionaires club, it's just that we're taking the scenic route to get there...
Hey, good enough for me. Of course, there is always the hope that my company will go public and propel me into the ranks of the ultra-rich faster than you can say: "keep on dreaming, you imbecile".
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