What & Who Is “Rich?”

We define affluence as the wealthiest 10 percent of the population based on net worth. We have good data from the Federal Reserve Board survey. It identifies different percentiles of the population. To be in the top percentile requires a net worth of $750,000, assets minus all liability. There are probably about eight million households with a net worth of $1 million or more. Based on the $750,000 figure, about 11 million households reach that qualification.

About 80 percent of the millionaires are self made — it’s not old money or inherited money. You have the big-money flash people from entertainment and sports and top corporate executives. But that’s just one segment of the affluent. Then there’s the stock-market wizard and dot-commers and those in real estate. Then you’ve just got the quiet entrepreneur who plugs along making $200,000 or $300,000 a year and saving. Those tend to be the majority of the millionaires.

Excerpt taken from a Dec. 12th article titled “Are the rich really different?” in the Miami Herald written by Ron Kurtz. To read it in its entierty go to:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/10388362.htm