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Last year, 920,000 more people paraded around the world with a $1 million net worth. The total number of millionaires hit 14.6 million, a record-breaking figure, Houston Chronicle reported.
This is the sixth time we’ve seen a year-over-year increase in millionaires, the Chronicle said, thanks to surging stock prices, which increased the personal wealth for many investors. In the U.S., 350,000 more people acquired a net worth of $1 million or more. Americans make up a third of the world’s newest millionaires, according to a report released by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management.
The U.S. has 4.4 million millionaires in total, which is the most in the world. Japan follows with almost half of that figure — 2.5 million. Germany lands in third place with 1.1 million money-makin’ magnates and China, the second-biggest economy in the world, falls in fourth place with 890,000 millionaires.
The report picked up some other interesting tidbits. India saw the biggest jump in millionaires — 26 percent — thanks to their bustling stock market. And the wealthiest tycoons (a net worth more than $30 million) represented just one percent of all millionaires, but possess 35 percent of the world’s wealth. Finally, the wealth held by millionaires worldwide add up to a record shattering $56 trillion.
According to CNN Money, by 2019, millionaires will rack up 46 percent of the world’s wealth, as per the Global Wealth 2015 report from Denver Consulting Group.
Interestingly enough, despite their bloated bank accounts, CNBC reports that some millionaires “share the same concerns as the middle class” when it comes to retirement — 45 percent, to be exact.
Artie Green, a certified financial planner based in Palo Alto, CA, said millionaires aren’t necessarily worried about whether they’ll have sufficient wealth to live on, obviously, but “whether or not they’ll be able to enjoy the kind of lifestyle they’d been planning.”
“I think one of the key reasons is the vulnerability experienced by many in their 50s who lost jobs and subsequently discovered how difficult it has been to get new ones,” Green added.
Another poll cited by CNBC found that one-in-10 of respondents with more than $1 million in investable assets are living paycheck to paycheck and are burdened by debt.
Oh, boo-hoo. They’ll be just fine.
The Capgemini and RBC Wealth Manage wealth report tracked the net worth of individuals by analyzing their stocks, bonds, cash.
