US Millionaires' Ranks Rose 16% in 2009, Study Says

[Purveyor]

By Alexis Leondis

March 9 (Bloomberg) -- The millionaires’ club in the U.S. grew by 16 percent in 2009, following a 27 percent decline in 2008.

Families with a net worth of at least $1 million, excluding primary residences, rose to 7.8 million in 2009, an increase from 6.7 million a year earlier, according to a survey of high- net-worth U.S. households conducted by Spectrem Group.

“With the markets trending upwards, we expected an increase,” George H. Walper Jr., president of Spectrem Group, said in a telephone interview. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 24 percent in 2009 and has risen 68 percent over the past 12 months.

Affluent households, which the survey defined as those with net assets of $500,000 or more, increased 12 percent to 12.7 million, the Chicago-based consulting firm said in a statement today. The number of households with a net worth of more than $5 million rose 17 percent to 980,000, Spectrem said.

The average age of a so-called affluent investor is 58, compared with 62 for a millionaire and 67 for an investor with more than $5 million. Survey respondents in all three categories said they were most concerned about the impact of a prolonged economic decline on their financial well-being, according to Spectrem.


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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-09/u-s-millionaires-ranks-rose-16-in-2009-study-says-update1-.html

[rfranklin]

1. A million dollars ain't what it used to be....

To equal the buying power of a 1950 millionaire you would have to have $8,800,000.

To equal the buying power of a 1935 millionaire you would have to have $15,500,000.

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Wonder how many of the people were in the afluent class,,

with incomes + net worth of more than a quarter of a million dollars, and how many were middle class or poor. The only way to move up is to have sufficient disposable income after meeting necessities to invest. The middle class and poor simply have no disposable income that can make up that kind of disparity.

[One_Life_To_Give]

3. Baby Boomers 401k's

250k salary probably required for the 5million level. But getting to 500k to 1+ million would only require age and middle to upper middle income.

[Hannah Bell]

7. most baby boomers don't have 401 k's.

[applegrove]

4. You either grow the middle class or you grow the rich and the poor.

[L0oniX]

5. The rich are concerned about "prolonged economic decline on their financial well-being"...

WTF ...fuck them! They are lucky the masses aren't burning down their fucking houses.

[Greyhound]

6. The trillions poured into propping up Wall Street & real estate valuations.

We've poured $2T in direct funds and leveraged another ~$20T to keep a failed scheme going and it makes paper millionaires,what a surprise.
:eyes:

Here's a better gauge, IMO; How many American households could write a check for $500K without liquidating any tangible assets or incurring debt?