U.S. millionaires say $7 million not enough to be rich

[JonLP24]

(Reuters) - A million dollars ain't what it used to be.

More than four out of ten American millionaires say they do not feel rich. Indeed many would need to have at least $7.5 million in order to feel they were truly rich, according to a Fidelity Investments survey.

Some 42 percent of the more than 1,000 millionaires surveyed by Fidelity said they did not feel wealthy. Respondents had at least $1 million in investable assets, excluding any real estate or retirement accounts.

"Every person in the survey is wealthy," said Sanjiv Mirchandani, president of National Financial, a unit of Fidelity. "But they are still worried about outliving their assets."

The average age of respondents was 56 years old with a mean of $3.5 million of investable assets. The threshold for "rich" rose with age.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-fidelity-survey-idUSTRE72D3RK20110314?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FoddlyEnoughNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Oddly+Enough%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

[lbrtbell]

1. I guess the cost of being a douchebag has really risen lately

:argh:

[KharmaTrain]

2. I Heard 10 Million...

...but what's a few mil among friends. Ya figure if you have $1 million and invest it at 4 or 5% that means an annual return of 40-50k...and then one hopes that the markets don't tank and prices don't continue to rise. I'm certain that most people here would love to have such a problem (including me)...but in the world of the "rich and famous", that's chump change. Over the years I've worked with many wealthy types...many are very paranoid about what they have and feel they need to make more to prove their in "the club".

[Lint Head]

3. I guess it's hopeless for me.

[Silent3]

4. $7M is certainly enough to retire and be pretty damn comfortable...

...but if you think of "rich" as having yachts, private jets, servants, enormous mansions, traveling around the world while staying in the penthouse suites of five star hotels (when not staying at of your scattered-around-the-world mansions), throwing big expensive parties all of the time... then it does take more than a few million to be "rich".

You could burn through $7M pretty damned fast if you tried to live the TV/movie vision of a wealthy life style as an ongoing thing.

[AngryAmish]

5. One compares oneself to one's peers

Someone with 7.5 mil in NY living near billionaires does not feel rich.

Someone with 7.5 mil in Flint feels pretty darn rich.

Warren Buffet is an abstract, while your brother-in-law drinking fancy beer makes you feel poor.

Blame human nature and our society that allows individuals and families to build up vast wealth.

[WinkyDink]

7. Then one ought not.

[AngryAmish]

11. Human nature. Tough to fight that. It is emotion, not reason.

[WinkyDink]

6. My hate has no bottom for these alleged humans.

[KittyWampus]

8. $7 million dollars could be several acres of farm land and equipment here on eastern Long Island

and I wouldn't consider the families sitting on land that has escalated exponentially as wealthy millionaires.

I really wish DU'ers would understand there's a difference between actual, spendable money and assets. And not all assets are easily liquidated into cash.

[Silent3]

12. "excluding any real estate or retirement accounts" would probably mean...

...excluding that farm land, but yes, you're still right to point out that wealth comes in many forms, and a lot of wealth on paper doesn't translate into an extravagant life style.

You could have several millions of dollars of wealth in the form of a small business, but actually trying to access that value as cash to live the "lifestyles of the rich and famous" would mean either having to find someone else who wants to buy the business and retiring from it, or selling off the assets of the business and destroying that business's ongoing ability to produce steady income for yourself and any employees you might have.

[dkf]

9. I'd say a Government pension is worth a million and a half at minimum.

Especially if it comes with healthcare. That is how much a private industry person will have to save to keep up with the government employee's benefits.

[hobbit709]

10. When you're getting by on $12K a year and waiting for SS,

it's hard to feel any empathy for them.
ONE million would let me retire at a far more comfortable level than I am at now.

[unblock]

13. "rich" generally means "more".