World millionaires' club numbers 9.5 million: research

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070627/lf_afp/worldinvestments

PARIS (AFP) - The number of millionaires in the world increased by 8.3 percent in 2006, with about 9.5 million individuals now estimated to have more than a million dollars in financial assets, a report said Wednesday.

The survey by financial services group Capgemini and US investment bank Merrill Lynch said strong global economic growth and gains on the stock market explained the expansion of the exclusive club of "High Net Worth Individuals" (HNWIs).

The financial assets owned by the group totalled 37.2 trillion dollars (27.7 trillion euros), an increase of 11.4 percent from 2005, with Singapore, India, Indonesia and Russia producing the greatest number of new millionaires.

"Real GDP and market capitalisation growth rates, two primary drivers of wealth generation, accelerated throughout 2006, which helped to increase the total number of HNWIs around the world as well as the amount of wealth they control," the report said.

The number of Ultra-HNWIs -- individuals with financial assets exceeding 30 million dollars -- increased by 11.3 percent in 2006, with the global population of this extremely affluent group now estimated at 94,970 people.

...are millionaires but these people own 29.8% of all the assets in the world and they have an average net worth then of $3,915,789.47

Not too shabby considering that would be what these people own after they liquidate their debt. And there is the rub, almost all of them have debts and should a major economic crisis hit the world, much of this net worth could be wiped out because of the way the world financial system is now set up. My guess is that almost all of those 9.5 million millionaires with the exception of say several thousand are on shaky financial ground because the world financial system is now literally a casino.

Though I could be wrong. This group will be growing be a large percentage as polarization increases in the many countries, and the economies of some developing countries like China advance.

is that if you had $1 million in the bank and you decided to retire, you would only have an income of $40,000 (drawing down at the recommended 4% a year).
You can certainly live comfortably on $40k/yr. But you're not rich.

These days, it's really a benchmark of basic financial independence. And yet less than one out of every 600 people even have that kind of financial security.