1 in 20 Are Millionaires?
Well, that's what the article claims... A story in our local paper claims that 1:20 households in the Boston area are millionaires. Click here
I really think the figure is a bit high. The survey primarily looks at the wealthy suburban towns surrounding Boston and downtown Boston. The data is definitely skewed to show a high number of millionaires. It's still an interesting read to see how they came up with this conclusion. Hey, I wouldn’t mind being the 1 out of 20, but I’m not there yet… Hopefully one of these days!
posted by Money Turtle @ 7:38 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I finally was able to read the article. But with sections like this I have to woder if they understand anything they are reporting on:
"Economist Mark Zandi said he sees two classes emerging in Boston and nationally: One earns above the region's median family income, about $75,000 in the Boston area, and lives in comfort, with job security, stock holdings, and little debt. The other half earns below the median, has far less job security, and worries about credit card debt and student loans."
So let's see... half are above the median, half are below... hmmmm. Is that normal?
Apparently I'm living in the wrong area! :-)
It seems (to my financially uneducated eye) that the middle class is growing in size and slowly creeping toward millionaire status, yet it's not due to more pay or better saving practices, simply that the millionaire mark was set decades ago as a level of affluence and it no longer has as much significance today other than as a cultural "myth" of wealth.
When you could buy a brand new car for $2,500, having a million dollars seemed extreme. When an average new car costs somewhere around the $20,000 mark, a million dollars isn't quite what it used to be.
Had anyone ever told me that I'd own a $500,000 home when I was younger, I would have laughed at them. Now that I do (and I earn about the reported median in Boston), being a millionaire seems like not such a big deal. I'm still a long way from being a millionaire, but the goal seems a lot closer as time goes on.
You're right a million dollars is not what it used to be, but everyone still uses it as a benchmark. The number of millionaires in the total US population is still less than 1% (~0.85%).
Post a Comment
<< Home