29 Valuable Facts About Millionaire and Billionaires

The average millionaire goes bankrupt at least 3.5 times.  In the United States, approximately 7% of households are millionaires.h A 2010 study argues that millionaires (those in the top 1% of earners) pay approximately 40% of all taxes in the United States.e According to the book The Millionaire Next Door, only 20% of millionaires inherited their wealth. The other 80% earned their cash on their own.h Half of all millionaires are self employed or own their own business Half of all millionaires are self-employed or own a business. Around 80% of millionaires are college graduates. Only 18% of millionaires have Master’s degrees. Eight percent have law degrees, 6% have medical degrees, and 6% have PhDs.b The preferred car of millionaires is a Ford. Cadillacs are second and Lincolns are third. Many millionaires avoid high-priced cars in favor of a more economical set of wheels because cars are investments with little return.j Only 20% of millionaires are retirees. Around 80% still go to work.h Just 17% of millionaires or their spouses attended a private elementary or high school. However, 55% of millionaires’ children have attended/are attending private schools.h Many millionaires think that the ideal occupations for their kids are accountants or attorneys. Tax advisors and estate planning experts are also in the top the list.h Most modern American millionaires today (about 80%) are first-generation millionaires. Usually the fortune they build will dissipate by the second or third generation.h Those with Russian ancestry have the highest concentration of millionaire households in America. The Scottish rank second and Hungarians rank third. English ancestry groups rank fourth. The Russian American millionaire group has approximately $1.1 trillion, or nearly 5% of all the personal wealth in America.h Most American millionaires are manager-owners of businesses.j Research indicates that the longer the average members of an ancestry group have been in the America, the less likely they are to become millionaires because they acclimate to a high-consumption lifestyle. On the other hand, first-generation Americans tend to be self-employed, which is a significant positive correlate of wealth.h Spending money on cigarettes has a significant opportunity cost Smoking three packs of cigarettes over 46 years has a significant opportunity cost. If a person invested and reinvested just that cigarette money over those 46 years, he or she could create a portfolio worth over $2 million. Researchers note that the value of a small amount of money over time can be significant.j Contrary to common belief, many millionaires do not live in mansions or in highly prestigious neighborhoods.j A pentamillionaire is someone with the net worth of $5 million. A decamillionare has a net worth of $10 million. A hectamillionaire (a.k.a. Ultra-High-Net Worth) has a net worth of $100 million.b Carlo Slim Helu, a Mexican billionaire worth $69 billion, is considered to be the first “world’s richest man from a developing nation.” He has lived in the same modest home for the past 30 years. His wealth is equal to 5% of Mexico’s economic output. He earns almost $30 million a day.f Billionaire Bill Gates announced that he would donate his wealth (estimated to be $61 billion) to charity and that he would leave a maximum of $10 million to each of his three children.f The largest increase in the number of millionaires in the past year were in India(21%), China (16%), and Singapore (14%).d There were 185,000 millionaires in Canada in 2011, up 14% from 162,000 two years previously.i Four of the youngest billionaires in the world are connected to Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg, Sean Parker, Eduardo Severin, and Dustin Moskovitz).g There are approximately 1,226 billionaires in the world. Women make up 8.5% of those.a In the year 1900, there were only 5,000 millionaires in the United States. In 2000, there were more than five million. Before the Great Recession, there were 9.2 million households worth $1 million or more.c,d In 2008, there were 10 million people around the world who were classified as millionaires in U.S. dollars.d Singapore has the most millionaires per capita One in five people in Singapore is a millionaire, making it the city/state with the most millionaires per capita. It has 188,000 millionaires. The number of U.S. millionaires dropped by 129,000, to slightly more than 5 million in 2011.d,i The first African American woman to make it onto billionaire lists is Oprah Winfrey, who is worth approximately $2.7 billion.a The term “millionaire” was first used in French in 1719 by Steven Fentimen. The first time the term was printed in America is believed to be in the obituary of Pierre Lorillard II, a tobacco manufacturer, in 1843.b On average, millionaires are 61 years old with $3.05 million in assets.g Today’s millionaires in the U.S. are made up of managers (17%), educators (12%), corporate executives (7%), entrepreneur/business owners (6%), and attorneys and accountants. The $5 million+ group is made up of corporate executives (17%) and entrepreneurs/owners (12%).c  Common Characteristics of Millionaires h Live below their means Lead frugal lifestyles Are self-employed or own their own business Plan and study investments Are not always at the top of their class (some didn’t even go to college) Are self-made List of the Richest Billionaires (2012) i Rank Name Net Worth in Billions Date of Birth Country of Citizenship Business #1 Carlo Slim Helu $69 January 28, 1940 Mexico Business Magnate #2 Bill Gates $61 October 28, 1955 USA Co-founder and Chairman of Microsoft #3 Warren Buffett $44 August 30, 1930 USA Business Magnate #4 Bernard Arnault $41 March 5, 1949 France Construction and Real Estate #5 Amancio Ortega $37.5 March 28, 1936 Spain Fashion Executive #6 Larry Ellison $36 August 17, 1944 USA Founder of Oracle #7 Eike Batista $30 November 3, 1956 Brazil Mining and Exploration Magnate #8 Stefan Persson $26 October 4, 1947 Sweden Chairman of H&M #9 Li Ka-shing $25.5 June 13, 1928 Hong Kong Business Magnate #10 Karl Albrecht $25.4 Feb 20, 1920 Germany Founder of ALDI discount stores Top 20 Countries with the Highest Millionaire Density i Rank Country Percentage of Population with Millionaire Status Total Number of Millionaires #1 Singapore 17.1% 188,000 #2 Qatar 14.3% 47,000 #3 Kuwait 11.8% 63,000 #4 Switzerland 9.5% 322,000 #5 Hong Kong 8.8% 212,000 #6 United Arab Emirates 5.0% 57,000 #7 United States 4.3% 5.1 million #8 Israel 3.6% 83,000 #9 Taiwan 3.2% 246,000 #10 Bahrain 3.2% 8,000 #11 Japan 2.9% 1.6 million #12 Belgium 2.9% 134,000 #13 Oman 2.5% 12,000 #14 Ireland 2.2% 33,000 #15 Netherlands 2.1% 152,000 #16 Saudi Arabia 1.9% 92,000 #17 Australia 1.6% 132,000 #18 Denmark 1.6% 41,000 #19 United Kingdom 1.5% 411,000 #20 Canada 1.4% 185,000

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How to get ahead by being generous

Traditional wisdom says business is a dog-eat-dog world, but new evidence turns that old saying on its head: the people who rise to the top may actually be the most generous.

That uplifting finding comes from Give and Take, a new book by Adam Grant, a management professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Givers are a huge asset to the companies they work for because they make others more effective. They have larger networks that make problem-solving faster and easier. They take the initiative to mentor and train new hires. They pick up the slack when others are overworked. And they foster a sense of loyalty among employees and customers.

Grant also identifies two other groups of people: matchers and takers. Both have middling success. Takers put their self-interests first, which increases stress, lowers collaboration, and harms working relationships. Matchers give only as much as they get, so their relationships feel transactional and their networks tend to be smaller.

Anyone -- even matchers and takers -- can learn to become more giving. Here are five strategies to help you become more generous in your professional life: 

1. Reconnect with someone. Reach out to someone you've lost touch with, then ask what they're struggling with right now and how you could help solve the problem. By extending a hand, you reestablish a connection and deepen the relationship. Your generosity creates good will between you, a great way to strengthen your network.

2. Anticipate others' needs. Givers focus most of their energy outward. "They pay more attention to what other people might need," Grant says. To do that, ask your colleagues if they’re struggling with anything whenever you chat about work. You might know how to help immediately, or an idea might come to you later. Sometimes just listening is help enough, and the more you listen, the more you'll find proactive solutions that preempt future problems.

3. Practice five minute favors. Your time is valuable, so focus on what Grant calls "five minute favors," which are favors you can do very quickly, such as an email introduction. Dedicate a specific time for these favors, such as Friday afternoons or ten minutes at lunchtime. For more involved favors, ask yourself, "If I'm going to spend a lot of time helping this person, is this something I can help with uniquely, or could someone else do it as well?"

4. Give in ways you find meaningful. Sustainable giving stems naturally from activities you enjoy. "Giving is hard to sustain if it constantly feels like a chore," Grant says. Think about what you love doing, such as connecting two people together, sharing your knowledge, or mentoring others. Find ways to help that resonate with your values and interests.

5. Act like a matcher with takers. Givers need to be careful that self-interested people don't take advantage of their kindness. "Giving is most risky when dealing with takers," Grant says. When you help a taker, be assertive about what you want to get in return. Ask them to help you with a specific task, or pay it forward by getting them to help someone else.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226307