I was just wondering how many millionaires there are, alive, today.
And do we know exactly how many billionaires there are today?
Forbes currently lists 476 billionaires as “the World’s richest people”:
(1 billion is their cutoff point for this list - they note that there are fewer this year than ;ast year)
I would have thought that the whole population of Turkey are millionaires as the current rate of exchange is about one and a half million Turkish Lira to the dollar.
Wow, thanks. Count on the SDMB for such fast answers.
Of course, much depends on how you define “millionaire.” A lot of people who are NOT rich could qualify for the title if they liquidated every asset they had.
A retired couple on Long Island who own their own house outright and have a few simple investments might very well be worth a million dollars on paper. And while they’d probably be quite comfortable, they certainly wouldn’t be living in luxury. A million bucks isn’t what it used to be!
Based on total assets, yes, your next door neighbor in a middle class neighborhood may be a millionaire these days. You will note that the CNN report quoted above defines millionaire as $1 million in FINANCIAL assets. Dial in home equity, and that number’s going to be a good deal larger. And at any reasonable draw down, a million bucks may provide a livable income, but not a lavish one. Indeed, a million ain’t what it used to be.
BTW, you will note that the Forbes list does not include Queen Elizabeth - much of what people often quote as her worth is not HER personal fortune, it belongs to the crown. Personally, she’s still quite wealthy, but not a billionaire. Considerations like that change how you count the number of super-rich.