# Why will most Americans never become mega millionaires or billionaires?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-most-americans-never-become-mega-millionaires-or-billionaires/743969>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 23, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-most-americans-never-become-mega-millionaires-or-billionaires/743969 "2016-01-23T14:44:33Z")\
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**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-will-most-americans-never-become-mega-millionaires-or-billionaires/743969/128 "2016-01-30T18:04:50Z")

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> [@Tangent](#):
>
> “Middle class income” includes a broad range, though. Someone making $40,000 a year is not going to become a millionaire with ‘some frugality.’

Someone who retired at the end of CY2015 after 30 or 40 years of investing in the S&P 500 saw a CAGR of greater than 7%. So we’re not even talking about heroic levels of frugality here.

ETA: That’s after inflation.

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