I like millionaires, I always have and I always will. A report by TNS research has revealed that American millionaire households have increased in number over the last four consecutive years to an astonishing 9.3 million, give or take a few. That's an awful lot of millionaires if you ask me. What does the climbing head count among the well-to-do mean to Joe Average? Well, if you can get beyond the jealousy and resentment long enough to see the forest through the trees, you'll find that it means a lot to us.
Millionaires tend to move a lot of money, which is the life blood of our economy. They buy large homes and furnish them with expensive decor. They own nice cars, often several, give them the best of care, and house them in well-lit, heated garages. Millionaires buy into businesses in pursuit of growing their fortunes. They invest in speculative business ventures and back inventors with good (and not so good) ideas. Millionaires hire people to assist in the routine and mundane tasks in life. Cleaning the pool, cutting the lawn and shopping for groceries are a few of the tasks that can be delegated by throwing a few dollars at them. Millionaires can throw those dollars around and they tend to do just that. "There's more where that came from," chuckle, chuckle, snort. Of course some of the wealthy tend to be very tight-fisted but they're generally easy to pick out. They live lonely lives in snobbish repose, worried that the world shall snatch an extra dollar from them.
If you want to find out where the millionaires are, this CNN Money report is a fine place to get started. It lists the top ten counties where millionaires reside. Note that it's a bit California-heavy. Some other states with counties that boast the highest number of millionaires across the country include Illinois, Arizona, Texas, New York and Florida. The list goes on and reveals the fact that more Americans have become dollar-savvy. But what does this mean, bottom line, for our country? In some ways it depends on your perspective. Some folks will tell you that it's an indication that the wealth gap has widened. I laugh at that assertion and claim instead that it means our horizons of opportunity have broadened. I also believe that it's a culmination effect of our maturing 1960's baby boom. There are an awful lot of people out there who have striven long and hard to prove that the American Dream has been more than an unsubstantiated stance on manifest destiny. Today's millionaires are the result of prolonged and intense focus on the principles of true success. This stuff doesn't just happen by itself.
So, please don't be tempted to give into feelings of unfairness. Don't waste your time wondering, "Why them and not me?" Some times it's a simple flip of the cards that determines the outcomes of success, but most often, it's the result of blood-and-guts determination. Let the climbing number of millionaires serve as inspiration to you. Realize that financial security is still well within your grasp. Then, learn their ways, associate with them when you can and truly believe that success knows no boundaries of background, gender, race or class. Roll up your sleeves, pull down your cap and get yourself to the business of leaving self pity for the next guy. You have no time to feel sorry for yourself when you're busy staking out your spot on next years millionaire list.
Oh, and about that money you spend on lottery tickets... a passbook account gives better returns by far.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-02-2007 @ 2:27AM
jchdvm said...
What determines a millionaire and how is it found out who is or isn't? My guess is that most millionaires do not necessarily want it known.
5-02-2007 @ 2:29AM
Vanessa said...
I appreciate your perspective that the growing number of millionaires can be inspiring to those who aren't (yet) millionaires, and the suggestion that with some "prolonged and intense focus on the the principles of true success" anyone can be a millionaire, regardless of background. This is the expression of the American ideology of equality of opportunity, but some folks have more difficult barriers to overcome than others. It's a lot easier to get to a million when you start at $500K than if you started with $0. Or when your parents are able to send you to the right schools so that you can make contacts with other millionaires-to-be. Your fraternity Big Brother eventually hires you to join him at Morgan Stanley or in his new startup company. Sources of inspiration can be productive for individuals, but it would be naive to dismiss the effects of class, gender, and race on the relative chances for those who begin at a disadvantage. I'd rather be lucky than good . . .
5-02-2007 @ 2:29AM
Keith Paisley said...
The achievement of a millionaire status is a free falling target and not nearly the accomplishment that it once was. If in 1945 you had reached $90,000 in savings or investments you would have been the equivalent of today's millionaire. In 1970 it would have necessitated $200,000 in wealth, and even as recently as 1990 your holdings of $670,000 wiuld have put you in that relative millionaire status. Today's new standard for true wealth should be at least four or five million.
5-16-2007 @ 2:00AM
Lisa said...
I'm on track to be a millionaire before I retire in 12 years, but it's not the million dollar mark that will make me "rich". I'll have more than enough to live on in retirement, partly because I don't have many wants or needs, and partly because I've become a compulsive investor/saver.
I just can't see myself suddenly wanting to drown myself in luxury once I retire, although I will be a bit freer with my spending.
7-28-2007 @ 12:47AM
Frank said...
I want to say something to some of the comments I've read. You do not help people when making excuses for them. Race, Gender, Money, too many kids, etc... are all excuses that people make up, because they are not millionaires (rich ;whatever). To really help people is to explain to them why there is no "good" excuse and that all an excuse is going to do is keep them down. When someone tells me why they can't, I explain to them why they should!
But, at the same time I will not talk down to anyone who continues to make excuses for themselves (I still do from time to time). It is very easy to get in a rut and think that you can never get out. I have been there and all I did was make excuses. But then I ran into some people who didn't let me talk that way. And after a while they basically said,"Take Responsibility for your Own Actions" and stop blaming others on why you can't do something. I then met many millionaires and they were from all walks of life with all different problems.(some worse then mine, wouldn't you know)
Although it took a long time for this to sink in, I can now say that I have gotten away from that type of thinking for 6 1/2yrs now. I quit my job of 14yrs and am now working for myself for the last 1 1/2yrs. It didn't come overnight and wasn't easy, but I am a quarter way to the millionaire status and getting closer, faster each year. Although that is not what drives me (anymore). As you learn to take responsibility for your own actions, you come to realize there is much more to life than money.
To anyone who wants to get out of their personal rut no matter what it may be, search online for positive attitude books.
Ok, just one saying that I like to remind myself from time to time: "There's only one way to get where you want to go: that's to make up your mind where you're going and then go without excuses and without exceptions."