Is Billionaire the new Millionaire?
Amid all the lists over the last few months of the billionaires and millionaires in the U.S. and the world, a thought occured. Used to be that it really meant something to be a millionaire. Still does. But does it mean the same thing, or has billionaire become the level for true perceived richness? Don’t get me wrong, I could be very happy just being a millionaire, but billionaire seems so much higher. 1000 million. That’s something. Bill Gates has 50 * 1000 million. That’s alot.
I think the biggest difference is in what we make in salary/wage. There are people who routinely make upwards of $100,000 a year. That means that they make 1 million in 10 years. It’s a given that they don’t save every penny so they don’t amass a net worth of 1 million in 10 years, but it’s conceivable that it could be done fairly easily in 20 if a decent rate of return could be made. Some sports athletes make millions in one year. A decent rate of return on their money could make them billionaires in far fewer years.
Even with those givens, however, it would still take 20,000 years to amass 1 billion. Compare that to someone who made 100+ million when “high” wages comparable to 100k today were closer to 20k. People like the Vanderbilts. They were the billionaires of their century and they only had a couple hundred million. So maybe the billionaire is the new millionaire. How much longer before being a millionaire becomes common enough that we don’t think anything of it?
Technorati Tags: millionaire, billionaire, savings, save, return, investment
Like this post? Subscribe by RSS
Or if you prefer, Subscribe by Email
Related Posts:
Tim MMF said,
Wrote on March 31, 2006 @ 7:42 pm
Thanks for taking The Money Test!
Billionaires…If I could just convince one to give me 1% of one of their Billions I’d be retired in a minute. Haha! Good post.
Tim MMF said,
Wrote on March 31, 2006 @ 7:43 pm
Oh, I’m curious…have you had any luck getting donations? I’ve though about joining that Amazon program.
thatedeguy said,
Wrote on March 31, 2006 @ 7:56 pm
I’d settle for a 1% donation from a billionaire…
But then, No, I have not had any luck getting donations. Not one.
claire said,
Wrote on August 16, 2006 @ 10:05 am
Yeah, it’s pretty likely I’ll be a millionaire before I die. But that doesn’t mean I’ll have enough money to do whatever I want.
I don’t think I need a billion. That sounds sort of stressful, managing that kind of money. I’d be happy with, say, 5 million.
Zach Graham said,
Wrote on October 6, 2006 @ 12:40 pm
A man I know is worth at least half a billion. He uses alot money for helping others though, building schools for orphan children overseas in places like India and Russia. If I were to become a millionaire, I’d do the same because I enjoy helping people and also wouldn’t be able to spend all that money in a lifetime.