By Alexander Green According to a new report from Credit Suisse, America has 43% of the world’s millionaires, the most of any nation.
There are currently 15.35 million millionaires in the U.S. That’s 1.1 million more than last year.
Some ask how there could possibly be so many. I’m more interested in understanding why there aren’t far more.
After all, the four-step formula that most millionaires follow is straightforward: work hard… save… invest… compound.
Plenty of Americans work hard, of course. Most save (if not enough). But too few invest successfully or reinvest their interest, dividends and capital gains so their gains compound.
In my experience, many don’t because they are pessimistic – if not downright fearful – about the future.
For example, Christopher Smart, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, kicked off an article in Barron’s last week with this blunt statement:
One of the great mysteries of today’s global markets is their irrepressible enthusiasm, even as the world appears on the verge of chaos or collapse.
Mr. Smart clearly spends a lot of time watching cable news.
If he turned it off, he might recognize that the market’s “irrepressible enthusiasm” has something to do with synchronized global growth, low inflation, rock-bottom interest rates, cheap energy, full employment and record corporate profits.
If this is Armageddon, bring it on.
Of course, it’s not Armageddon. And you’d think someone who shows up every day at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace might have a little better perspective on the state of modern governance, human rights, economics and prosperity:
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The number of democracies worldwide is rising. Autocracies and theocracies are declining.
People enjoy broad property rights and the freedom to trade goods and services without oppressive restrictions. According to The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of Economic Freedom, more people are enjoying more economic freedoms than ever before.
Rights – to life, liberty, property, marriage, reproduction, speech, worship, assembly and protest – are more widespread than ever.
Poverty is declining worldwide and First World affluence is on the rise. Since 1990, the percentage of the world’s population living in poverty has declined by 50%. And the Federal Reserve recently reported that U.S. household net worth hit $96.2 trillion in the second quarter, an all-time record.
More people in more places are living longer than ever before. The human life span has nearly doubled over the last hundred years.
A smaller percentage of people die as a result of violent conflict than at any time in human history. Contrast this with the 20th century, with its two world wars and countless regional and civil wars.
Homicide rates have fallen precipitously from over 100 murders per 100,000 people in the Middle Ages to less than one per 100,000 today in the West.
Violent crime has fallen for years. Despite the sensational images on TV, the chance of dying a violent death in the U.S. is the lowest it has ever been.
Torture and the death penalty have been outlawed by most nations, and the latter is less frequently practiced where it is legal.
Citizens …read more
Source:: Investment You
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