International Millionaire Race

In 2011 Asia overtook North America as the region with the most High-Net-Worth-Individuals in the world. A HNWI is someone who has at least $1 million of investable assets, not counting primary residence. But last year in 2012 there were more new millionaires in North America than in Asia and weย pulled into the lead again according to a study by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management. Fantabulous! ๐Ÿ˜€ We now have a total of 3,730,000 HNWI on this continent. We’re number 1 ๐Ÿ™‚ Andย Asia follows closely behind in second place with 3,680,000 HNWIs. Europe is ranked 3rd with 3,400,000.

However Asia is set to retake the top spot again by as early as 2014, the report’s researchers predict. Oh man, it seems to be a neck-and-neck millionaire race between us and Asia. C’mon fellow North Americans. We can’t let them out rich us ๐Ÿ‘ฟ ย By the way the Asian countries in this study include Australia. Sorry my Aussies friends, you guys are involved in this matter whether you want to be or not ๐Ÿ˜‰

One of the reasons for the large influx of new Asian millionaires over the last decade is because of high wage inflation in most Asian countries. Right now the Asian region, including Australia, is growing their economy faster than us Westerners. Below are charts showing income growth in China and Australia.13-11-asian-wage-inflation

Can you imagine working in China where your wage increases by over 10% EVERY year! Holy habanero sauce! Similar deal in Australia where if you made $1,000 a week in 2012, then chances are you’ll be making over $1,100 a week today! What?! ๐Ÿ˜ฏ That’s very improbable for the average North American worker.ย So unfortunately for us the long term trend does not look promising for Canadians and Americans ๐Ÿ™ Hopefully we can find new ways to improve our competitiveness and create more millionaires!

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Random Useless Fact:ย The older you get, the better you get. Unless you’re a banana

 

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writing2reality
writing2reality
11/04/2013 8:36 am

Conversely, even though your wages went up by 10%, so did your expenses. Inflation is pretty rampant in those experiencing drastic wage growth. It’s the old two sides to every coin thing.

save. spend. splurge.
11/04/2013 11:33 am

I can’t help but feel uneasy seeing that. Looks like fake money to me, as they keep the RMB devalued at the bank which is why Chinese people are converting RMB into CAD or USD, or a “real” currency or hard assets (houses in Canada) instead of keeping it in RMB and watching it crash (one day).

Also, bananas that are overripe are perfect for banana cakes.

kemptphil
11/04/2013 1:15 pm

I’ve always wondered how they account for pension income in net worth calculations… My parents receive a government pension as my pops was a former federal employee. When he calculates his net worth, net of his primary residence he says its north of 500K, but with an annual indexed 52K pension on top, I calculate his actual net worth would be much higher if his pension was extrapolated to a non-pension retirement fund. Again, understanding the numbers and how they can be manipulated matters. In the end, what others have matters little. The golden rule – Inflow greater than outflow. – Cheers.

Phil
Phil
11/04/2013 7:31 pm

Depends on the pension plan as to what it pays beyond pensioners death. Not really a problem for us though, as our generations are much less likely to hold DB plans let alone have golden pensions to retire with… This is why we do what we do and spend the time understanding investing and focusing on the end goal of financial independence and what it means to be financially free. – Cheers.