Have $1 million? You’re not rich

A million bucks isn’t worth what it used to be. 

A just released survey by global financial services firm UBS shows that most investors do not consider themselves wealthy if they have less than $5 million. 

Only 28 per cent of millionaires who have between $1m to $5m consider themselves wealthy as opposed to 60 per cent of those who have more than $5m.

The UBS Investors Watch Survey says that the majority of investors define wealth “as having no financial constraints on what they do”.

A total of 16 per cent said in order to be wealthy they have to surpass a certain asset threshold while 10 per cent defined being wealthy as “never having to work again”. A further 10 per cent said being wealthy was ‘ensuring a comfortable lifestyle for the next family generations”. 

Four in five investors provide financial support for adult children or parents with one in five sharing a home with them.

The survey said unemployment, the ecenomy and aging parents make concerns about the financial situation of family members significant. Investors’ second biggest personal financial concern is the financial situation of their children or grandchildren.

The number one way investors support other family generations is through paying for minor expenses (54 per cent) followed by helping fund education (42 per cent), helping them borrow (20 per cent), paying for larger purchases (18 per cent), providing for grandchildren (17 per cent) and helping fund a mortgage (13 per cent). n