Today, a little over 4% of Americans are millionaires; meaning that they have invested assets over a million dollars. Fidelity and the Spectrum Group put together some information about the average millionaire. A few of their findings include:
- Median annual income was just $125,000
- The majority are married (76%)
- The majority have a Bachelor’s degree (83%), or a graduate degree
Their investment mix is:
- 44% stocks
- 15% fixed investments (like bonds)
- 15% short-term investments (like CDs)
- 26% other (real estate, gold, privately-held businesses)
Given their medium income is only twice the national average income, it is likely that two working professionals (each earning just $62,500) could be earning the same or more money than many millionaires. We can deduce that the average millionaire keeps their cost-of-living low so that they can pile up money and invest it. And that is how they eventually became millionaires.