Got $2,200? In this world, you're rich

Marketwatch ^ | 13 December 2006 | Staff

[Pro-Bush]

Richest 2 Percent Own Half the World's Wealth

Related article

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[irishjuggler]

New York City and it's outlying counties probably hold around 8,000,000 people whose assetts exceed half a million dollars - their homes. Give San Francisco and Los Angeles another 5,000,000 each. We will ignore Chicago, south Florida, Boston, Houston, and any other US city where house values have skyrocketed and you get half of the 37,000,000 just in three US cities.

I think that there are some problems with your analysis. First of all, there are multiple people per home. For example, even if there are 5 million people in the San Francisco area, there aren't 5 million homes. Second, many people are renters. Third, the typical homeowner carries a large debt load, so can't really be said to have "assets exceeding half a million dollars."

[editor-surveyor]

"89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual"

Wrong !!

98.5 would be hererosexual,
1.5 would be homosexual

.

[maui_hawaii]

These people don't use purchase power parity for these studies, but they are all gung ho to use it for other ones.

[ctdonath2]

Think about that when discussing poverty. Put it succinctly:

Half the world's population lives on less than $2 per day, and owns less than $2200 in assets.

The so-called "poverty line" in the USA is somewhere around 20 times that. If you're better off than half the people in the world, you're not poor - just jealous.

[editor-surveyor]

"If you're better off than half the people in the world, you're not poor - just jealous."

Congratulations! - You've just found the secret exit to the plantation!

[sig226]

There are about 25,000,000 people around New York City. There are similar numbers around Los Angeles and San Francisco. Notice that I left out the millions around south Florida, Chicago, Boston, etc.

Right now, I have friends in New Jersey who live 90 minutes from Manhattan. Their home is worth $300,000. It is a small three bedroom with an unfinished basement and maybe a third of an acre. Between them, they gross around $65,000 a year. Home values have shot into the stratosphere in the last two economic booms.

I have also omitted farmers, for whom a single machine can be a $500,000 asset, and I have omitted truck drivers, who may own two rigs and a home and whose assets exceed $500,000. These people don't always live near a large city.

I also left Singapore and Hong Kong off this list. London has another 25,000,000 people around it, Mexico City has more than that. Rio De Janeiro is up there, too, so are Rome, Paris, Bonn, Geneva, Jerusalem, Riyadh, Sidney, Brunei, Johannesburg, and Delhi.

There are a lot of poor people in this world, there are also a lot of wealthy people. The UN likes to inflame poverty sentiments because it makes it easier for them to confiscate wealth and then steal it.

Think critically.

[sig226]

I forgot - 'assets' is a misleading figure. The article says 'assets,' not 'net worth.'

[KoRn]

I'm Rich Biotch!!

[kylaka]

My wife's uncle recently died, leaving an estate of about 1.1 million dollars. The guy retired 30 years ago, and never made more than $200 / wk during his entire working career. He and his wife lived by the simple rule that you should always spend less than you earn, no matter what. He earns more money dead, than he ever did alive, and pays more taxes too. Such situations of course, bring up the issue of dead people being allowed to vote.

[Porterville]

I would never give my money to communist dictator thugs. Before that day we will have to collectively destroy every communist leader in the world with a Phillips screwdriver to the back of the spine.

[irishjuggler]

Your estimates are way off. There are perhaps 5.5 million homeowners in the whole state of California. How do I know this? Because every homeowner takes one homeowner's exemption from property taxes, and the State of California reports this data. And you've got to remember that a decent portion of those 5.5 million homeowners aren't in the expensive coastal areas.

[SamAdams76]

Well I figure my worth to be in neighborhood of $1.3m if my home equity and 401(k) are taken into consideration but for some reason I don't feel rich. Still have to get up to work everyday. Being a millionaire ain't what it used to be.

[sig226]

Great. Now add in Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Boston, Sacramento, Monterey, Washington D.C., Stamford, Greenwich, Albany, Philadelphia, and any other US city where housing costs border on the absurd. The UN number is still crazy, you are making my point for me.