美国每天诞生1,700个百万富翁

虽然美国年轻人的工资增长低迷，就业前景不佳，但美国依旧有大量的财富，其百万富翁阶层的规模超过了其他任何一个国家。而且，这个阶层仍在不断壮大。

彭博社根据波士顿咨询集团的预测报道称，未来几年，达到百万富翁标准的美国人人数将以平均每天1,700人的速度增长。到2020年，美国将新诞生310万百万富翁，2010至2015年期间，百万富翁人数增长了240万。

该公司表示，今天，资产价值（不包括不动产与奢侈品）超过100万美元的美国家庭约有800万个。

彭博社表示，个人财富的大幅增加主要源自“历史上规模最大的代际财富转移”。美国人的财富主要集中在年龄较长的群体，而他们已经达到富裕水平的后代将会继承一笔财富。

彭博社引用咨询公司Spectrem Group的研究称，遗产继承对于保持财务增长至关重要。该公司对资产价值超过2,500万美元的50岁以下投资者进行了调查，其中有75%表示，遗产继承是他们成功的因素之一。

但约有75%的美国人属于圣路易斯联邦储备银行所谓的“挣扎者”，其他则被划为“成功者”。前者每年的收入仅够维持生计，而后者可以成功储蓄和积攒财富。由于大量财富是通过遗产继承的方式代代相传，因此百万富翁数量的迅速增长，并不会打破财富集中的秩序。

但现在成为百万富翁可能不再具有从前的重要意义。彭博社称，今天的个人净值100万美元，按购买力计算，相当于1980的341,000美元，在20世纪初只相当于45,000美元。如今，成为百万富翁甚至不能算是“富人”，因为生活成本、教育和退休会让财富大幅缩水。

不过，美国规模庞大的工薪阶层肯定很愿意加入这个日益壮大的百万富翁军团。（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

Despite little wage growth and declining job prospects among young Americans, the U.S. is home to vast stores of wealth and a millionaire class that outsizes that of any other country in the world. And it’s about to get even bigger.

The number of Americans who meet the millionaire threshold is set to increase by an average of 1,700 every day for the coming years, Bloomberg reports, based on projections by the Boston Consulting Group. By the year 2020, the U.S. is expected to welcome 3.1 million new members into its millionaires' club, which grew by 2.4 million from 2010 to 2015.

Today, there are about 8 million American households with assets worth more than $1 million, excluding properties and luxury goods, the firm said.

The coming spike in individual wealth will largely be due to what Bloomberg calls “the largest generational transfer of wealth in history.” Much of America’s wealth is concentrated among older generations, whose mostly already affluent offspring are about to inherit a fortune.

Inheritance matters in maintaining financial growth, according to research by the Spectrem Group, a consulting firm cited by Bloomberg. Over 73% of surveyed investors under 50 with assets above $25 million told the group that inheritance factored into their success.

Some 75% of Americans, however, are what the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis calls “strugglers," while the remainder is classified as “thrivers.” The former make just enough to get by little each year, while the latter are able to successfully save and accumulate wealth. With so much money being handed down through inheritance, a swift rise in the number of millionaires is unlikely to upset the order of concentrated wealth.

But being a millionaire may not matter as much as it used to. Bloomberg says a net worth of $1 million today has the buying power of, say, $341,000 in 1980, or $45,000 in the early 20th century. Being a millionaire these days doesn’t even necessarily qualify one as “rich,” as living expenses, education, and retirement easily chip away at the sum.

Nonetheless, the vast majority of America’s working class would surely welcome an invitation into the country’s growing legion of seven-figure holders.