Joining the world’s most exclusive club, the top 1%, has probably never been more feasible, but a lot depends on the country where you’re trying to achieve that status.
This is what emerges from the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2024, which establishes how many millions are needed for an individual to join the richest club in the world.
As exclusive as the one percent moniker may seem, it is “actually easier to become a member of this particular club than to gain UHNWI status,” notes the Knight Frank report, published on Wednesday.
Anyone who has achieved UHNWI status is a very high net worth individual with a net worth of $30 million or more.
Define “easier,” right? The country with the highest 1% barrier to entry is Monaco, where more than $12.8 million is needed to be in that highest percentage point category as of the end of 2023.
The five countries with the highest entry barriers are Monaco, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United States and Singapore.
In the United States the threshold is $5.8 million. And for those looking for a fast track into the 1% club, and with unlimited freedom to move, China, at the bottom of that list of 17 countries, requires just over $1 million to qualify as the 1% club. 1% and, just ahead is Japan, where just under 2 million dollars are needed.
Knight Frank, a global real estate firm, said the number of UHNWI individuals globally increased by 4.2% to 626,619 from 601,300 a year earlier, which more than reversed the decline seen in 2022.
The report included an attitudes survey showing how optimistic money managers were that their clients would accumulate more wealth in 2024. On a scale of 1 to 5, the Middle East came out on top, with North America in bottom, according to this graph:
Looking across generations, the report found that one group in particular was most optimistic about building their wealth: Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012, according to Pew Research Center calculations), of whom 75% have said they expect their wealth to increase in 2024. Boomers (born, according to the US Census Bureau, between mid-1946 and mid-1964) were, among those surveyed, at the lowest end, with Generation X ( born from the end of the post-war baby boom until 1980) not far behind. , at just over 50% each.
Continue reading: Retirement balances are at their highest levels in nearly two years, up 20% among 401(k) millionaires