Buoyant financial markets indicate that global wealth increased by 6.4% in one year since last June.The fastest pace since 2012, and there have been 2.3 million new millionaires added to the currents according to the Credit Suisse Research Institute’s global wealth report. The highlight of this report however, the sharp divide between the wealthy and the poor. The top 1% own more than half of all global wealth.
Americans dominate the ranking of millionaires 43% of the global total. Japan and Britain each see drops in millionaires due to depreciation of their national currency. The biggest wealth gains proportionally happened in Poland, Israel, and South Africa thanks to stockmarket and currency increases. On the other end of the spectrum, Egypt lost nearly half of its wealth in dollar terms. Switzerland remains the country with the biggest mean and median wealth per person.
The unfortunate part is the wide generational gap: millennials as in those who reach adulthood in the current millennium, are falling behind in wealth stakes. Americans between the ages of 30-39 are projected to have amassed 46% of less wealth than the same group 10 years prior. Experts are blaming higher students debts and housing ladder difficulty as reason millennials have not formed a nest egg. This might pose the issue of when baby boomers seek retirement and sell their assets, millennials might not be able to afford them.
The millennial generation will have a tough time when the baby boomers all retire and get out of the workforce because of this great divide. Being in college now i can fully start to grasp the difference between the two generations. The wealth the future generations have now will have to go somewhere tho when the earlier generation all passes on and i do believe that some of that wealth will trickle down and find its way into the new generation. One can only hope that is what happens.
ReplyDeleteSome of these statistics are pretty remarkable, the fact that the top 1% controls 50% of global wealth is ridiculous. You wonder why over all these years as this trend of the rich getting richer continues nothing has been done to at least slow the trend down.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article. The wage gap is appalling, but as we were shown on Friday, we on average really don’t need that much money to be happy and comfortable.
ReplyDeleteThe millennials have had quite a diverse experience depending on whether you’re an early or late millennial. A lot of the older millennials saw a tightened job market right after, or sooner after graduating high school. But, the ones who were lucky enough to be able to go off to college and spend those 4-8 years getting their degree, will actually be entering the work force at a very beneficial time. Unemployment is low and wages are high at the moment. And even if they aren’t extremely wealthy, a lot of them will have the resources to make a healthy living.
It does look more difficult for people to become independent and settle down with their own properties these days. There are so many matters to be kept in mind for individuals, such as rent, vehicle maintenance, food, taxes, etc. and the government policies aren't exactly helping people out. They are more favorable to firms. The government should help the young adults to let them set up and have a stable life.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the biggest problem facing millennials is covering the financial needs of the Baby Boomers post retirement. The current Social Security system was established when the life expectancy was much lower. It was expected that a retiree would live only for a few years without working and being supported by the Social Security system. However, with advances in medicine and technology, people are living for decades after they retire. This will prove problematic when all of the Baby Boomers move into retirement, as it is such a large population. The smaller group of millennials will struggle to support such a large population for an extended period of time.
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