New Millionare Rate Up, and so is the Poverty Rate

CHICAGO, May 24
/PRNewswire/ -- It was a very good year ... for millionaires.

The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, excluding primary residence, increased 21% last year to 7.5 million, according to Spectrem Group's new "Affluent Market Insights 2005" report, released today. This total, an all-time high for millionaires, represents a net gain of 1.3 million.

At higher levels of wealth, growth was even stronger. Those with $5 million in net worth, also excluding primary residence, increased 38% in 2004 to a record 740,000, a net increase of 200,000.

http://www.kensei-news.com/bizdev/publish/factoids_us/article_38039.shtml

Flipside:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35175-2004Aug26.html
Poverty Rate Up 3rd Year In a Row
More Also Lack Health Coverage

By Ceci Connolly and Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 27, 2004; Page A01

The number of Americans living in poverty or lacking health insurance rose for the third straight year in 2003, the Census Bureau announced yesterday, reflecting a job market that failed to match otherwise strong economic growth.

Overall, the median household income remained stagnant at $43,318, while the national poverty rate rose to 12.5 percent -- 35.9 million people -- last year, from 12.1 percent in 2002. Hit hardest were women, who for the first time since 1999 saw their earnings decline, and children. By the end of 2003, 12.9 million children lived in poverty.

:-(

....of the masses. The Bush Family continues to implement their New World Order.

Not saying that the middle class isn't losing a huge amount of ground, but a million dollars doesn't have near the buying power it did a decade ago.

It would be very interesting to see how the number of billionaires has grown.