How much money does it take to feel wealthy these days? About US$1.8 million in investable assets, said a study by Fidelity Investments released yesterday.
The survey found that 46 percent of Americans who described themselves as millionaires don’t feel wealthy, twice as many as last year, Boston-based Fidelity said. Stock market losses were cited by 42 percent of the respondents as the main reason, Fidelity’s third annual Millionaire Outlook showed.
“While many millionaires recognize they are doing better than the average investor, last year’s market volatility and loss of assets have forced them to reassess what the term ‘wealthy’ really means to them,” Fidelity Investments executive vice president Gail Graham said a statement.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 36 in the past year. Bonds, fixed-income products and cash were cited by 32 percent as their top choices for investment in the next year, followed by stocks at 31 percent. Twenty-three percent of those still looking at stocks see health care as the best investment opportunity and 20 percent infrastructure, the survey found.
“Millionaires are saying: ‘Take stock of where you are and review the assets in your portfolio,’” Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services president Michael Durbin said..
The results are similar to a survey released last month by Hartford, Connecticut-based Phoenix Cos, which found the number of millionaires who feel less wealthy increased to 74 percent this year compared with 47 percent last year.
Millionaires who classified themselves as not feeling wealthy said it would take US$7.5 million in investable assets to feel that way.
Respondents expect to pay higher taxes in the next five years, with more than 70 percent saying a capital gains tax increase was “very likely.” Half of those surveyed said they would sell poorly performing investments at a loss to offset capital gains on better performers.
More millionaires are looking at tax-advantaged funds in anticipation of higher tax rates in the future, Durbin said.
US President Barack Obama’s spending blueprint delivered to Congress on Feb. 26 proposed to raise taxes on couples earning more than US$250,000 a year. The top two marginal income tax rates would rise to 39.6 percent and 36 percent, itemized tax deductions would be limited and capital gains taxes would increase to 20 percent from 15 percent. The proposed tax changes will be part of a detailed budget the administration plans to release today.
Those surveyed remain optimistic, with 42 percent reporting they were planning to “stay the course, be patient and keep a long-term investment strategy,” during the current economic crisis. Another 24 percent said they would “stay calm” and “ignore pessimistic news reports,” the survey said.
The nationwide survey was conducted online in February by Richard Day Research, an independent research firm, which questioned 1,012 financial decision makers at US millionaire households and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent, the company said.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
CLOSER TO CHINA: The upgraded Type-12 missile has a range of about 1,000km, compared with the original model’s range of 200km, and can reach mainland China Japan is preparing to deploy its first batch of domestically developed long-range missiles, with their launchers arriving at an army camp yesterday, as the country accelerates its offensive capability in response to rising challenges in the region. The upgraded Type-12 land-to-ship missiles are to be deployed at Camp Kengun in Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto by the end of this month, completing the process of deployment, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said without giving details. Army vehicles carrying the launchers and other equipment arrived past midnight in a highly secretive mission criticized by residents. Dozens of people stood outside of the
RSS