A perfect song for the below entry and article attached – I Want to be a Billionaire by Travis Mccoy
A recent ST article I read cites from a study by Boston Consulting Group that 11.4 per cent of Singaporeans are part of the growing ‘Singaporean Millionaire Club’.
I of course went “WTF”, are the stats actually right?
At the figure provided that would mean more than 1/10 or 570,000 of Singapore total population has investable assets of more than $1 million.
We the non-millionaires would of course be envious of such elite group of people, well good for them, but I always read these articles and studies with a pinch of salt.
The next question on my mind is of course, who are these Singaporeans anyway. Locals, or newly minted ‘localized’ rich immigrants staking their new claims here.
With Singapore having the sixth-highest percentage of foreigners globally, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the latter.
S’pore millionaire club the fastest growing
SINGAPORE added millionaires at a faster rate than anywhere in the world last year despite a recession that decimated wealth in many nations.
The exclusive club grew by 35 per cent here, putting Singapore just ahead of second-placed Malaysia, with a 33 per cent gain, and Slovakia on 32 per cent and China on 31.
The study by consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) also showed that Singapore had the highest concentration of millionaires.
There are 11.4 per cent of households here owning more than US$1 million – defined as those with investable assets of more than US$1 million, exclusive of property and items like art.
Hong Kong was next followed by Switzerland, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the United States.
Singaporean TJ Thang, who belongs to the elite group, did not fare too badly during the downturn. ‘Some of my stocks fell in value during the recession, but I was still getting attractive property rental yields, and hence my cash grew,’ said the 49-year old businessman.
