Do you consider yourself to be wealthy?  Do your friends and family and your contemporaries believe you to be wealthy?  A recent poll, carried out by our company, found that this is likely to depend on where you live in the world.

Our survey told us that for people to be considered wealthy in Hong Kong, they would need some 2.8 million USD, in the United Arab Emirates it’s slightly less at 2.6 million USD, the US would be 1.4 million USD, UK 1.3 million USD and finally in South Africa you would need an average level of wealth of 1.2 million USD to be deemed wealthy.  This means that overall, an average 1.86 million USD is required in order to be classed as ‘wealthy’.

We carried out this poll mainly to discover what peoples’ perceptions of wealth really are, what they really think about money, and to get a more developed grasp of their financial goals.  This will then give us a much better chance of helping them plan their finances with a laser-focus to enable them to achieve their objectives.

We also asked the same 900 clients whether they believed money brings happiness.  An overwhelming majority of them agreed money indeed does bring happiness with it.

A whopping 86 per cent of the clients in Hong Kong answered yes to this question, 84 per cent in the UAE, 81 per cent in the US, 77 per cent in the UK and 72 per cent in South Africa all agreed.  So overall, an average 82 per cent of those polled agreed that money brings happiness.

As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, during my lifetime I’ve been with and without money, and I can say with some certainty that it’s better to be with it – as it provides more opportunities.

Or as Groucho Marx once famously said: “While money can’t buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.”

Our findings on this topic, support extensive research carried out at the University of Michigan’s Brookings Institute earlier this year in which there was a clear and demonstrable upward relationship between wealth and happiness.

Nigel Green deVere Group

Blog 15th August