{"id":2697,"date":"2012-08-20T05:29:06","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T11:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/corevalues.com\/?p=2697"},"modified":"2012-08-20T05:29:06","modified_gmt":"2012-08-20T11:29:06","slug":"new-survey-finds-86-percent-of-millionaires-are-self-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/2012\/08\/20\/new-survey-finds-86-percent-of-millionaires-are-self-made\/","title":{"rendered":"New Survey Finds 86 Percent of Millionaires Are Self-Made"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I had a lot of fun writing the Gen Z and the Summer Job <\/a>\u00a0post last week. With teenage entrepreneurs striving to earn money now, what better time to follow up\u00a0with an\u00a0article on Millionaires. According to Fidelity’s recent study 86% of them are self-made.<\/p>\n

Fidelity Investments\u00ae<\/sup> released results of its fifth <\/em>Fidelity\u00ae<\/sup> Millionaire Outlook, an in-depth survey analyzing the investing attitudes and behaviors of more than 1,000 millionaire households1<\/sup> . This year\u2019s study found that 86 percent of millionaires are self-made and that their path to wealth, financial outlook and goals greatly impact their investment behaviors. In addition, millionaires\u2019 outlook on the future financial environment is at its highest level in the survey\u2019s history, underscored by their confidence in the stock market, as millionaires ranked domestic stocks their number one investment added in the last year.<\/p>\n

Millionaires\u2019 Outlook Highest Yet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Using a scale where +100 represents the most favorable outlook, zero is neutral and -100 is the most negative outlook, this year\u2019s study found that millionaires\u2019 outlook of the future financial environment continues to improve, with their future outlook reaching +39, the highest level since the survey\u2019s inception in 2006. Despite millionaires\u2019 outlook on the current financial environment remaining negative (-29), their near-term confidence is on the rise, consistently increasing by nearly 50 percent each year since 2009. (For a graphic comparing millionaires\u2019 views of both the current and future financial environments from 2006 to 2012 to a broad economic indicator, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), click here.)<\/p>\n

Millionaires\u2019 confidence in the future was driven by positive sentiment about business spending (+43) and consumer spending (+42), which is at its highest level in the survey\u2019s history. Millionaires\u2019 continued trepidation around the current financial environment stemmed from their lack of confidence in the value of real estate (-75), the economy (-49) and business spending (-32).<\/p>\n

\u201cOne trend has held true throughout the life of this study \u2013 the millionaire investor\u2019s outlook has been consistently pragmatic about current market conditions and pervasively optimistic about a future recovery,\u201d said Michael R. Durbin, president, Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services\u00ae<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many ways, what millionaires have been thinking and doing can be a strong indicator for financial trends, as they are often the first to jump on an opportunity in the market \u2013 as they have recently with domestic stocks,\u201d Durbin continued.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Millionaire Ranked Domestic Stocks as No. 1 Investment Choice<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to where they are currently investing, millionaires ranked individual domestic stocks as their No. 1 investment added in the last year, followed by certificates of deposit\/money market accounts\/cash equivalents, equity exchange traded funds, individual domestic bonds and domestic equity mutual funds. Of those investments, significantly more millionaires chose equities over fixed-income investments \u2013 an inverse trend from the investment strategies of the average investor2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Millionaires\u2019 Background, Outlook and Goals Impact Investment Behaviors<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the 2012 study, today\u2019s millionaire is, on average, 61 years old with $3.05 million in assets. Seventy-four percent of millionaires today feel wealthy, and those who do not said they would need an average of $5 million of investable assets to begin feeling wealthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, we went beyond just the demographics of millionaire investors and took a closer look at what has been driving their actions,\u201d said Sanjiv Mirchandani, president, National Financial\u00ae<\/sup>, a Fidelity Investments company and the nation\u2019s second largest clearing provider. \u201cWhat we found is that today\u2019s millionaires are multi-dimensional, and to really understand them, you need to look not only at their outlook, but also at their path to wealth and their financial goals for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

1.<\/em><\/strong> Path to Wealth<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Eighty-six percent of today\u2019s millionaires did not consider themselves wealthy growing up (\u201cself-made\u201d), while only 14 percent said they grew up wealthy (\u201cborn-wealthy\u201d). Key findings include:<\/p>\n