With unemployment at an astronomical high, another recession looming and a national deficit worth screaming about, many Americans will agree that times are tough for the nation’s economy. Many, maybe — but not all.
A new report shows that the USA is home to around 3.1 million “mega-wealthy” Americans, each boasting at least a million dollars in ready cash.The World Wealth Report released this week put America at top of the list of countries hosting “dollar millionaires,” as they call them. These are all people with investable assets totaling at least a million dollars that are not tied up in homes or pensions. By comparison, the nation that can boast the next most millionaires is Japan — though their statistic is nearly half of what the US has.While nearly one-in-ten Americans are seeking unemployment benefit applicants, one-in-one hundred are dollar millionaires. When coupled with the 282,000 millionaires in Canada, this elite — and alarmingly large — group of North Americans have a total of nearly $43 trillion in their bank accounts.In the meantime, the nation as a whole — including its nearly 24 million unemployed — is $14 trillion in debt. Looking at the disparity between classes even further, while 3.1 million Americans have mega-wealthy status in 2011, 45 million receive food stamp benefits and 1.6 million filed for bankruptcy this year. And if you’re wondering just how many 3.1 million is, here is another group you can compare it to — the National Coalition for the homeless says that around 3.5 million Americans live on the streets each year.