2008 Woodie Awards
Millionaire status becomes mainstream as years pass
Kate Stickelmaier
Issue date: 4/3/07 Section: News
In today's day and age, reaching millionaire status may not be as significant of an achievement for some Americans as it was 50 years ago.
In those days, a millionaire's lifestyle was often associated with glamorous dinner parties, outrageously expensive vehicles and limitless shopping sprees.
However, that image has changed with the emergence of your "everyday millionaires." In other words, those who have saved carefully from their beneficial careers and may have collected more wealth by investing in a successful market, would fall into this category.
"The status of millionaires has changed," Hassan Mohammadi, professor of economics, said. "Nowadays, the typical citizen has one million dollars in assets."
Rarely does a day go by when one does not encounter the word "million," whether it be in a nightly news report or even in a mathematics course at ISU. The more talked about a topic is, the more mainstream it seems to become and acquiring millionaire status is no exception.
"I think a millionaire is more upper class whereas as they aren't part of the elite anymore," Kelly Rustman, a freshman public relations major, said.
In scanning the list of the Forbes 400 Richest Americans, one will notice that for the first time, everyone on the list has a net worth of at least $1 billion. Many of the members on this prestigious list have contributed to society in important and unprecedented ways.
"If you compare across people, you have to be a billionaire to be recognized [as a] rich person," Mohammadi said.
Often times, the cause in this shift of a person's individual net worth can be attributed to inflation. For example, according to Federal Reserve figures, someone who bought $1 million worth of goods in 1957 would need $7.3 million to buy those same goods today.
"Inflation tends to erode the purchasing power of money," Mohammadi said, "The price of everything has been going up."
Despite that fact, many millionaires never anticipated reaching a six-figure status, but for those who made it a goal, there are numerous ways in which to do so as the Forbes list has demonstrated.
"In my view, to become a very rich person you have to have a combination of a very good idea and materialize it, and be in the right place at the right time," Mohammadi said, "You have to have persistence to [reach your] goal."
Still, there are some millionaires who worry about their financial security when it comes to things like paying for the cost of their child's college education, saving for retirement and financing their homes. Rustman said she believes that it depends on your type of lifestyle.
"If you're into risks, invest in the stock market, but if you're not so much [then] I think you need to build something or create something that will make you stand out," she said.
In those days, a millionaire's lifestyle was often associated with glamorous dinner parties, outrageously expensive vehicles and limitless shopping sprees.
However, that image has changed with the emergence of your "everyday millionaires." In other words, those who have saved carefully from their beneficial careers and may have collected more wealth by investing in a successful market, would fall into this category.
"The status of millionaires has changed," Hassan Mohammadi, professor of economics, said. "Nowadays, the typical citizen has one million dollars in assets."
Rarely does a day go by when one does not encounter the word "million," whether it be in a nightly news report or even in a mathematics course at ISU. The more talked about a topic is, the more mainstream it seems to become and acquiring millionaire status is no exception.
"I think a millionaire is more upper class whereas as they aren't part of the elite anymore," Kelly Rustman, a freshman public relations major, said.
In scanning the list of the Forbes 400 Richest Americans, one will notice that for the first time, everyone on the list has a net worth of at least $1 billion. Many of the members on this prestigious list have contributed to society in important and unprecedented ways.
"If you compare across people, you have to be a billionaire to be recognized [as a] rich person," Mohammadi said.
Often times, the cause in this shift of a person's individual net worth can be attributed to inflation. For example, according to Federal Reserve figures, someone who bought $1 million worth of goods in 1957 would need $7.3 million to buy those same goods today.
"Inflation tends to erode the purchasing power of money," Mohammadi said, "The price of everything has been going up."
Despite that fact, many millionaires never anticipated reaching a six-figure status, but for those who made it a goal, there are numerous ways in which to do so as the Forbes list has demonstrated.
"In my view, to become a very rich person you have to have a combination of a very good idea and materialize it, and be in the right place at the right time," Mohammadi said, "You have to have persistence to [reach your] goal."
Still, there are some millionaires who worry about their financial security when it comes to things like paying for the cost of their child's college education, saving for retirement and financing their homes. Rustman said she believes that it depends on your type of lifestyle.
"If you're into risks, invest in the stock market, but if you're not so much [then] I think you need to build something or create something that will make you stand out," she said.
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