Dian's Column
Dian's Archive



Lipper


Rubbing shoulders with billionaires



By Dian Vujovich

That Forbes list of billionaires has everybody talking. So does the Dow’s recent regaining of its all time high mark. Do they have anything to do with one another? You betcha.

 

Billionaires are different than  the rest of us. Really different. Not only do they have beyond belief oodles of money, most are risk takers.  Names like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Oprah Winfrey come to mind. All are   examples of  individuals who  both take risks and then work with— and  enjoy– the rewards of doing so.

 

Ordinary folks don’t generally like taking risks—or too many of them—with their money. Perhaps that’s because many work for The Man and make a wage that that man or woman sets for them. Consequently, that old ‘hard-earned’ buck kind of thinking coupled with the don’t-invest-in-the-stock-market- unless-you’ve-got-money-to-lose mind set keeps lots of folks from ever attaining seven-, eight- or 10-digit wealth.

 

On the other hand, once successful men and women reach a certain degree of success, investing becomes part and parcel of making their money grow.

 

If risk taking isn’t a part of your make-up, but you’d like to hang out where the uber wealthy  live, the good news is  you don’t have to leave the United States to do so. Even with our economic woes there are more billionaires living in the U.S. than in any other country on the planet.

 

A recent story in Silicion India listed the 10  countries on the globe with the  most billionaires. They include:  In the 10th position, Canada with 40 billionaires; 9th is Brazil with 49 billionaires; 8th, Switzerland with 57; Hong Kong at 64; Russia is in 6th position with 97 billionaires; in front of it, India with 109; in the 4th slot is Germany, 137; 3rd is the United Kingdom with 140; 2nd is China with 147 billionaires; and in the No. 1 position, the mighty U.S. of A. with, 480 billionaires.

 

To be clear and keep things above board, the Forbes 2013 list of billionaires reported 420 of them  the U.S. The  Silicion India story states more–480. It was compiled by Wealth-X. I don’t know which figure is correct. I just know that there are plenty of the super monied men and women residing on  Earth.

 

To read the full story in Silicion India, and get a few details about the richest in each country listed, visit: http://tinyurl.com/b7vx4wz .


To read more articles, please visit the column archive.




[ top ]