Meet the Penta-Millionaires

From Julie Jason's column in The Advocate:

If you have more than $1 million, should you feel rich? Only if you have more than $5 million, suggests a recent Spectrem Group survey. Almost half of survey respondents said they would consider you rich if you had $5 million; 25 percent said $25 million; and 8 percent said you needed $100 million to be rich.

So who are the penta-millionaires? According to Catherine McBreen and George Walper Jr., authors of "Get Rich, Stay Rich, Pass It On," almost all are college graduates, and 63 percent have advanced degrees.

Forty-eight percent are retired. Of those still working, 22 percent are senior corporate executives, 15 percent are business owners, 10 percent are physicians and dentists, 7 percent are attorneys, 6 percent are consultants and 9 percent represent other professions.

How did these people get rich? Most 97 percent say they got rich from hard work, according to Walper, even though some said family connections, 13 percent or inheritances, 25 percent played a role.

What about financial goals? Eighty-four percent want to ensure they have a comfortable standard of living during retirement, according to Walper.

Three out of four use financial advisers, according to Walper, and 43 percent live off income produced by their investments.