The United States now has more than 1 million people who have joined the top 1 percent by having at least $5 million in investable assets, says Phoenix Marketing International.
The number of "penta-millionaires" continues to grow as overall wealth in the nation increases, says David Thompson, managing director of affluent practice at Phoenix Marketing. The number topped 1 million at the end of last year, up from the 2014 record total of 962,000.
Phoenix Marketing is an information resource on affluent and high-net-worth individuals and households. The firm releases the Annual Global Wealth Monitor each year.
The 1 million threshold marks a milestone for the United States by demonstrating the country’s ability to create new wealth and to continue to grow economically, says Thompson.
“Millennials are growing wealth at a faster rate than their parents did,” Thompson says, and the trend is expected to continue. The penta-millionaires are found mostly in vibrant urban areas and in tourist centers, such as Hawaii (which has the second-highest number by percent of population) with 1.2 percent of the population has $5 million or more in investable assets.
Maryland has the most penta-millionaires by percent of population. The 27,889 households make up 1.2 percent of the population. Connecticut and New Jersey, the number three and four spots, benefit from their proximity to New York and Wall Street. Alaska, number five, has a thriving energy sector.
Boston’s wealthy population puts Massachusetts in the sixth spot, followed by the District of Columbia, with its wealth of government positions. Virginia, New Hampshire and Delaware make up the reaming top 10.
“The growth of wealth, by its very nature, creates opportunities for financial advisors,” says Thompson. “This market is a sweet spot for advisors [and] this population naturally wants more financial advice as their needs become more complicated.”