Millionaires increasingly are handing the keys over to independent advisors, reports a study by Fidelity Investments. The survey of more than 1,000 households with at least $1 million in investable assets (excluding workplace retirement accounts and real estate) found that 26% of millionaires used the services of independent advisors last year, compared with 22% in 2006. Independent advisors held 71% of investable assets last year versus 56% the prior year.
Millionaires seemed pleased with the service provided by their independent advisors-89% are satisfied to very satisfied with their advisor, and 37% are still working with their first independent advisor. As for clients who no longer work with their first advisor, the main reasons for changing were due to the client relocating or the advisor retiring.
Among the respondents of the second annual Fidelity Millionaire Outlook, the average annual income before taxes was $380,000 and the average household investable assets was $4.3 million.
Not surprisingly, 81% of millionaires consider themselves wealthy. The flip side, of course, is that 19% don't consider themselves wealthy. As a group, millionaires considered themselves to be wealthy when they hit the $2 million mark.
But wealth means different things to different folks. On average, millionaires with $10 million or more said they didn't start to feel wealthy until they amassed $6.3 million. Those with less than $10 million said they started to feel wealthy when they reached $1.7 million. And millionaires who still don't feel wealthy say their turning point will be when they accumulate $23 million in investable assets, on average.
And it appears that increased wealth means increased worries about losing that wealth, as deca-millionaires tend to be less optimistic about the economy than people with between $1 million to $2.5 million.