By Nellie S. Huang
- Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
- The good life costs money: How much do you need?
Money goals are subjective — one person’s idea of a fortune could be another person’s version of the poorhouse. But how much would you need to walk away from a job and say, I have achieved enough? What’s your number? (Vote below.)
The folks at Standard Chartered Priority Banking decided to ask. In a study with Scorpio Partnership, they posed the following question to 1,792 wealthy people (1,063 men and 729 women) in 10 Asian countries, including China, Thailand, South Korea and Japan: “Do you have an amount of money in mind that you will need to achieve your ambitions?”
Among the respondents, South Koreans had the loftiest target: $5.1 million, well ahead of the No. 2 Indians’ $4.3 million. (The full list appears below.) The average target number overall was $3.5 million.
Of course, this was an elite crew — according to the survey, the average annual income of respondents was $120,000 and the average net worth $1.3 million. The highest earners came from South Korea ($148,000 on average), but Hong Kong and India weren’t far behind, at $138,000 and $134,000, respectively.
South Korea (207 respondents): $5.1 million
India (211): $4.3 million
United Arab Emirates (92): $3.9 million
China (177): $3.7 million
Hong Kong (207): $3.5 million
Taiwan (190): $3.5 million
Malaysia (169): $3.3 million
Thailand (207): $3.2 million
Singapore (144): $3.2 million
Indonesia (173): $3 million
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ASPIRATION AND PERSPIRATION
Well, if the average respondent already has a net worth of $1.3 million, then obviously they would not be satisfied without becoming a multimillionaire. This seems applicable in any country or “world class” urban center where the costs of living are highest. (No farmers in the survey).
The average American Federal civil servant (”bureaucrat”) makes about $ 50,000/year. So, over twenty years of working (2/3 of their working life) they gross before taxes and expenses around $1 Million. Civil Service Retirement System Pensions are about 80% of salary, again before taxes. If you asked these individuals how much money they could hope for, I believe much lower numbers would prevail.