Contrary
to
popular
opinion,
the
economy
was
good
in
2024.
The
latest
evidence
of
that
is
a
new
study
from
UBS
which
concluded
that
the
United
States
minted,
on
average,
more
than
1,000
new
millionaires
every
single
day
last
year.
America
got
379,000
new
millionaires
in
2024
alone,
bringing
its
grand
total
to
about
23.8
million
millionaires.
The
United
States
has
approximately
40%
of
the
world’s
millionaires
despite
having
only
around
4%
of
the
world’s
population.
UBS
attributed
the
rise
in
the
number
of
new
members
in
the
seven-figure
club
primarily
to
strong
markets
and
a
stable
dollar.
In
2025,
we
may
see
a
slowdown
in
the
number
of
new
millionaires
created,
according
to
an
economist
at
UBS,
but
there
remains
potential
for
strong
growth.
Now
for
the
obligatory
“also
a
lot
of
people
were
struggling
last
year”
part:
at
last
count,
the
United
States
had
about
36.8
million
people
living
in
poverty.
The
headline
economic
problem
last
year
—
higher
than
normal
inflation
—
disproportionately
impacts
those
at
the
lowest
end
of
the
wealth
spectrum,
who
generally
must
allocate
a
much
higher
proportion
of
their
income
to
necessities.
Stock
ownership
is
most
concentrated
among
higher-income
Americans,
so
the
less
well-to-do
also
often
miss
out
on
the
benefits
of
rising
financial
markets.
We
still
have
more
people
living
in
poverty
than
we
do
millionaires
here
in
the
United
States.
However,
while
the
poverty
rate
has
remained
stable
or
even
declined
slightly
in
the
past
several
official
measurements
from
the
U.S.
Census
Bureau,
the
rate
of
people
becoming
millionaires
for
the
first
time
has
jumped
significantly.
I’d
call
that
progress.
Of
course,
we
can
all
agree
that
even
one
child
raised
in
poverty
is
too
many
and
it
would
be
great
if
the
poverty
rate
was
falling
much
more
dramatically.
In
the
meantime,
though,
maybe
the
left
should
stop
pillorying
a
group
of
23.8
million
people
who
tend
to
be
voters
as
well
as
political
donors
and
who
didn’t
have
anything
to
do
with
creating
poverty
as
a
social
problem.
I
am
not
one
of
2024’s
new
millionaires,
because
I
became
a
millionaire
in
2023.
While
I
am
certainly
not
complaining
about
having
a
bit
of
money
saved
up
and
invested,
it
was
not
exactly
a
cakewalk
to
get
to
that
point.
I
have
not
inherited
any
wealth:
I
clawed
my
way
into
a
six-figure
salary
working
a
60-hour-per-week
job
that
I
absolutely
loathed
for
nine
years,
and
made
a
lot
of
sacrifices
to
invest
a
huge
proportion
of
my
income.
This
was
not
all
some
vapid
quest
for
frivolous
status
symbols:
I
still
drive
a
2013
subcompact
car
with
a
piece
of
Gorilla
Tape
holding
the
front
bumper
in
place.
Rather,
I
set
out
to,
eventually,
buy
my
own
life
back,
which
seemed
to
me
to
be
a
relatively
noble
goal.
So,
I
do
get
a
little
cantankerous
these
days
when
I
see
the
“eat
the
rich”
rhetoric
thrown
about
at
protests
and
realize
they
are
talking
about
me
and
around
23.8
million
other
Americans,
the
vast
majority
of
whom
earned
their
money
legitimately,
never
knowingly
harmed
or
exploited
anyone,
and
are
actively
engaged
in
some
form
of
effort
to
improve
their
communities.
I
completely
agree
that
billionaires
need
to
be
reined
in,
that
the
top
marginal
income
tax
rate
should
be
quite
a
bit
higher,
and
that
the
estate
tax
exemption
should
be
quite
a
bit
lower.
I
suppose
“eat
the
super
rich”
simply
makes
for
too
wordy
a
sign,
though.
As
a
white
dude,
I
don’t
even
get
to
take
credit
for
any
savvy
financial
maneuvering
without
being
swiftly
reminded
by
everyone
in
my
immediate
vicinity
that
I
have
to
chalk
it
up
to
my
vast
privilege.
I’m
not
discounting
that,
yet
I
can
also
guarantee
that
one
does
not
simply
sit
around
effortlessly
marinating
in
privilege
as
graduate
degrees
and
stacks
of
hundred
dollar
bills
pile
up
around
you.
Bernie
Sanders
sure
seems
down
with
bringing
millionaires
back
into
the
Democratic
fold.
He
has
been
one
of
the
most
remarkably
consistent
politicians
in
his
messaging
over
decades,
yet
he
made
one
pretty
significant
change
in
recent
years.
Sanders
used
to
rail
against
“millionaires
and
billionaires”
before
he
became
a
millionaire
himself.
Now
Sanders
mostly
keeps
his
criticism
to
“billionaires.”
Millionaires
are
doing
fine.
They
don’t
need
me
defending
them.
But
for
crying
out
loud,
the
political
left
is
already
asking
millionaires
to
vote
to
increase
their
own
taxes.
Do
they
really
also
need
to
make
us
feel
like
pieces
of
shit
while
they’re
at
it?
Millionaires
now
make
up
about
7%
of
the
U.S.
population.
With
more
than
a
thousand
new
millionaires
created
every
day
last
year,
millionaires
are
also
one
of
the
fastest
growing
demographic
groups
in
America.
Maybe
the
left
should
stop
pushing
them
away,
right
into
the
open
arms
of
the
Republican
Party.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD (affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].