November 16, 2004 11:22 AM

Ranks of U.S. Millionaires Surge


Excerpt: The ranks of U.S. millionaires surged 33% to a record 8.2 million households in mid-2004 from a year earlier, buoyed by this group's steady investment in the stock market.    News Source


The ranks of U.S. millionaires surged 33% to a record 8.2 million households in mid-2004 from a year earlier, buoyed by this group's steady investment in the stock market.

An additional two million households this year joined those with more than $1 million in net worth excluding primary residence, according to TNS Financial Services' annual survey of the wealthy. The margin of error for the survey, conducted annually since 1981, is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

A consistent investment strategy -- rather than shifts into a particular asset class -- propelled investment gains between June 2003 and June 2004, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed about 15% and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose about 25%, according to TNS.

"We don't see this group's ownership of stocks and bonds change much during downturns," said Jeanette Luhr, manager of TNS's affluent-market research program. "They clearly understand the implications of investing over a long period of time." About 48% of this group said they didn't change their investment approach much after the market's recent downtick, and a similar percentage made few changes to portfolios.



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