Too many billionaires in the world...

There are currently 2781 billionaires in the world today, with the US leading the pack at 813 billionaires followed by China with 403, India at 200, Germany with 132, Russia 120, Italy with 73, Brazil 69, Hong Kong and Canada with 67 each and the United Kingdom rounding out the top 10 with 55 billionaires. 

Roughly 100 years ago, there was 1 richest person in the world – John D. Rockefeller and he had an inflation adjusted net worth of about 23.5 billion in 2024 US Dollars.  Today’s richest person is Bernard Arnault, with an estimated net worth of 233 billion dollars.  The total combined net worth of the world billionaires is 14.2 trillion dollars.

Think about that for a moment.  14 trillion dollars.  What does that mean for you?  Well, for one, the more money the richest of the Earth have, the higher the inflation is that you must contend with.  The more money in circulation, the less its value but the impact it has on those who have billions vs our ordinary incomes is vastly different. 

Ordinary, lower and middle class folks in the US have a roughly similar income to that of last year, the year before and in fact, adjusted for inflation, the income for most Americans, according to the PEW research center, has remained about the same for the past 4 decades – Ronald Reagan was president 4 decades ago to give you a point of reference. 

(For most Americans, real wages have barely budged for decades | Pew Research Center)

This means that the more millionaires and the more billionaires we have in the world, people with more and more money and wealth, the more and more money is in the system to accumulate at the top the less and less our wages will be worth.  If there was an item that cost 100 dollars 30 years ago, that item might be 250 dollars today.  But our paychecks have not increased a corresponding amount to compensate, most of the wealth created for the past 30 years has been allocated to those who already have a vast amount of wealth. 

So what does that mean for average Americans?  Well, for one, we are being told that we have to budget better, we have to save more and we have to stop spending money on frivolous things – while being bombarded by advertisements from every angle about buying more stuff.  We are told that we have to save the economy by getting more loans and buying more stuff but then we are told we are being loose with our money and look, the rich, they are doing so well because they are saving… No… they are not really saving.  The system in which we live, the monetary system, has a clear definition and that is, currency flows to those who already have it. Money, for some time now, has been the best investment there is.  Not property or  real estate or anything such, but money.  Stocks and bonds.  The market is higher than a kite and keeps going up because of all the money being pumped into it by the Federal Reserve over the past 10 years. 

We, ordinary people, have no choice.  We have to tighten our belts – again.  We have to be frugal – again.  We have to watch our spending – again.  While being told to spend spend spend. 

This is when budgeting comes in extra handy. You must see where your money is going otherwise it will run away from you.  Unfortunately, we will not change the world or the monetary system, so lets be smart about it and lets find ways to save more than we are doing now.  The first step, is having a strong budget.