More Millionaires Then Ever And Growing Every Year In a recent report called the 2005 World Wealth Report released on June 9, 2005, the number of millionaires is growing for the second year in a row. The report was created by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini. Highlights from the report: 1) The world's net-worth increased 8.2% this year 2) Individuals with a net worth of at least U.S. $1 million (excluding their primary residence) grew by 7.3 percent to 8.3 million, a net increase of 600,000 worldwide. 3) North America led with a nearly 10 percent growth rate to 2.7 million 4) North America surpassed Europe 5) Asia-Pacific's growth rate of over 8 percent (to 2.3 million) was over twice that of Europe 6) Exception: The United Kingdom and Spain showed growth comparable to the worldwide rate One thing that may seem strange per the report: those with a "financial wealth between $5 million and $30 million are facing particular challenges in managing their increasing net worth" The encouraging news is that wealth is growing and there may never be a better time to make money and become rich. Although the facts mentioned in this report put some hard numbers on the growth of wealth in the United States and the world, you may have sensed that wealth was growing because of the rising real estate values throughout the US. It's possible that the increase in equity in your home of the last several years may offer you some great opportunities to leverage that equity and invest it in a money making profitable venture such as a business. Although the report excludes net worth as a result of a primary residence it does not exclude increased net worth as a result of secondary residences. If real estate values continue to climb, investing in a second home may be a great way to increase your net worth according to many real estate experts. Although real estate may still be a great investment, don't discount the value of the internet and creating an internet based home business. The internet continues to grow and there are hundreds of millions of people online. The internet is a great, low cost of entry, and therefore low risk, way of starting a business and making money. Internet opportunities still exist from selling products or service on eBay to launching your own website (I.E. Internet storefront) with many products and services. Details and the full wealth report can be found here: Merril Lynch - 2005 Wealth Report Capgemini - 2005 Wealth Report Did you enjoy this article? Do you know of anyone that could benefit from this article? Please add a link to this article from your website, favorite blog, web board or forum that you visit if you think others can gain from this article. Please feel free to discuss ideas discussed in this article but please do not copy it in part or in full. All content on this page is copyrighted and is protected under copyright laws.