Raphael Thys
US millionaires hit new record
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The recovery is official—at least for millionaires.
The number of millionaire households in the U.S. surged by 640,000, or 7 percent, to 9.63 million last year, according to a new study from Spectrem Group. That marks an all-time high for the number of millionaire households in America since Spectrem began tracking the data in 1997.
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It’s also the first time the millionaire population has exceeded the pre-crisis peak of 9.2 millionaire households in 2007, showing that last year’s stock surge drove a corresponding growth in wealth for the rich.
The number of households worth $5 million or more also surpassed its pre-crisis peak for the first time, rising by 100,000 to 1.24 million households. The number of households worth $25 million or more surged by 15,000, to 132,000 households.
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“In terms of the affluent investor, it is fair to say they have finally recovered from the economic downturn,” said Spectrem Group President George H. Walper Jr.
However, the number of households worth $500,000 has yet to recover to its pre-crisis population peak. Those so-called “mass affluent” households grew by 1 million to 15.3 million in 2013—just below the 2007 top of 15.7 million.
Spectrem defines millionaire households as those with a net worth of $1 million or more, not including the value of their primary residence.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported the previous peak for millionaires was 9.7 million.
—By CNBC’s Robert Frank. Follow him on Twitter @robtfrank.