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I found this interesting, money-related question in a recent issue of Parade magazine:

If all the money in the world were redistributed so that everyone had the same amount, what would it be?

My guess was somewhere in the $100,000 range. The real answer shows how stupid and misinformed I am when it comes to the global supply of money and the number of people on the planet. (Before you read on, do you want to guess the answer yourself?) Here's the correct amount:

The global money supply is about $60 trillion. (Economists call this figure the M3 value; it includes much more than currency.) Say that we take it all—which means that you and Bill Gates would have nothing in the bank—and then distribute it equally among every individual in the world, about 6.8 billion people. Each man, woman, and child would receive about $9000. So, if your household now has less than $9000 per person, you would gain. If you have more, you would lose.

A couple thoughts:

1. This doesn't include all "wealth", just all "money". For instance, this isn't dividing up physical items of value such as real estate, natural resources, etc. (for more on what's included in M3, check out this piece.) 2. $9,000 is not much at all. Yikes! There are certainly a huge number of people in this world that literally have nothing.

What was your guess? Were you closer than I was?