I’m rich, boi! Damn rich! In fact, I’m so rich that my income puts me in the top one percent of the entire world – and I only worked half the year! I guess that means I’m a global one-percenter. Hey, who knew? But what’s more is that I didn’t get rich thanks to some special talent or great idea I had. No ma’am, I am rich thanks to my privilege! And chances are, if you’re reading this blog, you are too. Welcome to the club! Here’s what I’m talking about:

The Global One-Percenters

If your individual net income is over about $32,400, than you too are among the top one percent globally (according the The Global Rich List, based on World Bank data from 2008).

You and only about 76 million* other people are the global one-percenters. That includes me. We’re a tight, tight group. Chances are, if you’re reading this post, you too are in the global 1% based on your income. Doesn’t feel like it, does it?

To be fair, income is not always the best way to gauge how rich you are. The Global Rich List also reports rankings by net worth. To be in the top 1% by wealth, you would need about $770,000 in household net worth (based on 2012 data from Credit Suisse).

But What About In The U.S.?

An individual net income of $32,400 (in 2008) may put you in the top 1% globally, but only in the top 40% or so in the United States^. That’s not far above the median individual income in the U.S. In other words, your income only has to be a bit above average in the U.S. for you to be a global one-percenter based on income. Look around, you are probably surrounded by global one-percenters!

What about net worth? A $770,000 net worth (in 2012) puts you in the top 15% of U.S. households according to dqydj’s calculator, using 2016 data from the Federal Reserve. The years are not the same, but let’s just roll with it. It would mean that roughly one out of every six people (or so) in the United States are global 1%ers based on net worth.

If 15% of all Americans are global one-percenters based on net worth, that means we have 49 million global one-percenters in the U.S. (15% x 326 million people).

So, more than half of the world’s global one percenters are Americans, based on net-worth.^^

Are these numbers real? If there’s anything I’ve learned from decades of working with numbers it’s that precise statistics give a false sense of accuracy. So, let’s just recognize that a big chunk of Americans are in the global 1%, and let’s just keep going, for arguments’ sake.

Got a College Degree?

If you’re American and you have a college degree, then you probably don’t just have one silver spoon – you’ve got a whole tea set! You may have taken out student loans to get that tea set, but now that you’re working professionally, you’re almost certainly way way ahead 99% of the rest of the world.

The median individual income of Americans with a college degree was nearly $58,000 in 2016. That would put you in the top 0.21% of income earners globally – the top 0.21%!! It’s crazy, I know!

And someone in the bottom the 10th percentile of Americans with a college degree earns just short of $29,000. A $29,000 annual income puts you in the top 1.36% globally by income. Can we just round that up to 1%, please? I’m not comparing the same years, so it’s not a perfect analysis, but you get the picture.

Nearly all Americans with a college degree are in the top 1% of income earners globally.

Probably you too.

The Easiest Way To Get Rich

The U.S. represents only about 4.4% of the world’s population of humans, but has more than half of the world’s global one-percenters. If you are NOT an American, your chance of being a global one-percenter is much smaller – only about 0.3%^^^.

If we add in the rest of world’s richest countries – Germans, French, English, Canadians, and Japanese – into the equation, then your chance of being a global one-percenter living in the rest of the world might as well be rounded down to zero.

No wonder so many people want to immigrate to the U.S. and Western Europe. The easiest way to become a global one-percenter? Just be an American (or Japanese, German, English, French, or Canadian) and get a college degree.

Unlike billions of people around the world, the average American has a real chance to save $1M. I didn’t inherit my wealth, but I had a massive leg up on the rest of the world, thanks to my privilege.

Oh, You Don’t Feel So Rich?

Yet, many Americans who are practically swimming in pools full of money don’t feel so rich. In fact, they feel decidedly average. Maybe even struggling to keep up. After all, they are surrounded by millions of other global 1%ers, who spend like New York socialites. And it can be tough to see through the weeds. In the United States there are whole zip codes full of nothing but global one-percenters. It’s not easy keeping up with those Joneses.

Well, if you’re a global 1%er, and you don’t feel so rich, maybe you need to get out more. Just hop on a plane and go somewhere where folks aren’t so fortunate. Like Sub-Saharan Africa or India. Don’t worry, you can afford the plane ticket (unlike the global 99%). A few weeks there might change your viewpoint a bit.

The Rest of The World

The rest of the world isn’t born with a silver spoon like you and me. The global median income is only about $1,300 per year. That means half of the world’s population live on less than that. And the median net worth is only about $3,760. That includes all personal possessions, like cars, furniture, jet skis, and power tools. It also includes land and houses, investments, cash, and gold, and even the remaining balance on your Starbucks gift cards.

What do you think your life would be like with a $1,300 annual income or $3,760 net worth? (and not much ability to really increase it).

Related: What’s It Like Living On $10,000 Per Year?

What’s The Point Of All This?

Look, I’m not here to wealth-shame anybody – that’s not my style. And I certainly don’t want to minimize the real problems created by wealth inequality, both in the U.S., and around the world. I have two points that I’m trying to make, so let me just spell them out:

First, before you go off getting all jealous at people who are richer than you, or perhaps frustrated with your own money struggles, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. If you’re reading this blog, you’re almost certainly among the top 10% richest people in the world, and very likely the top 1%. Be thankful for what you have before you go throwing stones.

Second, the biggest contributing factor to your immense wealth is most likely where you were born. It’s not so much because of your hard work, unique contributions, or valuable skills, although it’s nice to believe that. The reality is that the world is full of smart and hard-working people. Most of them just don’t have the opportunities you’ve had. If you were born in the U.S., Canada, Europe, or Japan, then you too are rich thanks to your privilege.

Cheers,

Jojo Bobo

Notes:

*1% of world population, based on 2017 population estimate of 7.6 billion people

^Calculated based on the 2008 household income quintiles and the average U.S. household size of 2.58 people per household

^^49 Million American 1%ers, divided by 76 million total 1%ers

^^^27 million non-American global 1%ers, divided by 7.274 billion non-Americans.