Lottery of Life

I am of the opinion that everyone will know a millionaire.

These are more likely to be the new crop of the financially advantaged sourced from lottery wins, those cornering and capitalising on a niche sector or skill, a few who invested in and got out of property before the crash and the inheritors of long since accumulated wealth.

The traditional landed and titled millionaires can be a bit more aloof to the general public and with their status being based on the class hirearchy there may not be too much day to day contact with the grubby masses.

The amassing of great wealth does bring in its own special implications.

The principal and perhaps dominant one being how to avoid losing it.

This brings in a necessity for the super rich to be as tight and frugal as those who have to do it because of lesser levels of liquidity. The moneyed sector has fuelled and funded its own industry of advisors and hangers on who are intent on reaping the commissions and prestige by association. Some do good work in the distribution of wealth, some do not.

Not much will have changed over a couple of millenia in the funding of social progress by the rich through a genuine philanthropic desire or to make amends for their misdeeds and mischief which may have assisted greatly in their grab for cash.

Syndicates of the well heeled have contributed much to facilitating development and projects in the post crash years when banks and traditional lenders have not been present in mind, body or spirit to lend funds.

There are of course tax and other advantages in participating in such schemes of investment and supply of capital and over the long term the yields and returns will be pretty healthy. Those presenting opportunities to the new capital providers will be numerous again as a reflection of the reluctance of traditional funders to entertain even the lowest risk propositions. With a combination of due diligence, plain common sense and natural instinct for a good deal the representations can be filtered and reduced to a shortlist of the very best with which to run.

Millionaires therefore have to work with their fortunes and the image of an idle, extravagantly self indulgent and selfish membership of the nouveau riche and old monied sectors is farther from the truth than you would imagine. Poor things.