Not to put too fine a point on it, but today, the rich are really rich.

In fact, the top 1% holds around 50% of the world’s wealth.

To reverse those figures, the bottom 50% hold only 1% of the world’s wealth.

We recently looked into Forbes’ list of the wealthiest people in Africa, which features three South African billionaires in the top 10, and five South African billionaires overall.

All five of those billionaires feature in the top 1% in global terms.

When it comes to the top 1% of earners, BusinessTech explains:

In much of the developed world, an income of $200,000 to $300,000 (R3 million – R4.5 million) gets you in the top 1%.

In South Africa, the number is currently set at $188,000 (R2.8 million) for annual pre-tax income. This is up from $162,000 (R2.21 million:2019) annual pre-tax income in 2019.

In other words, if you earn R2,8 million a year, before tax, then congratulations – you’re in the 1%.

If that sounds a little low to you, it’s worth looking into the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit’s calculation tool, which lets you punch in your monthly income, and then compares your pay to the rest of the country.

It doesn’t take much to crack the top 10% in South Africa.

Moving on to the rest of the world:

Inequality is widening even within the ranks of the top 1%. While it takes about $500,000 per year to enter the top 1% of Americans, reaching the 0.1% now requires an annual income of more than $2 million. The threshold for the 0.01% is more than $10 million.

…To join the group in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates requires more than $900,000 (R13.5 million), or 12 times more income than in India, a developing market so populous that the top 1% includes more than 13 million souls.

This has a lot to do with the differing income tax rates in various countries.

France, Australia, China, the UK and South Africa all have a top marginal tax rate of more than 40%, while citizens in Bahrain and the UAE pay no marginal tax rate at all.

Singapore and Monaco have turned also themselves into tax shelters where the well-off can live and invest under a lighter tax and regulatory burden.

If you’ve ever wondered how the 1% lives, Bloomberg looked into how the average ‘one-percenter’ spends their money.

Many members of the top 1% have little interest in designer handbags or high-end fashion, of course. Housing, education and childcare are far more common expenses for this group, and their costs can vary widely around the world.

The cost of private tuition in South Africa is extremely high. If your child secures a spot at Hilton College, expect to drop R321 890 a year on tuition.

Then again, right around the world, the rich just keep on getting richer, so paying those fees shouldn’t be a hassle.

[sources:businesstech&bloomberg]