Once it was the ultimate fantasy, but now it seems that becoming a millionaire has lost its lustre. If you want to show that you’ve really made it in today's Britain, you need to be a 'thrillionaire' with almost three times as much money to your name.
The phrase has been coined by the private bank Coutts & Co, which believes that the value of £1m has fallen so much over the past 25 years that the term millionaire has lost its meaning. Once a seven figure sum could, the bank says, fund a lifestyle that included a luxury five-bedroom house with two staff, two luxury cars, an apartment and yacht in the south of France and enough money to dine out twice a week and take two luxury holidays a year. Now you would need nearly £2.6 million to pay for the same perks, Coutts has found.
Sarah Deaves, the bank's chief executive said: 'A millionaire used to be someone who was seen as super-wealthy, a person who didn't have to work if they chose not to, and who was able to live a life of luxury simply by having £1 million in cash or assets. One million pounds is obviously still a sizeable amount of money, which, if invested correctly, can afford a high standard of living and provide financial security in later life.'
Rising property prices are the main reason why £1 million no longer stretches as far as it used to, with the cost of a home jumping by more than 575% over the past 25 years.
Nevertheless, Coutts' research found that 65% of people still said they would give up their job immediately if they won £1 million. Just over half of those questioned thought they might become millionaires during their lifetime. The number of actual millionaires in the UK soared by more than 80% between 2001 and 2004 to reach 425,000. Londoners needed £3.47 million to support a millionaire's lifestyle, compared to £451,000 in 1980. In Wales it was a snip at just £2.2 million.
