Wynn, Bellagio and Venetian Ranked Most Prestigious Casinos by High Net Worth Consumers

High net-worth consumers rated Wynn the most prestigious luxury casino in the 2008 Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey from the independent New York City-based Luxury Institute. Respondents noted that the casino had a great golf course and was very comfortable and sophisticated. The Bellagio was ranked second, the Venetian third.

Researched by Kara Davey

Cities Where Workers Earn the Most

Want to earn more money? These are the top 5 cities where workers earn the most money:

1. Copenhagen
2. Oslo
3. Zurich
4. Geneva
5. Dublin

Not until the 13th spot on the list do we find a U.S. city - New York City.

Source: UBS Prices and Earnings 2008; Researched by Alicia Roman

Wealthy Consumers Rate Top Luxury Fashion Brands

Top 3 Men's Luxury Fashion Brands: Ermenegildo Zegna, Armani and Brioni
Top 3 Women's Luxury Fashion Brands: Bottega Veneta, Hermes and Valentino

Market for Used Jets Booming Despite Economic Downturn

The waiting list for buying Gulfstream's new jet model is 10+ years and growing, despite the shaky economy. What's a jet-starved consumer to do? Buy a used one, for a lot more than what a new one costs.

A brand new Gulfstream G450 sells for about $40 million, but a used one can now fetch $4 million to $5 million more than that.

Why? Because the waiting list for buying a new jet is so long that the impatient buyer will pay more to have the jet in their hands ASAP. That’s also led to a new trade in jet flipping, where people sell their waiting “slots” for new planes for big profits.

Source: Wall Street Journal Wealth Report, May 2008

Economic Downturn Has Little Effect on the Super-Wealthy

The top 1% of Americans control 33% of the nation's wealth - that's $17 trillion in wealth, which is greater than the GDPs of Japan, Germany, the U.K. and France combined.

This group has so much money that it is "not really affected by the economic downturn."

Source: ABC News, May 16, 2008

The Wealth Market Continues to Grow

The population of affluent Americans -- defined as those with household income and income producing assets (IPA) in excess of $100,000 -- continues to grow and now comprises 19 percent of all U.S. households, according to a recent Nielsen Company analysis.

• There are now 22 million U.S. households that earn $100,000 or more
• This is a 23 percent increase in affluent households from a decade ago after adjusting for inflation
• These affluent American households control $22 trillion in assets
  

Source: Nielson Company, May 2008

Sotheby's Has Most Lucrative Auction in History This Week

Sotheby's spring contemporary art auction was the most lucrative in the company's history with sales of $362 million, including a record $86.3 million for a 1976 Francis Bacon triptych that Sotheby's expected to sell for $16 million or less.

Source: CNN Money

Spending Trends Among Wealthy Women

Married wealthy women (wealthy is defined as HHI $150K+) make an average of 64% of a family's purchase decisions. These women make:

• 68% of decisions on home appliances
• 61% of decisions on vacations
• 48% of decisions on home improvement purchases
• 22% of investment decisions
• 31% of real estate decisions
  

72% of wealthy women work on at least a part-time basis and 54% full-time. 60% earn at least $100,000 a year. The median annual income of working wealthy women is $124,000. 33% hold jobs at the vice-president level or higher.

Source: The Luxury Institute

Aggregate Income of Affluent Households Will Increase 27% in 5 years

Market research group Packaged Facts estimates that aggregate income of affluent households - defined as households with HHI $100K+ - will increase from $3.6 trillion in 2006 to $4.6 trillion in 2011. That's a 27.1% increase in only 5 years.

Source: Guideline, 2008

How Luxury Consumers Spend Their Money

Luxury consumers (defined as those with HHI $100K+) have bought the following in the last two years:

• 71%: a vacation valued at $2000+
• 11%: a watch valued at $2000+
• 17%: a piece of jewelry valued at %5000+
  

Source: Guideline, 2008

How the Wealthy Raise Their Children

Research firm Prince and Associates found the following differences between the super-rich (those with net worth over $10MM) and the rich (those with net worth between $1MM and $10MM) in how they raise their children:

• Less than 1/2 of the super-rich cite educational achievement as a major goal for their children, compared with 78% of the rich
• Only 29% of the super-rich say they expect their children to get married, compared with 70% of the rich

Source: Forbes.com May 15, 2008 (full link available by clicking title of blog post)

Sales of Fine Art Continue to Break Records

The Monet painting "Le Pont du chemin de fer a Argenteuil" sold for $41 million at a New York City Christie's auction.

The previous record for a Monet painting was $36.5 million for "Nympheas," sold last year.

The sale price exceeded the pre-auction estimate of $35 million to $40 million.

Source: AP Wire; click blog title for full article

Demand for Yachts Among the Wealthy Increases

• The demand for yachts in 2008 increased 18% over the demand in 2007.
  
• From 1997 - 2007, the demand for yachts increased 380%.
  

This reinforces the fact that the super wealthy are not nearly as affected by the economic downturn as those less wealthy.

Source: Showboats International Global Order Book 2008; taken from Camper & Nicholsons' "The (Super) Yachting Index" presentation

Affluence Sectors in the United States

Source: Phoenix Affluent Marketing Services, 2007. Link: http://www.phoenixmi.com/travel/ams.phtml

Number of Millionaire Households Grows 5.7%

The economy may be reeling, but millionaires aren't feeling it quite as much as the rest of us. The total population of millionaire households grew 5.9% in 2007, a slight increase from the 2006 growth rate of 5%.

Source: Wall Street Journal Wealth Report, May 6, 2008