If you make $30,000 a year, you are in the top 7% richest people in the world!

I stumbled across this calculator today and found it quite eye-opening. I was trying to find the statistics from a poster I once saw demonstrating how much Americans have in comparison to the rest of the world. I found this and the other two article excerpts quite humbling.

www.globalrichlist.com/


Then I came across this other article below from 10 Reasons You Are Rich
From www.Marcandangel.com

Even in times of financial uncertainty, it’s always important to keep things in perspective.

1.You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night.
2.You didn’t go to sleep outside.
3.You had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning.
4.You hardly broke a sweat today.
5.You didn’t spend a minute in fear.
6.You have access to clean drinking water.
7.You have access to medical care.
8.You have access to the Internet.
9.You can read.
10.You have the right to vote.


And finally, from www.celestinechua.com/blog
Look Around You, Not Just Above You
Instead of looking upwards towards the ‘higher rungs’ of the society and people around us who seem to be doing financially and materially better, let’s take on a global world view. The figure you retrieved using the counter (referring to the one at the top of the page) reflects where you stand with your wealth, in the entire world of 6.7 billion people. That figure gives you a broader perspective than what you originally encapsulated yourself in.

Before I used the counter, I estimated I was in the top 30~40% percentile. Turns out that I would be in the top 1% when I use my annual salary before I quit my job. While it came across as surprising initially, it quickly made sense when I thought about the people in the third world countries. Think about India, China and Africa, three of the poorest places in the world which house over 50% of the world’s population. The really poor people have difficulty meeting just the basic necessities for survival, such as food, water, shelter, clothing.

Some quick facts:

•Over a billion people live on less than $1 a day.
•Almost half the world (over 3 billion people) live on less than $2.50 a day.
•At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.
•Around 25,000 people die from hunger each day.


While I will still enjoy watching the show Beautiful Homes and Great Estates, I
will also endeavor to realize how fantastic my 1970's bi-level would be to a great majority of the world and be grateful for a warm house with clean water and abundant food. Best wishes! Eileen