WASHINGTON (AP) — Who believes they'll be a millionaire?
About two in 10 Americans do — a small showing of optimism compared to Australians, but downright cheery next to Britons when asked about becoming wealthy in the next ten years, according to a new Associated Press-CNBC poll.
In all three countries, more than seven in 10 of those surveyed said they were unlikely to become millionaires in the next decade.
The results reflect the psychic toll that the worlds' economic troubles have taken on the aspirations of individuals. Solid majorities of can-do Americans — 61 percent — and Britons — 63 percent — say it's extremely or very difficult for their countrymen to become millionaires today.
"It's an unrealistic thing for anybody to assume," said Jason Hall, 35, a heavy equipment operator in Loganville, Wis.
Across the pond, 19-year-old Natasha Hill, an apprentice at a London hair salon, said many of her friends looking for work amid high unemployment have essentially given up.
"There's no determination, nothing to aim for," Hill said. "Everyone is in robot mode — they just settle."
On the flip side of the planet, just 35 percent of Australians feel the same way, the results found.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes you can" become a millionaire, said Australian student Hannah Peters, 21. "Anybody can become a millionaire. There are so many opportunities here. You just have to know how to go about it."
The Aussies have reason to be so darned sunny.
Unemployment there is 5.3 percent, nearly half the United States' 9.1 percent. Just under 8 percent of Brits are out of work. And a natural resources boom in Western Australia is helping grow the country's economy about 3 percent this year, according to forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. The equivalent figure for the United Kingdom is 1.7 percent and for the U.S. economy, 2.8 percent, though many private economists expect it to be lower.
Still, becoming a millionaire was tough to imagine for many Down Under.
"My pay is lousy and I spend it," said Tasmanian Brian Draney, a 47-year-old lineman and father of two young children.
Polling last month by the AP and CNBC found that Australians are the most optimistic of the bunch, with 29 percent of respondents there saying they feel good about their prospects of eventually becoming a millionaire in the next decade, compared with 21 percent in the U.S. and just 8 percent in the U.K.
In reality, the United States leads the world in millionaires, more than 5.2 million of them in 2010, or nearly one in every 20 households, according to The Boston Consulting Group's latest annual global wealth report. Great Britain had 570,000 millionaires, or about one in every 45 households. Australia had 133,000 or about one in every 60 households, but that's an increase of 35,000 over the previous year.
The BCG survey measured millionaires in terms of U.S. dollars. Those polled by AP and CNBC were asked how likely it was that they'd be worth a million of their own monetary unit — U.S. dollars, Australian dollars or British pounds. One million American dollars is worth about 964,000 Australian dollars, and about 633,000 British pounds.
But the difference is academic when large majorities never think they'll have such fortunes to their names.
"I'll never make a million, because my family is bleeding me dry," said Brian Bolton, a married 47-year-old civil servant in Brisbane, Australia, who has two young children. "Every day my bank balance is substantially lighter and I don't know where it goes."
Asked to imagine being millionaires, residents of all three countries had similar priorities for spending it: The bulk of them said they would save it, invest it, buy real estate, pay down debt and share with family, the survey said.
Respondents across the board listed "saving or investing" as their first priority. The last priority? Americans and Australians listed "giving away to charity."
"I'd give charity a taste," said Draney, the lineman from the Australian island state of Tasmania. On second thought: "That's just asking for trouble because then they'd annoy me for the rest of my life."
Brits left "paying down debt" for last, the polls showed.
Wail Al-Dour, 26, has trouble even envisioning himself as a millionaire. His chosen career, filmmaking, is tough to break into.
"The environment right now is hard," he said in London. "Everyone thinks they're going to be just scraping by."
Back at the London hair salon, Charlotte Hagan-Boyla, 19, confesses to "spending money the day I get it."
But becoming a millionaire, she thinks, isn't out of the question. You could win the lottery, she reasoned, or you could work your way up.
"Or," she added, "you could always marry a rich man."
<한글기사>
호주-미국-영국인順, `10년내 백만장자' 생각
(워싱턴=연합뉴스) 황재훈 특파원 = 미국, 영국, 호주인 가운데 자신이 백만장 자가 될 수 있다고 가장 낙관적으로 생각하는 국민은 호주인인 것으로 조사됐다.
CNBC방송과 AP통신은 이들 3개국 국민을 대상으로 최근 공동으로 실시한 조사에 서 이 같은 결과가 나왔다고 19일밝혔다.
이 조사에서 호주 국민 10명 중 3명(29%)은 앞으로 10년 이내에 100만달러 이상 의 순자산을 보유할 가능성이 높다고 답한 반면, 미국인의 경우 5명 중 1명꼴인 21% 가 같은 대답을 했다. 영국인은 불과 8%만이 10년 이내에 100만달러 이상의 순자산 보유자가 될 수 있을 것이라고 답했다.
미국인 응답자의 61%는 오늘날 미국에서 백만장자가 되는 것은 "매우 어렵다"고 답했다.
이 밖에 이번 조사에서 3명 중 1명의 미국인은 올해 은퇴할 경우 최소한 10만∼ 50만달러의 돈이 필요할 것이라고 생각하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 응답자의 62%는 최근 주식시장의 불안정성으로 투자에 대한 확신이 흔들리고 있다고 답했다.
이번 조사는 지난달 중순부터 이달 초 사이 이들 3개국에서 각 1천명 안팎의 성 인을 대상으로 전화조사 방법을 통해 실시됐다.
