Who wants to be a millionaire?
Almost everyone does, but people would rather win their way to wealth than earn it, our poll reveals.
According to the survey, carried out to mark the paperback publication of self-made multimillionaire Felix Dennis’ acclaimed book How to Get Rich, an overwhelming 90% of British people would like to be wealthy. When given a choice of winning it, earning it or marrying it, 45% pinned their hopes on Lady Luck, while 42% would prefer to work to get rich. Only 1% would want to wed into wealth, with women no more likely than men to be gold-diggers.
The desire to be wealthy is universal, transcending age, class, sex and region. But what does it mean to be rich in 2007? Two thirds of respondents defined wealth as having £1 million or more and one in five felt it was at least £10 million.
“I’ve only got one thing to say to all those wasters who think they can sit on their backside and win millions: get real, it almost certainly ain’t gonna happen,” says Felix Dennis, one of the UK’s most wealthy men. “You’ve got to want to get rich more than anything else, you’ve got to believe you can do it and you’ve got to sacrifice everything in pursuit of that goal. Almost anyone can achieve it, but making your fortune means doing it, not dreaming it.”
But when questioned about what they thought it took to get rich, people followed Dennis’ line of thinking more closely, with 69% believing self-confidence to be the most important asset. Contacts and a willingness to learn from failure were also cited as key factors by 57% and 51% respectively, though luck was also high up the list, named by 55%. Least important were looks, considered important by a mere 12%, and a fun personality (13%). Surprisingly, a good education also ranked low, except for young people. Only 23% thought it a requisite overall, though among 16-24 year olds the figure almost doubled to 42%.
Three quarters of people would be prepared to make sacrifices, with their social life, weekends and holidays, and their savings the most likely casualties. But in a commendable display of level-headedness that would probably cost them their chances of becoming seriously rich, most would not consider sacrificing time with their family, their home, their marriage or their health.
Other findings included:
- More than a quarter (28%) would leave Britain to avoid high taxes. Tax exile was most appealing to the Welsh and least attractive to Scots.
- Men were more likely to want to amass a fortune by earning it, whereas women would prefer to win it.
- The desire to earn riches diminishes with age. Conversely, the desire to win wealth increases with age (62% of over 55s) and is at its highest in the north of England, where 54% prefer this option.
- The Welsh, younger people and those who would prefer to earn wealth are prepared to give up more things. Scots were least likely to make any sacrifices, while in Wales one in ten would be prepared to forfeit their marriage and 13% would forgo family life, well above the national average.
- Given the chance to swap lives for a day with a millionaire, respondents were most likely to choose Richard Branson and J K Rowling, though Rowling’s appeal is lowest in her adopted home country. Scots preferred Simon Cowell. Only 3% would want to swap places with the Queen.
- Richard Branson, J K Rowling and Sir Alan Sugar of TV’s The Apprentice were considered the most deserving of their wealth.
BMRB polled 1,015 adults aged 16-64 with internet access between 6 and 8 July 2007.
Click here to buy How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis