According to Russ Alan Prince and Lewis Schiff, middle-class millionaires now account for 10% of the U.S. population. In doing research for their book The Middle-Class Millionaire, they studied almost 4,000 households to better understand attitudes, values and purchasing patterns.

Some of the interesting things they found out were:

  • 7.6% of American households, or 8.4 million households are middle-class millionaires

  • The average middle-class millionaire works 70 hours per week

  • Middle-class millionaires are five times more likely than the average worker to say they are always available for work

  • 89% believes that anyone can attain wealth through hard work

  • 62% believes that networking, or knowing many people, is the key to financial success

  • Nine out of 10 middle-class millionaires say they made a bad career or business move, but almost three-fourths say that was crucial to their business success

  • They are five times more likely than the average middle-class person to continue on in the same business course in spite an earlier failure

  • 65% of middle-class millionaires characterize their approach to negotiating as “doing whatever you need to do to win”

  • They say they need a net worth of $24 million to feel wealthy, and $13.4 million to be considered rich.

They also found that half of middle-class millionaires believe a child’s academic achievements reflect one’s success as a parent. Seventy-five percent of this group chose their home because of its school system. And only 14% of them trust the government.