uhnwi

It seems that in order to acquire great beauty in one’s life we have to ‘work hard’ and then ‘spend hard’. I was reminded of this when I finally got time to catch up on some reading this week.

In April, this year, I picked up a copy of the Robb Report magazine whilst in Miami. It came with a supplement that covered Green Transport - Specifically cars and motorbikes.

Having enjoyed various Ferrari’s in the past I read with interest the article on Page 16 that discussed the Bio Fuel version of the F430 Spider. Apart from the performance gains through running the car on E85 (85% Ethanol, and 15% Petrol) the thing that amazed was the fact that even though the Petrol used was down to 15% the CO2 emissions only dropped by 5% (hence the title of this blog).

It could be argued that the gains are good all around; Lower CO2 – better performance – more torque. I just wonder how the world would change if we all used biofuel.

Perhaps it’s time to invest in these alternative fuel companies.

Wealth brings us many things; excitement, purpose, and of course Luxury.

But what does luxury mean? For the proletariat it might mean a good meal or a day off work.

For the wealthy it means space. Space to move. Space to think. Time is just the space between two points.

More wealth equals more space; and not just in the size of our residences. What I am getting at here is that to be wealthy means that there are fewer obstructions in ones life.

For example, let’s take the subject of travel.

The common man drives to the airport, parks, queues at check-in, queues for their dinner, waits to board the plan, waits to take their seat, waits for their meal etc. etc.

The wealthy person is chauffeured to their private airport, walks from the car to the aircraft and boards, is attended to immediately (champagne, food, whatever). As the saying goes;

They don’t have to lift a finger

The difference; more space and more time and less obstruction in their lives.

This is real luxury; the ability to move about the world with as little obstruction possible. To have things smoothed over and pre-prepared. To have things taken care of allowing for more wealth generation.

This is real luxury.

Sometimes it’s good to take a break from wealth building and look at the tools used in the process.

Recently Apple Inc. released its new Macbook Air laptop computer. Much has been written about this in recent days focusing on its small size and light weight.

Here we will focus on the benefits for the Ultra Wealthy.

Firstly the laptop needs to be setup via your PA or IT team. What we mean by that is your essential applications are loaded and, more importantly these days, your bookmarks are added to the Safari web browser. Any essential email accounts also need to be added.

Also essential is the Magsafe airline adapter that lets you charge your laptop from an aircraft socket (although good first class cabins and private jets will have these).

Wealth building and maintenance rely on personal contact and information.

The Ultra Wealthy are more mobile than the general population. Travelling between countries either for business or pleasure (often both) means that being able to work as easily as possible is of prime importance. This is where the Macbook Air’s strengths become evident. It’s easy to carry, switches on instantly when opening the lid, and is stylishly discreet. This makes it easier to check investments and catch up on market information.

The other advantage with Apple computers is the inherent security of the operating system.

We have already used a Macbook Air to make money and have enjoyed the experience immensely.

1. Definition

Ultra High Net Worth Individuals are said to have over $50 Million in invested assets. Put another way; these assets, if liquidated, would produce a cash amount of over $50 Million. This differs from High Net Worth Individuals who are said to have liquid assets to a value of $1 Million.

UHNWIs have, on average, eight cars and three or four homes. Three-quarters own a jet aircraft and most have a yacht.

2. How many are there?

Rolls Royce Motor Cars have carried out research that suggests that world-wide there are 80,000 Ultra High Net Worth Individuals; a number that is growing all the time.

3. Income

See my previous story here

4. Spending Their Money

When the Ultra Wealthy spend their money it is on the following;

• Property
• Jets
• Wine
• Jewellery and Watches
• Yachts
• Cars

Many of these actually appreciate in value over time.

When the wealthy have to buy many other things they use websites like www.slwn.com which offers links to many products and service.

High net worth individuals like to own the things that appreciate in value [assets] and are easy to maintain and rent everything else [liabilities].

In practice this means that if a possession ‘earns its keep’ it is ‘owned’ otherwise it would be hired or rented.

Typical Assets would be;

• Property
• Gold
• Racehorses
• Super Yachts

Typical Liabilities are;

• Cars
• Electronics

We are in the process of sourcing some exciting content applicable to High Net Worth Individuals. Please come back soon.