Despite volatile financial markets and slow economic growth, the U.S. added 300,000 new millionaires in 2015, bringing the total to a record 10.4 million, according to a new report.
The number of American households with assets of $1 million or more, not including their primary residence, increased 3 percent last year, from 10.1 million, according to Spectrem Group, a market research and consulting firm.
The total marked a new record, but also signaled a slowdown from the 5 percent growth rate in 2014, when climbing stock markets and rising real estate values helped create 500,000 new millionaires.
"Despite ongoing concerns about market volatility and the direction of the U.S. economy, the number of affluent American households expanded in 2015," said George Walper Jr., president of Spectrem Group.
While the millionaire population has been growing throughout the recovery, thanks to a flood of liquidity from central banks and rising markets, the strongest growth has been at the very top of the wealth ladder.
The number of American households worth $25 million or more has grown 73 percent since 2008, compared with growth of 54 percent for millionaire households.
There are now 145,000 U.S. households worth $25 million or more, up from 142,000 in 2014, according to Spectrem. There are 1.2 million households worth $5 million to $25 million, an increase of 42,000.
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