Worldwide rich lists highlight the increasing number of millionaires and billionaires every year. For example, the recently published 2007 Sunday Times Rich list in the UK reported a 260% growth in the wealth of Britain’s richest compared to a 120% rise for the population as a whole. Not only this, there are now 68 billionaires in the UK, three times as many as in 2003. Startlingly, the USA today has 367 billionaires, up from just 13 in 1985. Unsurprisingly, China’s Top 50 rich list now has a minimum entry point of US$100m up from $6m when it started in 1999.

Robert Frank’s WSJ blog is a fascinating insight into the lifestyles, concerns and spending habits of the lower, middle and upper wealthy classes. A recent common theme in his blog is the huge amounts of money being spent on yachts both for purchase and charter. For example, in a study of 300 American hedge-fund professionals with an average net worth of US$61m, yacht charters came second only to fine art in terms of money spent in a twelve month period. The average expenditure on yacht chartering was a staggering $429,700 per year. Not only this, but another survey by The Luxury Institute reported that fewer than 1 in 6 wealthy respondents would cut spending on yachts and yacht charter services even when their stock holdings and real estate values dropped by 17-19%. They would cut spending on jewellery first!

What do these lists, surveys, reports and Frank’s book Richistan tell us? Do they simply remind us that the rich are different from the rest of us? Well, yes, but more than this too. We can look at the wealthy and the things they enjoy spending money on and we can invest in the companies, stocks and shares, and real estate that service their needs and desires. We might then be able to join the ranks!

Property

“Housing slump, what housing slump?” asks Robert Frank in a blog entitled Mansion Mania. Fueled by the growth in the ranks of rich people who often pay cash and who will normally own multiple luxury properties, demand for top end real esate is strong and less susceptible to interest rate hikes and other signs of a market downturn. A couple of weeks ago, a national record for residential real estate was set when 40 acres of beachfront property in the Hamptons was purchased for $103m. This was for the land only! Waterfront marina property with a place to berth a yacht and maybe a nearby golf course is exactly the type of real estate that the wealthy are increasingly seeking.

Yachts and marinas

Demand for mid-sized boats in the US has been hit by the economic downturn, while the purchase of the most expensive boats is increasing rapidly. There are more wealthy people than there used to be, from a wider range of countries and this gives the industry a strong basis for growth. This growth is causing a massive worldwide shortage of marina berths that are large enough for luxury craft which are increasingly 100ft+ in size. Investing in marina berths and residential property within a marina resort is one way to capitalise on the increasing trend amongst the rich for waterfront dwelling and yachting.

Meredith Drynan owns and sells property on one of the family islands in the Bahamas. To discover more about why the Bahamas is an ideal place to invest in waterfront property and marina berths, visit http://bahamaspropertyinvestments.com/