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The Best Countries To Get Rich
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The factors you’d probably expect to see in a country where it’s easiest to become rich are a free-market economy,
low taxes, and minimal government intervention.
However, some of the most opportunistic countries have the complete opposite.
Today we’re going to look at these countries - and others - that offer the best opportunities for those who want to get rich.
By the end of this video, you’ll have a much better idea of where you can go to find the smoothest path to financial success,
but first, let’s get some background info about which countries have the most rich people.
Introduction
The Wealth Report defines a rich person as someone who has at least 30 million dollars.
These are referred to as ultra-high net worth individuals.
The country with the most rich people by this definition is the United States with more than 40,000 followed by Japan in a distant second with about 17,000,
then Germany, the UK, and China.
But if you look at the data a different way and instead consider the number of rich people as a percentage of the total population, the numbers tell a different story.
First of all, let’s disqualify tax havens like Monaco, Switzerland, Cyprus, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
These countries all have a large number of rich people, but these numbers are artificial because their rich people come from all over the world.
They choose to live or register businesses in these countries mainly because of their tax haven status.
We want to find the countries that actually have the most native rich people per capita.
When we look at those numbers, Norway comes in first with 484 rich people per million inhabitants followed by Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, and Denmark.
The US comes in at number 13 on that list with 126 rich people per million inhabitants.
If you look at the same data but raise the threshold for richness up to $1 billion, Iceland is the top country with 3.1 billionaires per million inhabitants.
This is followed by Sweden, Norway, the United States, and Germany.
So the average for all of Scandinavia, which includes Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, is 2.1 billionaires per million people,
while the average in the US is 1.7 billionaires per million people.
Therefore, the data suggests that Scandinavian countries are the best places in the world to get rich, but why is this the case?
Scandinavia
There’s a perception that Scandinavian countries are anti-rich and anti-capitalist because they follow a socialist model, but this is not the reality.
Their economic model actually allows for more people to become rich, especially business owners and entrepreneurs who utilize advanced technology.
Social democracies like in Scandinavia offer free education, which enables more people to pursue their goals and realize their potential.
This allows for more social mobility.
Statistically, if a person is born into a poorer family, they have a much more difficult path towards achieving financial success
than those who already are born into wealth.
But when education and other opportunities are equally available to those of all incomes, it’s easier to make that leap from poor to rich.
This is why there are more self-made rich people in Scandinavia than in the US.
In the United States, education is very expensive compared to most of the other countries in the world,
and this contributes to a lower level of social mobility.
Scandinavian countries are also highly unionized.
Consequently, there is no federal minimum wage in Denmark, Sweden, or Norway
because collective bargaining agreements have pushed up the minimum acceptable salaries.
They have done this so much that many jobs have been replaced by automation.
This means that technology is advancing quickly in Scandinavia because of the need to have machines do more in society.
This new technology leads to increased productivity and also ultimately to greater profits in business as people are being replaced by machines.
On the other end, wages are also restricted to the higher-level workers.
An executive making $100,000 in the US would only make about $75,000 per year in Scandinavian countries.
This is great news for business owners and shareholders because the difference in pay contributes to the profits.
While many people would suspect that it would be very difficult to get rich in a Scandinavian country due to the high taxes,
the high taxes enable more people to attain a quality education, so there’s more talent contributing to the economy.
The generous welfare system also provides a safety net, so entrepreneurs are willing to take more risks.
In the US, unions are looked down upon by many executives, but the strength of the unions in Scandinavia has helped increase productivity and technology.
These are some of the reasons why Norway, Denmark, and Sweden are the best countries in the world to get rich.
Countries with close systems, such as Iceland, also offer similar opportunities to get rich, but they are not the only ones.
The United States And Capitalist Nations
The United States is known as the land of opportunity where people can pursue the American dream of prosperity and freedom.
And even though the US does rank low in social mobility and income equality, there are many paths for those who want to become rich.
Research has shown that education is an important factor.
Graduates from Ivy League-caliber universities have a better chance of breaking into the top 20% of the income distribution
no matter what their family background is; however, a higher percentage of those who get accepted to Ivy League universities
come from wealthy backgrounds in the first place.
The top 1% is primarily made up of bankers and financiers, and the path to richness for many goes through Wall Street.
Outside of a good education, the best chance to get rich in the US is through entrepreneurship.
The US was named as the third-best country in the world for entrepreneurship according to the US News and World Report behind Germany and Japan.
The opportunities to get rich are similar in other capitalist and mixed-economy countries like Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Germany,
and the UK, but there are some other countries that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Emerging Countries
Countries that have high levels of economic development and increasing industrialization are referred to as emerging countries.
These countries are moving away from traditional economies based on agriculture and raw material exports
and are creating mixed-market or free economies that are more industry and technology-based.
Although the business infrastructure in these countries isn’t fully developed,
there are great opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs who are willing to do the necessary ground-level research.
The rapid growth of industry in these economies results in a higher-than-average return for investors;
however, there is also a greater level of risk due to the unstable nature of such economies.
But the doors are wide open for those who are willing to assume those risks
and make strategic investments or open a business that meets the needs of those in the market.
The best-emerging countries to get rich in include Indonesia, Peru, Poland, Taiwan, and South Korea.
But there is one more category of countries we should mention.
Corrupt Countries
Of course, not all people get rich through hard work, entrepreneurship, or even through family ties.
Sometimes corruption is the fastest past to gaining riches.
Now we’re definitely not suggesting that you move to a corrupt country and try to get rich in an underhanded way,
but we don’t want to overlook the reality that this is how a significant number of people in the world get rich today.
Corrupt countries typically experience a high level of economic and political turmoil.
Those who find wealth in these countries are normally high-level government officials or well-connected people like the oligarchs in Russia.
While the majority of the population struggles with poverty, the most corrupt can live like kings with money gained through practices like bribery,
tax evasion, money laundering, and changing the laws to benefit the rich.
Therefore, if we’re including corruption as a means to get rich,
we have to include countries like North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Russia, and Nigeria on our list of best countries to get rich,
but that’s only if you have the right connections or political power and are willing to do illegal acts to gain that wealth.
Conclusion
It is possible to become rich no matter what country in the world you live in, but there are certainly some countries that make the path much easier than others.
As we have learned today, Scandinavia is the prime place to be if you want to have the best chance of getting rich through starting a business
or making strategic investments.
But capitalist and mixed-market economies also offer many opportunities for those willing to do the proper research and put in the work.
Emerging economies pose the greatest risks for entrepreneurs, but they also can offer the highest rewards if you play your cards right.
And finally, there will always be countries in this world where people gain tremendous wealth through corrupt actions and governments.
In addition to the countries we mentioned, some of the fastest-growing economies in the world right now are located in Asia,
so if you are interested in exploring how you can personally benefit from this growth,
check out How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region.
This book explores the rapidly developing economies of nine Asian countries and helps the reader to understand the dynamics behind this economic boom.
Normally this book costs 30 dollars, but save your money.
Just go to alux.com/freebook and sign up and you can get the audiobook version for free thanks to our partnership with Audible!
Question
Now that we’re wrapping up this topic, we’d like to know:
Would you be willing to move to a different country if it meant you had a better chance of getting rich?
Let us know what you think in the comments. And, of course for sticking with us until the end, here's your BONUS.
According to the World Bank, the global GDP in 2018 was $85.89 trillion. This is up from 80.8 trillion in 2017.
The country with the highest GDP is the United States with 20.4 trillion.
The U.S. has been the world’s largest economy since 1871, but China is threatening to surpass them in the coming years with their rapid growth.
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