To join the UK top 1% wealthiest club you apparently need at least £2m - about 700,000 folk.
How is £2m accumulated - senior jobs, no kids; inheritance (a modest house in London is £1m+); start up, run then sell a small business; crime; luck on the gee-gees (less plausible); etc etc.
Add to the UK "wealthy" those in Germany, France, Spain, Italy etc + a few Russian oligarchs and Middle East oil wealth and there may be 5-10m people who could afford a £1m + "toy".
Not all want big boats - but boaters will often choose to park them in the sunshine.
There are apparently 350 marinas in Spain (large and small) - if on average each had 20 big boats there would be 7000 in total - a small part of likely European ownership.
Am I envious - no - not because I belong to the 1%, but accept my (generally very fortunate) lot and find fulfilment in family, friends, hobbies etc. If I want a pricy toy I rent it rather than suffer the responsibility of ownership.
Written in a rented (for a month) £0.5m apartment in Southern Spain overlooking the Med.
|