Who wants to be a millionaire? The question is, who doesn’t? National Be a Millionaire Day happens every May 20, and over here at PCH we know what it’s like – we’ve been making millionaires since 1967! If you were to suddenly become a millionaire, what would you do with all that dough… buy a new car? Splurge on a surf & turf dinner at the best restaurant in town? Retire on a tropical island? So much money, so little time!

A Brief History of Millionaires

The first millionaire was a Scottish economist named John Law, who helped set up a new central bank in France in 1719 after Louis XIV’s wars destroyed the economy. He died broke after his bank and company collapsed, but his theories live on today. The first time in America the term appeared in print was in an obituary for a tobacco tycoon. Today 8% of the U.S. population falls into the category, which still amounts to around 22 million people (more than in any other country), so it’s not unattainable!

Some Fun Millionaire Factoids

It’s estimated that 1,700 new U.S. millionaires are made every day – a new millionaire is born every 58 hours!

The most popular cars driven by millionaires are Ford, Cadillac and Lincoln, in that order.

About 80% of American millionaires are first-generation millionaires, meaning they didn’t inherit their wealth.

Women make up 8.5% of the world’s billionaires.

How to Become One

Well, you could go the practical route – managing assets, take classes, set goals and save your pennies. OR… enter to win PCH sweepstakes! If you take any of our 20-question quizzes at PCHquizzes, you’ll score 200 tokens for each correct answer — that’s a whopping 4,000 tokens per quiz for answering 100% correctly! Also check out our short, entertaining slideshows at PCHfrontpage and, if you click through to another slideshow, you’ll bank 1,000 tokens. Becoming an instant millionaire happens – see our past winners!