Nov 13, 2018

Question of Day: What are the odds of someone with a college degree becoming a millionaire?

Hat tip to Derek D'Angelo, President of Michigan Council on Economic Education, for this Question of the Day idea!

Answer: 1 in 6, which is 4X greater than the odd of a high school graduate becoming one. 

Questions:

  • What does the chart tell you about the relationship between education and earnings? 
  • Why do you think that someone with a college degree is 4X more likely than a high school graduate to be a millionaire? 
  • Do you think you can be a millionaire? What is your plan to get there? 
  • Bonus: Can you find the mathematical error in the chart (hint: the percentage doesn't match the probability (1 in X) listed for one of the educational levels)?

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (from TitleMax infographic):

About one-third of Americans believe that they will most likely become a millionaire in their lifetime. But how likely is it really? What are the odds of becoming a millionaire, a billionaire, or just monetarily successful? We’ve taken a deeper look into the true likelihood of wealth and, importantly, who is more likely to succeed financially.

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Check out our recent FinCap Friday which captured lottery fever with this question: Who Wants to Be A Billionaire?

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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