Examples of cash equivalents are money market mutual funds, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and Treasury bills. Some millionaires keep their cash in Treasury bills that they keep rolling over and reinvesting. They liquidate them when they need the cash.
Real Estate. For more than 200 years, investing in real estate has been the most popular investment for millionaires to keep their money. During all these years, real estate investments have been the primary way millionaires have had of making and keeping their wealth.
Studies indicate that millionaires may have, on average, as much as 25% of their money in cash. This is to offset any market downturns and to have cash available as insurance for their portfolio.
Bank of America, Citibank, Union Bank, and HSBC, among others, have created accounts that come with special perquisites for the ultra-rich, such as personal bankers, waived fees, and the option of placing trades. The ultra rich are considered to be those with more than $30 million in assets.
Millionaires also have zero-balance accounts with private banks. They leave their money in cash and cash equivalents and they write checks on their zero-balance account. At the end of the business day, the private bank, as custodian of their various accounts, sells off enough liquid assets to settle up for that day.
The Cash Misconception
Most billionaires are surprisingly cash poor on a relative basis. The average billionaire only holds 1% of their net worth in liquid assets like cash because the vast majority of their fortunes are usually tied up in business interests, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other financial assets.
The rich use laws to protect their assets. They use legal entities created under the different laws, trust laws, corporate laws, partnership laws, and tax loopholes available to all, not just the rich. The rich use laws to protect their assets.
Another red flag that you have too much cash in your savings account is if you exceed the $250,000 limit set by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) — obviously not a concern for the average saver.
The historical S&P average annualized returns have been 9.2%. So investing $1,000,000 in the stock market will get you $96,352 in interest in a year. This is enough to live on for most people.
Bottom line. Any individual or entity that has more than $250,000 in deposits at an FDIC-insured bank should see to it that all monies are federally insured. It's not only diligent savers and high-net-worth individuals who might need extra FDIC coverage.
Shell Companies
The rich sometimes hide money by opening up shell corporations that don't have their names attached. "It can be difficult for law enforcement or tax authorities to figure out who owns the corporation, so they don't know whose money it is," Zimmelman says.
High-yield savings accounts are just about the safest type of account for your money. These Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured bank accounts are highly liquid and immune to market fluctuations.
Gates is frequently asked by both journalist and the people he meets how much money he carries around with him on a daily basis and in most every interview we found, Gates' stock response is that he seldom carries either cash or a wallet with him.
The standard insurance amount provided for FDIC-insured accounts is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category, in the event of a bank failure.
Instead, nearly 90% of Bezos's fortune lies in his Amazon stock holdings.
Millionaires use credit cards like the Centurion® Card from American Express, the J.P. Morgan Reserve Credit Card, and The Platinum Card® from American Express. These high-end credit cards are available only to people who receive an invitation to apply, which millionaires have the best chance of getting.
Under the Bank Secrecy Act, banks and other financial institutions must report cash deposits greater than $10,000. But since many criminals are aware of that requirement, banks also are supposed to report any suspicious transactions, including deposit patterns below $10,000.
Many people find it shocking that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can take money directly from their bank account. However, it is a legal and sometimes necessary procedure that the government uses to collect owed tax dollars. This is called an IRS bank levy.
Swiss bank accounts are attractive to depositors because they combine low levels of risk with very high levels of privacy. The Swiss economy is extremely stable, and the banks are run at very high levels of professionalism. Almost any adult in the world can open an account in a Swiss bank.
The Short Answer: Yes. The IRS probably already knows about many of your financial accounts, and the IRS can get information on how much is there. But, in reality, the IRS rarely digs deeper into your bank and financial accounts unless you're being audited or the IRS is collecting back taxes from you.