Millionaires speak: What drives their personal investment decisions?

We survey 2484 U.S. individuals with at least $1 million of investable assets about how well leading academic theories describe their financial beliefs and personal investment decisions. The wealthy's markets the economy are surprisingly similar to those average household, but wealthy less driven by discomfort market, constraints, labor income considerations. Portfolio equity share is most affected professional advice, time until retirement, experiences, rare disaster risk, health risk. Concentrated holding often motivated belief that stock has superior risk-adjusted returns. Beliefs expected returns vary characteristics frequently differ from historical relationships, more risk not always associated higher Active fund advice expectation Berk Green (2004) rationalize return chasing in absence performance persistence positing past reveal managerial skill there diminishing scale active management. Forty-two percent respondents agree first assumption, 33% second, 19% both.