Winning $1 Million Isn't What It Once Was
Key Takeaways
- •Who Wants to Be a Millionaire first aired in August 1999 and is still on the air, now hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
- •The estimated number of U.S. millionaires rose from about 7.64 million in 1999 to 23.6 million in 2025.
- •The article says $1 million today has about half the purchasing power it had in August 1999.
- •It argues that inflation has reduced the value of money over time, even if nominal figures remain the same.
- •The author says gold and silver would be preferable stores of value because they cannot be printed by governments.
Winning $1 Million Isn't What It Once Was
Mike Maharrey
Who wants to be a millionaire?
I’m certainly willing to give it a shot.
But becoming a millionaire is not quite what it used to be.
You’ve probably heard of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It first aired in August 1999, with Regis Philbin as host. The program was modeled on a British game show of the same name. Producers have changed the format over the years, but the show is still on the air today, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting.
This season features celebrity pairs competing to win $1 million for charity.
The game uses a quiz-show format in which contestants answer increasingly difficult multiple-choice questions. Players can keep their current winnings or risk them on the next question. To help with difficult questions, contestants have a limited number of lifelines, including eliminating two choices, polling the audience, or calling a friend for help.
Answer enough questions correctly, and you too can become a millionaire.
Of course, in 1999, becoming a millionaire meant something. Today, maybe not so much.
When Who Wants to Be a Millionaire aired in 1999, there were roughly 7.64 million millionaires in the U.S. based on total net worth.
In 2025, there were 23.6 million millionaires.
That means the number of millionaires has increased by 208.9 percent since Who Wants to Be a Millionaire debuted.
At first glance, that might sound like Americans are doing much better today than they were 27 years ago. But that is not really the case. The more accurate explanation is that money has become that much weaker.
How much weaker? As it turns out, you need to win twice as much money to buy the same things that $1 million bought in August 1999, when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire debuted.
So since the show first aired, there are three times as many millionaires in the U.S. buying half as much.
That helps explain why a million-dollar prize still sounds impressive on television, even though the purchasing power behind that number has changed so much. A headline figure can look the same while the amount of goods and services it can command keeps shrinking over time.
They probably need to change the name of the game to “Who Wants to Win $500,000?”
That does not quite have the same ring to it, does it?
But it reflects reality.
Your government has ruined your money, and it continues to do so as a matter of policy.
Never forget: inflation is the plan.
The best-case scenario is that the Federal Reserve and the government keep inflation “under control” at 2 percent. That means purchasing power declines by a little more than 10 percent every five years, and by more than 20 percent over 10 years.
And inflation is rarely “under control.”
That is why the difference between a million dollars in 1999 and a million dollars today is more than a trivia question. It is a reminder that the same nominal amount can represent very different buying power depending on when you hold it.
Sadly, in another 30 years or so, it will take $4 million or more to live a 1999 millionaire lifestyle.
So, yes, I want to be a millionaire.
But I’ll take my million in gold and silver. At least 30 years from now, it should still buy at least as much as it does today, maybe more. After all, the government can’t print gold or silver.
