Despite the economy's positive turnaround since the 2008 crisis, four in 10 millionaires in the US still do not feel wealthy, with most saying they will only feel so if they have at least $7.5 million in surplus assets, a recent survey by Fidelity Investments found.

According to the fourth Fidelity Millionaire Outlook, millionaires' confidence in the US economy remains negative in the near term. Using a scale of +100, zero, and -100, -54 of the over 1,000 millionaire households queried said the current state of the economy is "very weak", although this number is significantly higher than the -91 who had the same opinion less than two years ago. Towards the fourth quarter of 2011 however the outlook appears to take a more positive twist, with +37 saying they are optimistic.

"Millionaires' outlook could be seen as a leading indicator of the direction of the economy," said Michael R Durbin, president of Fidelity Institional Wealth Services. "This is especially true since the last time we conducted this survey in early 2009, they forecasted improvement in all aspects of the US economy at the beginning of 2010."

The biggest driver of millionaires' outlook is business spending, which garnered a +48 rank. This is followed by consumer spending with +41, the stock market with +39, and the economy with +38. Real estate values, although moving forward positively with +17, remain a drag on their overall assessment.

In terms of wealth satisfaction, 42 per cent of the respondents said they still do not feel wealthy, against the 46 per cent who said the same in 2009. According to them, the minimum investable asset level needed for them to feel they are rich is $7.5 million. On the other hand, the 58 per cent who said they feel wealthy said they only started to feel so when they reached at least $1.75 million in investable assets.

"The survey reinforces that the feeling of wealth is relative, based on factors such as the current market environment, the person's age, lifestyle, and so on," Durbin added. "Regardless of what the market does, these factors are likely to change and, therefore, millionaires will continue to reassess what it really means to feel wealthy."

The Fidelity Millionaire Outlook is a study of US households with at least $1 million in surplus assets, excluding workplace retirement accounts and any real estate holdings. The survey was conducted by Northstar Research Partners from 18 to 29 October 2010.