Some of the association between moderate alcohol consumption and longer life is explained by the fact that teetotallers are less wealthy, less educated and more likely to be disabled, according to a new US study.

Dr Sei Lee and colleagues of San Francisco VA Medical Centre found one drink per day halved your risk of dying over the next four years, Reuters reports.

New Zealanders can brag to the Aussies about at least one thing – Graeme Hart is now richer than any Australian, according to Forbes magazine.

The magazine’s The World’s Billionaires 2009 report sees Mr Hart, owner of a packaging empire that includes Carter Holt Harvey, jump from 201 to 110 in the rankings of the world’s richest people, at an estimated wealth of $US4.5 billion.

This puts him 22 places ahead of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who is valued at $US4 billion.

The average net worth of New Zealand households fell $14,500 in the September quarter, on top of a $17,000 decline in the previous quarter, according to a new report.

The December Spicers’ Household Savings Indicators report shows average household net worth is nearly $40,000 lower than a year earlier, at $355,516 per household.

Children born into lower-income families have different – read less - brain functionality than children born into wealthier families, according to a recent study at the University of California, Berkeley.

The findings disrupt the messages we all receive about not judging children based on their parents’ station in life, reports Health News.

Rich people the world over like tree-lined streets, boutique stores and paying through the nose for products, according to a new study.

The researchers say understanding this psyche and marketing products appropriately will create bigger profits for New Zealand businesses.

Wellington Insight Research & Development specialists Emma Saunders and Matthew Ellingsen have just spent four weeks in Europe, where they studied the behaviour of well-heeled consumers for New Zealand premium baby stroller manufacturer Mountain Buggy.

A new survey has found the number of millionaire households in New Zealand jumped six per cent in 2007 to 7000 from 6600 but the rapid growth in personal wealth in recent years has gone into reverse.

Boston Consulting Group’s eighth annual Global Wealth Report, which was issued earlier this month, has lacked figures on New Zealand – until now.