So it’s only a few days after payday, and your bank account is still sitting relatively pretty.

I’m guessing the automatic debits haven’t come off yet, though, because there’s nothing like waking up on the first of the month to watch money fly out of your account.

Whatever the situation, I can say with confidence that you have some way to go until you compete with the likes of Nicky Oppenheimer.

With an estimated net worth of $7 billion you’re unlikely to catch him, but how long would the average South African have to work in order to reach those lofty heights?

BusinessTech crunched some numbers, using the following as guidelines:

South Africa has recently revealed the levels at which it plans to introduce its minimum wage at – specifically at R20 per hour ($1.54 an hour).

The most recent salary data released by Stats SA showed that the average annual salary in South Africa across all industries was R210,200 per year – which translates to around R101 per hour ($7.78).

Using the exchange rate of R12,97 to the US Dollar, and working off a 40-hour work week (2 080 hours per year), these are the results.

First up the minimum wage hours it would take people in various countries around the world to amass the wealth of their top money dogs:

That’s almost 2,2 million years of minimum wage work – eish.

We hold up a little better when you take the average hourly rate, using that R210,200 per year figure:

We know that there is a massive gulf between the rich and the poor here at home, but India really does blow the rest away on that front.

My guess is that this isn’t going to make the hours tick by any faster, but at least you have something to aim for.

[source:businesstech]