Consumer Confidential: iPad 2 sales top expectations, the high cost of being rich

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Here’s your mellow-yellow Monday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Despite the doom and gloom from overseas, Apple had a good weekend as consumers snapped up the new-and-improved iPad 2. Some estimates place sales of the gadget at as much as 1 million -- an extraordinary figure compared with the 28 days it took the original iPad to reach that milestone. The iPad 2 went on sale in the United States on Friday evening at Apple stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless outlets, as well as Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy stores. Analysts said it quickly became difficult to find an iPad 2 over the weekend as available supplies were quickly snapped up. Apple says it’s doing its best to ensure that everyone who wants one of the devices will get it as soon as possible.

--What does a million bucks buy? Apparently not a feeling of being rich. A survey of millionaires by Fidelity Investments finds that if you want to feel like you’ve got some dough, you need at least $7.5 million. The more than 1,000 households surveyed had an average of $3.5 million in investable assets. About 42% said they don’t feel wealthy, saying they would need about $7.5 million to feel rich. The 58% of respondents who said they do feel wealthy were younger on average and have a greater number of remaining years in the workforce. There are about 5.5 million U.S. households with at least $1 million in assets, or about 5% of the population. Millionaires control 56% of the country’s wealth, according to Fidelity.

-- David Lazarus