(FORTUNE Magazine) – Arthur Pergament's family did him in. He was just 27--a scion in place in his ancestral business--when his father and uncle sold Pergament Home Centers to a leveraged buyout firm in 1987. In theory, it was a smart move to unload the chain of 40-plus stores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut before dominating Home Depot came into town.

In practice, Arthur Pergament was left without a job. In fact, all he had left was his family's millions in cash.

Not a bad deal, you say? Don't tell Arthur. Nine years later he still steams with memories of how big-money managers proposed to treat his precious stake. "When you've got $10 million or less, you deal with some guy making $60,000 who's trying to institutionalize you," he says. "There was no couture product. You get lost in the soup."

Millionaires, lost? That's right--these days even seven figures isn't enough to guarantee red-carpet treatment. That's too bad, because your chances of becoming this wealthy are greater than ever. Just based on average rates of return for stocks, you could be in the million-plus club before long. Assuming a 10% rate of growth, a lump sum of $500,000 sitting in a 401(k) will reach a million in eight years.

That's the good news. But if you're dreaming of first-class handling for your future hoard, take heed. Here's what a million buys you: Not much. The only time Arthur Pergament saw a top partner was when he was introduced by a multimillionaire acquaintance. As a businessman he quickly sized up where he stood--and it wasn't pretty. So he set aside the paint cans and wallpaper, and made finance his new career.

Now 35, Arthur Pergament is a partner at Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, a New York City money management firm. He and the firm's other principals together manage their families' money alongside that of clients. Emboldened by confidence and abetted by the knowledge he's gained, Pergament has added stocks and private equity investments to his family's once all-bond portfolio, cutting the fixed-income holdings--now all in munis yielding 4.5% to 5%--to 40% of assets in four years. Over that time, the value of the portfolio has almost doubled; returns on the common equity portion have grown at a 25% annual compound rate.

Pergament's motto? "People who have a lot of money don't want to be ignored."

Neither will you. After all, the more money you have, the more tending it will need. But as the ranks of millionaires continue to expand, the exclusivity of that group--and your entitlement to top-flight service--will decline. So start planning now.

The field is already crowded. According to research conducted by Sanford C. Bernstein, a New York City money management firm that caters to the wealthy, the number of people with $1 million portfolios has nearly tripled over the past 12 years. John DeMarco, who conducts research on the affluent at PSI in Tampa, says growth in the millionaires club is especially rapid in the Nineties, about 15% per year. Consider: The number of millionaire households--less than 1% of the population in 1989--has already increased to an estimated 2.7 million, or 2.8% of the total today.

Some of these newly minted millionaires may feel less in need of sophisticated financial advice. After all, PSI estimates that 80% of today's million-dollar club are self-made, having earned their wealth through entrepreneurial activity, operating or selling a business, or, for senior executives, making millions through compensation plans, stock options, and IRAs. Last year 3% of households with $1 million or more sold a business, and 15% rolled over or received a lump-sum distribution from a retirement plan. These aren't trust-fund babies but the up-from-nothing rich, and they may feel abundantly qualified to manage their own retirement portfolio.

They should think again. While business savvy is worth something, it does not usually translate to investment prowess. Indeed, people who have made their fortunes from business, today's entrepreneurs, tend to be overly concentrated in their own industries and hold too much in bonds as a safety net. In short, knowing how to boil bread for bagels, or create a cellular sensation, is not the kind of information that translates into developing a strong investment plan.

So you'll need good advice. But getting it is another matter. Charlotte Beyer, founder of the Institute for Private Investors in Summit, New Jersey, conducted a survey of the wealthy last year. Over 60% of respondents--whose average portfolio was $21 million--said they have "voiced complaints" to advisers ranging from poor performance to back-office mistakes. Even more striking, 62% said they had fired an adviser: For those with $5 million and up, the firing occurred within the past three years on average.

The truth is, millionaires today may well be among the most ill-served of financial-service clients. The industry of banks and trust companies set up to serve the wealthy has been woefully slow at adapting to this new breed of robber baron (for help on choosing an adviser, see sidebar). Further, unknown to many, the level of service millionaires receive varies widely, depending on how rich you really are (see box).

But there is hope. Arthur Pergament, meet Arthur Pfister. Pfister made his millions the slow way, selling file folders for Smead Manufacturing in Hastings, Minnesota. As one of two salesmen, Pfister's starting draw against commissions was $200 a month in 1934, but "gas was 11 cents a gallon, so I didn't need much money," recalls he, now 85 and on Smead's board. "By 1940 I was making $1,000 a month, and then I thought I was rich as hell."

Pfister saved month by month. In 1949, still a frugal bachelor, he bought a ranch in Aspen, Colorado, his home ever since. He went to a lot of parties before marrying his wife, Betty, in 1954, and at one he met money manager Thomas Bailey. In the Sixties, after dabbling in a few stocks and finding the process daunting, Pfister gave Bailey a few thousand to invest; Bailey went on to form the hugely successful mutual fund house Janus Capital in Denver in 1969. Pfister, believing that Tom Bailey was "a real trustworthy soul" and impressed by investment returns that "always seem to beat the Dow," kept his money with Bailey and company for decades--even through the bear market of 1973-74--and still has no intent to redeem it.

Pfister's accounts now total more than $4 million. Since 1982, when his funds were put in a limited partnership at Janus, his portfolio has earned 25.3% per year compared with the S&P 500's annual advance of 16.5%.

Currently run by Thomas Marsico, who also manages several Janus mutual funds, the portfolio is full of stocks that are aggressively expanding earnings. Janus is one of several mutual fund shops that still accept private accounts, tailored to individual requests, for $1 million on up.

To those of us who don't care to make investing a career, Pfister's tale is one to learn from: You don't need to know the best stocks--Pfister can't even name his--but you do need to enlist the right people. Get that right, and the rest is a breeze. Says Pfister: "I don't worry--they get the job done."

REPORTER ASSOCIATE Eileen Gunn