[shashashasha]

The > $5M is for entities, there's also "a natural person who has individual net worth... that exceeds $1 million"

and

"a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years"

http://www.sec.gov/answers/accred.htm

[diego]

You can also invest in startups as an unaccredited investor, with some restrictions. I know those laws have been revised recently.

http://www.quora.com/Investing/What-are-unaccredited-investo...