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Substantial seems to be an understatement: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/09/half-of-americans-avoid-the-stock-market.html http://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/09/half-of-

Substantial seems to be an understatement: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/09/half-of-americans-avoid-the-stock-market.html http://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/09/half-of-americans-avoid-the-s... "More than half of Americans, 52 percent, are currently not investing in the stock market—either by buying individual stocks or mutual funds, or through a retirement account such as a 401(k) or IRA, according to a new Bankrate.com survey. Among the non-investors surveyed, 53 percent said they don't have the money to invest and 21 percent said they don't trust stock brokers or financial advisors."

liquidise 10y ago
That seems to suggest that 27% or roughly 1 in 4 Americans cite not having enough money to invest in the stock market. To be clear that is different from saving money or returning it to real estate investments or into a family business. I'd say that falls in line with expectations given unemployment rates and median wage vs cost of living statistics nationwide.
prostoalex 10y ago
They could still be investing, just not in the stock market. Buying a larger house (with the goal of taking on renters), buying a rental property, or just a plain savings account, which is a proxy investment in Treasuries.
- TheAdamAndChe 10y ago
  I wish I could buy a house just to live in. A rental property would be a dream. However, buying a house still requires an initial investment and good credit, which is tough to get when you make $10/hr. Then you have to be able to afford maintenance, disaster insurance, and an emergency fund if something happens to your job. You've got to get a house in an area with enough housing demand that you can rent it out, which is getting harder due to the fact that most new jobs are only being created in a handful of cities like SF, Houston, and NYC. This creates a lot of demand in those areas, which makes buying a house there out of reach for most normal people. And even if you manage to get a good house in a moderately okay area, the value of a house depreciates on a long enough timeframe. All this means that real estate investment is only truly available to those with preexisting capital.
  - prostoalex 10y ago
    While I don't mean it as a counter-point to your particular situation, on a broad scale US homeownership rate has been overall rising, in some areas more than another https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/owner.html https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/owne...

liquidise 10y ago

That seems to suggest that 27% or roughly 1 in 4 Americans cite not having enough money to invest in the stock market. To be clear that is different from saving money or returning it to real estate investments or into a family business. I'd say that falls in line with expectations given unemployment rates and median wage vs cost of living statistics nationwide.

prostoalex 10y ago

They could still be investing, just not in the stock market. Buying a larger house (with the goal of taking on renters), buying a rental property, or just a plain savings account, which is a proxy investment in Treasuries.

TheAdamAndChe 10y ago
I wish I could buy a house just to live in. A rental property would be a dream. However, buying a house still requires an initial investment and good credit, which is tough to get when you make $10/hr. Then you have to be able to afford maintenance, disaster insurance, and an emergency fund if something happens to your job. You've got to get a house in an area with enough housing demand that you can rent it out, which is getting harder due to the fact that most new jobs are only being created in a handful of cities like SF, Houston, and NYC. This creates a lot of demand in those areas, which makes buying a house there out of reach for most normal people. And even if you manage to get a good house in a moderately okay area, the value of a house depreciates on a long enough timeframe. All this means that real estate investment is only truly available to those with preexisting capital.
- prostoalex 10y ago
  While I don't mean it as a counter-point to your particular situation, on a broad scale US homeownership rate has been overall rising, in some areas more than another https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/owner.html https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/owne...