People should be considering wealth though, not income. When you're looking at the "rich," income doesn't tell you very much, since most "rich" peoples' wealth

People should be considering wealth though, not income. When you're looking at the "rich," income doesn't tell you very much, since most "rich" peoples' wealth exists in (and continues to accrue via) non-income vehicles. If you earn a high income for only a few years, you won't have the extensive advantages (tax havens, etc) of the truly wealthy, and you certainly won't have all of the hereditary wealth squirrelled away into offshore accounts and invested into capital that's busy appreciating.