5 ms·
A large number of Americans will be in the top 10% by income at some point during their life. Edit: I looked it up, and it's actually a majority of Americans (
by nostromo 5y ago
A large number of Americans will be in the top 10% by income at some point during their life. Edit: I looked it up, and it's actually a majority of Americans (57%) will be in the top 10% at least one year of their life.
As noted, even just selling a house in a random state like Wisconsin can easily put you in that bucket.
Top 10% by wealth is a different story harder to attain. It's frustrating that we pay for things with taxes on income and not wealth, because it hits the upper-middle-class harder than it hits the people with all of the equity.
https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/evidence-shows-significant-income-mobility-in-the-us-73-of-americans-were-in-the-top-20-for-at-least-a-year/ https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/evidence-shows-significant-in...
- nobody9999 5y ago>A large number of Americans will be in the top 10% by income at some point during their life. If, "by a large number," you mean 10%, then you're right. Edit: Upon reflection, my comment was both flip and inaccurate. In sum, I was talking out of my ass. Phew! That stinks. My bad.
- sumtechguy 5y agoPeople rotate in and out of that 10%. 25 years ago I maybe had a net wealth of 500 bucks, 15 years ago I was negative 180k. Today I am in that 10%. By the time I get to 70 I probably will not be in that 10% anymore. Hell one 'RIFF' and 2-3 years of 'sorry you are not a good fit', medium sized illness, and I could be there again.
- nostromo 5y agoAbsolutely not. 10% would be the bare minimum, by definition.
- mod 5y agoPeople die, people's incomes change (or cease). More than 10% of the population will be in the top 10% of almost any category at some point during their lifespan, even if it's briefly.
- wing-_-nuts 5y agoI get irritated when this little quirk of measurement is trotted out. Someone making 400k / yr as an investment banker is in a very different position than someone who 'makes' 400k selling grandpa's dairy farm and pays off creditors. It's very disingenuous to say that a large number of people will be in the top 10% at some point. Technically true, but meaningless.
- bko 5y agoWhy is it meaningless? A lot of investment bankers quit, change professions or get laid off and can never re-enter the market. Just look at the number of analysts vs MDs and you'll see that the funnel gets a lot narrower at every stage. And you don't see many analysts in their 30s, so where do they go? There's a lot of turnover in the top 1% and 10%. https://money.cnn.com/2016/01/07/news/economy/top-1/index.html https://money.cnn.com/2016/01/07/news/economy/top-1/index.ht...
- wing-_-nuts 5y agoThere are lots of jobs that consistently pay multiple six figure comp. To compare them to someone who realizes a one time capital gain from an inheritance or whatever is laughable. The two are simply not the same.
- bhupy 5y agoI recommend reading the research paper it's based on: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0116370 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal... There's a specific table that breaks it down clearly: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0116370.t002 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure?id=10.1371/... 40% of Americans spend at least 2 years in the top 10%. That's not just selling grandpa's dairy farm and paying off creditors. A full 62% spend at least 2 years in the top 20%, and over 54% spend at least 3 years there.
- sudosysgen 5y agoYou should be using consecutive years. And it may very well be that the sale of grandpa's fairy farm spans over two fiscal years.