
What is your perception of the wealth distribution in the United States? Better yet, what is the reality of wealth distribution in the United States?
Most people recognize that the US has been the most powerful and wealthy country in the world since around 1976.
And for years the United States has been known as the land of opportunity.
The “American Dream”
The dream that a person can start off in the world with nothing and make a prosperous life for oneself. Through hard work, self education, and determination, people have been able to improve themselves socioeconomically.
This has been an inspiration to millions of people all over the world for the last half century.
What a hopeful concept, to have the freedom and the ability to rise up and make a better life for yourself and your family.
But how true is the “American Dream” for those that live in United States these days?
Wealth Distribution in the United States:
There still is so much opportunity to educate yourself through college and trade schools.
There are social programs that United States citizens can take advantage of to better their lives. And the United States still offers a thriving market place to start your own business or find employment.
– The United States has the world’s largest national economy with an estimated GDP (gross domestic product) in 2013 of $16.8 trillion.
-That’s 23% of the world’s nominal GDP and 19% of the world’s purchasing power parity. (Facts according to Wikipedia)
But what is changing for the worse in the United States? Americans are starting to feel like the American Dream is no longer easily attainable, that it’s slipping away.
What Happened to the American Dream
From 1947 to 1999, the average household income had been increasing every year. Since then it has been relatively flat and in recent years it has declined.
And what we have found is that the majority of Americans are investing less in America.
Currently:
- 40% of the wealth in America is held by 1% of America
- 80% of Americans have 7% of the wealth in America
- The top 1% of Americans own 50% of all the stocks in America
- Versus the bottom 50% of Americans only own a half of a percent (0.5%) of stocks in America
Today, the 1% of the wealthiest Americans take home 24% of the total income produced in the United States versus in 1976, that same 1% of the wealthiest Americans took home 9% of the total income.
So what is happening in the United States is quite simple, the Rich are getting Richer and the Poor are getting Poorer.
Reality of Wealth Distribution in the US:
Below is a video that presents the Americans perceptions, ideal hopes, and the reality of what the wealth distribution is like in the United States.
You can come to your own conclusion as to what this data means, but it’s truly intriguing to see how far off our perceptions are of what the actual wealth distribution is in United States.
What’s Your Thoughts On Wealth Distribution?
The video simplifies the concepts of how the distribution of wealth is shockingly different than what people perceive the wealth distribution to be in the US.
That the history of the United States is changing right in front of our eyes and not for the better.
Instead of having a society where everyone strives to prosper. We’re finding the majority of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, working only to sustain life.
Something that we see more in Third world countries than in developed nations like the United States.
We’re finding the wealthiest people retaining and growing their wealth at staggering rates while the poor and middle class are investing less and less in their futures.
What’s the Solution?
I don’t know what the solution is for the United States economy or what the future will bring. It sure would be great if mankind helped one another to prosper, grow, and live better lives.
We all strive to live comfortable and happy lives.
And sure, most people want to be rich, but how many among us take action to actually bring on a change to make it happen.
If you’re ready to do something proactive to control your future wealth distributions, consider building an online business.
There’s a ton of advantages to starting niche websites or eCommerce business. The online shopping trend is only going up, might as well as get in on the action.
Check out our Free Training Series listed below to see how the process works.
Best of luck and as always, if you would like to add anything to the wealth distribution in the United States topic, please feel free to comment below.
Wow, this is a very informative article. Honest and insightful, I love the graphs, they really show the truth about American Wealth and how we have to change this. Making money online, and investing should be the way of the future, and teaching everyone possible about it is a great way to improve our conditions as a country. Nice job!
Thanks Jessie and great points. What I think is cool about creating an online business is that it’s kind of a new norm happening. Instead of students going off to college and racking up 10’s of 1,000’s of dollars of debt, they can be earning while learning.
And isn’t this really the way it should be. It took me a year to really make good money online, but it took me 7 years and 50+K dollars to do this with my degree in Occupational Therapy.
A motivated student who wants to learn and earn will create incredible success in the future.
Thanks as well for your feedback on our Wealth Distribution in the United States post. Hopefully as more people invest in things like learning and earning online, those statistics will change for the better of everyone.
Best,
Todd
Hi Todd, an excellent post. The same situation exists in developing countries as well. There are small percentages of people earning very high percentages of the national wealth, and very large numbers living in poverty. It is hard to know what the answer might be, as we do like to reward the ability to earn income.
Thanks Jerry for your comment. Yes, very true about 3rd world countries being in the same position. I think a key point is to still feel (if you are in a lower or middle class economical position) that you can grow and improve your life situation/finances. And I think this is declining especially with people in lower economical classes in the US. Thanks for your comment and have a great day. Todd
Interesting statistics. I do believe anyone can still make it in a place like America… they’ve got to do it for themselves though. Have a listen to this commentary. This is bang on and proves what you are talking about to be 100% true. It was recorded in the 1950s, but is still just as relevant as it’s ever been, and will continue to be.
Thanks Steve, and yes, I too believe you can still make it in the US, but people need to take advantage of the opportunities they have in life. I’ll check out your article too.
Thanks,
Todd
I enjoyed reading your article Todd. Unfortunately no one has a solution. Maybe higher taxes for the very rich and a stronger social safety net for the very poor. There is a JK Rowling’s quote I like on the subject: “I think you have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently”
All the best, Peter
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your comment and love the quote, I think that sums up the message that I took away from the video.
Take care,
Todd