Forum Post: 99% vs 99.5% vs 99.9%

Very interesting article from July 2011 (pre-OWS as we know it). http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/investment_manager.html Here are some excerpts:

Average of Top 1%: $300k+ income, $5M Net Worth (that includes all your life savings and house when you are about to retire).

When does one enter that top 1%? Need around $300k to $400k in pre-tax annual income and over $1.2M in net worth Average American family mid-$50k range and net worth around $120k

This probably seems like a lot of money. But, there are big differences within that top 1%, with the wealth distribution highly skewed towards the top 0.1%.

The 99th to 99.5th percentiles largely include physicians, attorneys, upper middle management, and small business people who have done well. Most of their income is taxed as ordinary income ~25-30%.

Data on net worth distributions within the top 1% indicate that one enters the top 0.5% with about $1.8M, the top 0.25% with $3.1M, the top 0.10% with $5.5M and the top 0.01% with $24.4M. (Big Difference)

Unlike those in the lower half of the top 1%, those in the top half and, particularly, top 0.1%, can often borrow for almost nothing, keep profits and production overseas, hold personal assets in tax havens, ride out down markets and economies, and influence legislation in the U.S.

Most of those in the bottom half of the top 1% lack power and global flexibility and are essentially well-compensated workhorses for the top 0.5%, just like the bottom 99%.

American dream of striking it rich is merely a well-marketed fantasy that keeps the bottom 99.5% hoping for better and prevents social and political instability. The odds of getting into that top 0.5% are very slim and the door is kept firmly shut by those within it.