A recent Study from Pew Research shows that since 2009, except for the highest 1% and lowest 30% where wealth has improved significantly, most groups are less wealthy today than in 2009. The lowest 30% is probably helped by rise in Government programs while the top 1% is helped by the huge increase in the stock market during the period studied.
The study seems to point to the importance of staying invested in the market despite downturns.
An important note to the above is that Income inequalityis a very different story. In 2011, you needed adjusted gross income of $388,905 to qualify for the top 1 percent and $34,823 to make the top 50 percent.
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