Not what I asked. Furthermore, I’m not one of the ignorant who believes that the Stock Market (all 6,000+ companies) is controlled by a single individual. Also, I’m also aware that the gains in the Stock Market largely go to the top 10%
While there is a lot of wealth disparity in the US and elsewhere,
but that number and that article are full of crap.
1.) Individuals and families own only 53% of the stock market directly or indirectly through mutual funds etc…
The rest is owned by auto/life/health insurance companies,($8 trillion)
Universities own $.9 trillion in their endowments (divest now! divest now!)
Banks own a ton
Nonbank corporations own a ton, (Google has $200b in liquid assets, Amazon has $90b)
Clearly data can be skewed to make things look a certain way, nonetheless it’s indisputable that Stock Market gains largely favor the wealthy and MUCH MORE so than so-called tax cuts for the rich. Mostly looking to expose the hypocrisy of those like @tnt, @Guilds, @biggestal99, @Jezcoe, @PurpnGold, etc., whom bemoan tax cuts that make the rich people richer but applaud gains in the Stock Market that do so but substantially more!
401(k) plans hold $7.4 trillion in assets as of December 31, 2023, in more than 710,000 plans, on behalf of about 70 million active participants and millions of former employees and retirees.
You make very good points. I do not wish to detract from them.
What I wish to avoid is the false mindset that the stock market is about rich people and rich families.
Here is a useful way of thinking:
1.) When an article tells you “the wealthiest 10% own 97% of the stocks” we must first divide that stock ownerhip in half. Half of all stocks are not even owned by families they are owned in the fomr of univerity endowments, endowments of non-prfit hosptials, insurance companies etc…—> RESULT: The wealhtiest 10% of households own closer to 47.5% of stock
2.) When an article tells you “the wealthiest 10% own 97% of the stocks” we must also consider that half of all americans don’t own any stocks (or much of anything) —> Combining the two: Of Americans who own stocks at all, the wealthiest 20% own 47.5% of the stock market.
3.) Even those numbers are baed on households. Given america’s high rate of divorce/single-parenting we must also consider single-earner vs two-earner households.
But the 2017 TCJA wasn’t just tax cuts for the rich, the middleclass benefitted more so from that than statistically than the rich than in comparison to Stock Market gains.
The top 10% starts at about $125-130,000. It’s reasonable to think that a large majority of people in that income range have retirement accounts. Most retirement accounts include stocks. I don’t find that stat in the link the least bit surprising or alarming.
ANYONE who has a 401k in place for the last 4 years has profited by the stock market going up, not just rich people. i am far from rich but my 401k has went up a lot in the past 4 years.
(Bloomberg) – Princeton University’s $34.1 billion endowment is bringing up the rear in investment returns among Ivy League peers for the second straight year. . . .
Princeton, the richest college in terms of endowment per student, is heavily reliant on the fund. It provides about two-thirds of the school’s net annual operating revenues, up from about one third in 1997. In the current freshman class, about 72% of students qualified for financial aid. . . . Princeton’s $34 Billion Fund Trails Ivy League With 3.9% Return
That’s not really the primary point of where I’m going with my post. Look at what the libs said about the TCJA which was signed into law by Trump, as nothing but “tax cuts for the rich!” Although when you look at it the TCJA proportionally benefitted the income levels under $200,000. In other words, it’s much more equitable across all income levels. Nonetheless, all the libs here bemoaned the plight of the poor and middleclass and talked about how the rich got richer. Regarding the Stock Market, it is an indisputable fact that a surging Market substantially benefits the rich more than the poor and middleclass. Now, personally I don’t look at the Market going up as a bad thing, just looking to expose the hypocrisy of libs who look at it as some great accomplishment by Harris/Biden. Here’s a question for all the libs (which I’m sure you would agree with), how is a surging Stock Market (by largely just a dozen companies) building the economy from the bottom up and middle out?