Money worth matters :- Considering the amount of time you spend using money, I thought you might want to explore what it means in terms of your income, wealth, and retirement plans. The facts about how wealth works can seem obscure, but they matter a lot. It’s not as simple as saving up any old way for retirement like your grandma.
For example, did you know that the definition of “middle class” is changing? Wealth is being accumulated in an increasingly small number of hands, lessening the number of people who can be considered to make up the “middle class.”
Growing inequality
Income inequality is getting worse, not better.
A shift in wealth
Before 1973 the top 1% of earners took 4.9% of the total income growth, a significantly lower percentage than they realized from 1973 – 2007, which saw them take 58.7%.
ATMs
The U.S. had 173,90 ATMs available for every 100,000 adults in 2018.
It doesn’t grow on trees.
The term “minting money” is more than a turn of phrase. Coins are produced in a place known as a “mint.”
Apple’s Apple’s earnings
Apple makes an average of $163 million/day – that that’s approximately $1 million every 8.8 minutes.
Bigger than Apple
And Saudi Aramco is one company that out-earns Apple. Every state has seen an increase in inequality since the 1970s. Growth has been exceptionally robust in states that have relatively little public infrastructure.
Spending on pets
Pets are an expensive long-term commitment, but millions of Americans love that kind of commitment. For 2019, the estimate is that we’ll spend $75.38 billion on them—up from $72.56 billion in 2018
Public debt
In the U.S., public debt totaled $18.087 trillion in 2019, coming mainly from Treasury bills, notes, and bonds.
Boom & Bust
Most family fortunes are gone within three generations.
Emergency funds
A recent survey found that about 40% of Americans are not financially prepared for unexpected emergency costs.
Number of billionaires
In March of 2019, there were 2,154 billionaires in the world.
Growing fortunes…
In 2018, billionaires’ wealth increased by 12%, or $2.5bn per day.
… and falling fortunes
Did you know? The most deficient 50% of people saw their wealth fall by 11%. They now live on an average of $5.50 per day.
Gender divide
Wealth is not spread equally across the sexes, with men holding 50% more of the world’s wealth than women.
Tax burden
Wealthy people increasingly enjoy generous tax breaks while the rest of us have to shoulder the most extensive tax burden.
Funding education
According to Oxfam, a 1% tax on wealth would fund schooling for the 262 million children out of school.
World’s wealthiest man
Jeff Bezos is one of the wealthiest people in the world and has a fortune of $112 billion. One per cent of that would be about the same as Ethiopia’sEthiopia’s total healthcare expenditures.
Inherited wealth
A study from 600 years ago predicted that the wealthiest people in Florence today will be the same for 600 more years.
The morality of wealth
Wealth can lead to selfishness, a researcher finds. Being wealthy means, some people will stick to their own interests at the expense of those around them.
Later marriage = more wealth
A recent study at Pittsburgh has found that women who wait until 30 or later to get married are likely to have a higher salary than those who do not. Women with a college education who wait until age 30 or later are more likely to earn $18,000 more than their peers who marry younger.
