BB related since the average getbigger is Upper Class with social guilt issues.
Could This Be Why the Middle Class Is Disappearing?Stock ownership levels may hold the answer.
But what if these factors (stagnate wage growth, high debt, and poor saving habits) aren't what doomed the middle class? What if, in fact, a lack of trust in the stock market is to blame?
According to a recently released survey from national pollster Gallup, total U.S. stock ownership, either individually in a portfolio, in an IRA, or through an employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan, has dropped by 8 percentage points between 2001-2008 and 2009-2017 to 54% from 62% for U.S. adults.
What Gallup's findings appear to imply is that the middle class hasn't fully participated in the stock market's eight-year long rebound, while the wealthy have taken full advantage by staying invested. This could partially explain the widening of the wealth gap that we've witnessed between the middle class and the rich over the past decade.Buying high-quality stocks over the long term is a good bet for successTime and again the data show that staying invested over the long term -- even through major bear markets -- and buying stocks at regular intervals, regardless of whether the market is at a new high or well off its highs, is the most effective way to generate wealth.
Though stock market corrections happen somewhat often, they're not in any way predictable. Yardeni Research has found 35 such stock market corrections in the S&P 500 since 1950 of at least 10%, when rounded to the nearest whole number. However, a majority of these corrections were wiped out by a rally within weeks or months, and every single last one of the 35 previous corrections in the S&P 500 has been firmly left in the rearview mirror. Stock valuations tend to head higher over the long run, which means middle-class households should remain invested, too.
An analysis conducted by J.P. Morgan Asset Management last year really laid out the case for staying invested during volatile markets. The investment firm analyzed returns on the S&P 500 between Jan. 3, 1995 and Dec. 31, 2014, and found that if an investor bought and held the S&P 500 over this entire 20-year period, he or she would have gained 555%, or 9.9% per year. Mind you, this 555% gain includes both the dot-com bubble bursting and the Great Recession, when the S&P 500 experienced respective losses of 50% and 57%.
By comparison, if an investor wound up missing just 10 of the best trading days over this more than 5,000-day trading period, he or she would have seen their gains more than halved. Miss a little more than 30 of the best trading days, and you'd have lost money.
If the middle class in America wants to recapture its share of wealth and retire comfortably, it'll need to get over its distrust of Wall Street and start investing in stocks.
The middle class will also need to start saving more. A mere third of Americans, according to a 2013 poll from Gallup, are keeping a household budget. Complimenting a better saving habits with a long-term buy-and-hold mentality would be a win-win for investors. Most budgeting software can be found online, making it easier than ever for Americans to formulate a budget that can put more in their pocket, and their portfolios, each month.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/05/could-this-be-why-the-middle-class-is-disappearing.aspx
