[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('odegaard', 'Y')our prayers are being answered Ludi!

[OutOfGas]

Can you feel the love ?

Feels like TS is about to HTF.

[Quinny]

I can't understand why there are so many mega rich folk on here complaining about the tax increase. If I were earning money at the rate they must be to be paying more tax under the new government I wouldn't be spending so much time on an Internet message board. We must have the wealthiest group of posters on the Internet.

I would have thought that most ordinary people should be thanking the new president for their tax cuts.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('odegaard', 'Y')our prayers are being answered Ludi!

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'T')here is nothing wrong with not working so hard, if that is your choice. The thing I take exception too is when some think they have a right to pick others pockets, and think others should pay their way. By all means live the lifestyle you like. Just don't expect everyone else to pay for it.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('retiredguy', 'I')f by some miraculous means, all of the world's assets were divided equally among the world's population, I would be willing to bet, that after a year or so, most of those assets would be back in the possession of those who owned them originally.

[Tyler_JC]

But most wealth is not inherited...

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/01/14/the-decline-of-inherited-money/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Decline of Inherited Money

My Krugman post brought a lot of emails asking about my assertion that “the vast majority of today’s rich didn’t inherit their money, but made it themselves.”

For the sake of brevity, I didn’t cite the research behind the statement. But since many of you have asked, and we aim to please here at the Wealth Report, here are my three main data points:

1. According to a study of Federal Reserve data conducted by NYU professor Edward Wolff, for the nation’s richest 1%, inherited wealth accounted for only 9% of their net worth in 2001, down from 23% in 1989. (The 2001 number was the latest available.)

2. According to a study by Prince & Associates, less than 10% of today’s multi-millionaires cited “inheritance” as their source of wealth.

3. A study by Spectrem Group found that among today’s millionaires, inherited wealth accounted for just 2% of their total sources of wealth.

Each of these stats measures slightly different things, yet they all come to the same basic conclusion: Inheritance is not the main driver of today’s wealth. The reason we’ve had a doubling in the number of millionaires and billionaires over the past decade (even adjusted for inflation) is that more of the non-wealthy have become wealthy.

[Bytesmiths]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '1'). According to a study of Federal Reserve data conducted by NYU professor Edward Wolff, for the nation’s richest 1%, inherited wealth accounted for only 9% of their net worth in 2001, down from 23% in 1989. (The 2001 number was the latest available.)

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Decline of Inherited Money

My Krugman post brought a lot of emails asking about my assertion that “the vast majority of today’s rich didn’t inherit their money, but made it themselves.”

[odegaard]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Keith_McClary', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Decline of Inherited Money

My Krugman post brought a lot of emails asking about my assertion that “the vast majority of today’s rich didn’t inherit their money, but made it themselves.”

[Quinny]

No it isn't

How many ways can you get/make wealth?

Earn it?

Steal it?

Inherit it?

You don't need sources to cut through the bullshit!


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('odegaard', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Keith_McClary', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Decline of Inherited Money

My Krugman post brought a lot of emails asking about my assertion that “the vast majority of today’s rich didn’t inherit their money, but made it themselves.”

[odegaard]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Quinny', 'N')o it isn't

How many ways can you get/make wealth?

Earn it?

Steal it?

Inherit it?

You don't need sources to cut through the bullshit!

[cephalotus]

I partly agree.

(US) Americans have a higher disposaeble income compared to most people in (Western) Europa.

But I assume that the comparison lacks in some ways.

People here live in smaller houses, but those houses have a very high standard made from solid brick, 20cm insulation, double or triple sided windows ect. A typical German house should and will last an average of 200 years. (houses built in the 1950th 1960th excluded)

I don't know if we spend less on consumption. In my opinion the amount of foof calories may be lower (that'ts not a bad thing), but the quality of the food is much higher on average.
I can get to the next small shop and chose between 50 different types of real juices. 100% natural juices and not some artificial flavoured, sugared and colored water. I can get to the small bakery next door and chose between 30 different types of bread, real bread.
Ok, that also about thing that people like to eat, we don't have 30 types of donuts (I didn't see a single donut for months).
I can't see a difference in clothes.
But there is a difference in cars and electronic stuff. (on the other hand most DSLR sales go to Europa these days, that's the only electronic statistics I know without the need of google).

So yes, Americans do consume more. If they do consume things of higher value I don't really know.
If they really -have- the money or if it's only borrowed money to buy all that stuff is a another question.

My personal opinion -and I'm one of those guys who currently pays a lot into the system without getting much out- is that I prefer the European model. (btw. you forgot free or at least heavy subsidized education at universities).

I prefer social security over excessive consumption.

I don't feel poor.

btw, I'm an engineer and I don't have a house and I even don't have a car, because I don't need either. On the other hand I have exactly zero dept and never had any dept to pay.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('odegaard', '
')From a distance Europe (I assume Canada has a similar standard of living) seems like it's one step ahead of us.
We are constantly reminded by the media of the pretty high speed trains, universal health care, and generous social welfare unheard of in the USA. However the biggest difference is disposable income. Europeans just don't have it.

This glaring difference shows up in every aspect of a person's life from the size of their house, number of cars if any, how many times they can afford to go to the shopping mall. One of the biggest culture shocks that a foreigner gets when they come to the USA is the shear quantity of material possessions Americans have and our ability to replace them with newer ones. Houses in Europe are half the size. Even a person of low status like a garbage man can afford to live in a single family detached house in the USA. In Britain it is not uncommon for even doctors, lawyers, and engineers to live in row houses.
Imagine if you visited a hypothetical foreign country where everybody lived in houses twice the size, have twice as many material possessions, and they replace them twice as often. It would make for an interesting culture shock huh?

[cephalotus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')
But there are no rich, unhappy countries.

[cephalotus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'I')n your case don't feed the parasite. You may be somebody's sweetheart, but you are really just a legend in your own mind. Being hip or cool or cutting edge doesn't mean you have to be a parasite as well. Maybe you worship the 60's era and that is your own business. But I never met too many in the 60's who were avowed parasites like yourself. So don't feed the parsite folks.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('odegaard', '
')1) The only way for a person to elevate their wealth would be to do it at someone else's expenses because remember it's a zero sum game.

[Bytesmiths]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('odegaard', 'I')n a peakoil world there will be a steady state economy...

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cephalotus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')
But there are no rich, unhappy countries.

[odegaard]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('odegaard', '
')1) The only way for a person to elevate their wealth would be to do it at someone else's expenses because remember it's a zero sum game.

[odegaard]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bytesmiths', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('odegaard', 'I')n a peakoil world there will be a steady state economy...

[odegaard]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cephalotus', '.')...we don't have 30 types of donuts (I didn't see a single donut for months)...