[lbo-talk] Joe the Plumber, $250k+ business owner, as average American?

[John Thornton]

Joseph Catron wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 12:06 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
>   
>> Really? Having six figures in financial assets (excluding housing) would put
>> you above the 80th percentile of the wealth distribution.
>>     
>
> "Full" was obviously hyperbolic, but skilled construction workers with
> a few years of seniority earn more than enough to accumulate
> significant savings, assuming they actually save some of it. In fact,
> workers earning enough to start or buy their own companies are not at
> all uncommon.
>
> On a note related to this exchange, does anyone know of a good
> demographic tool, like American FactFinder, that includes liquid
> assets?

Define "not at all uncommon."
Is 5% of the population enough to earn that label?
15%?

Define "significant savings."
$75,000?
$150,000?

Last I heard over 20% of those making $100,000 or more annually had no 
significant savings (less than $10,000) and claimed they lived paycheck 
to paycheck.
Since they constitute only about 12% of the population  I'd venture a 
guess that no more than 5% of the US population has $100,000 or more 
savings.
5% hardly seems to merit the label "not at all uncommon".

Only about 15% of households have a net worth of $500,000 or more (and 
it's nearly impossible to imagine having $100,000 in savings if your net 
worth is less than $500,000) so if were feeling really generous and 
imagine 1 in 3 of this group have $100,000 in savings we're again left 
with about 5%.

All this is seats of the pants stuff so maybe someone will come along 
with hard data and show me that 18% of the US has savings of $100,000 or 
more and it really is "not at all uncommon" but I'm not holding my breath.

John Thornton