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

[John Thornton]

Joseph Catron wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 6:52 PM, John Thornton <jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>   
>> Define "not at all uncommon."
>> Is 5% of the population enough to earn that label?
>>     
>
> ...
>
>   
>> 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".
>>     
>
> ...
>
>   
>> 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.
>>     
>
> But you ignore the question at hand. I was discussing skilled
> construction workers, a decent number of whom have business ownership
> as their primary goal, not the population as a whole.
>
> My logic worked in the opposite direction from yours. I started with
> construction company owners (only those of my acquaintance, to be
> sure), then considered how many had begun as workers.
>
> This approach seems more useful, as far as this particular question
> goes, than starting by considering the entire population.
>   

Since the median annual income of construction workers is lower than the 
median annual income for the population as a whole I fail to see how 
that bolsters your case.
Of the subset of construction workers known to you I haven't a clue but 
using that subset would seem a less useful rather than more useful 
starting point for such a discussion.
The median income of self-employed persons is ~$48,000 so owning your 
own company doesn't suggest higher than average savings either.


>   
>> 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)
>>     
>
> I'm no economic mastermind, but why? If I earned a comfortable income
> and saved conscientiously, a ratio of 80% hardly seems unlikely.

Since more than 20% of the people in this income bracket self report 
they live paycheck to paycheck, which certainly implies very low 
savings, 80% seems incredibly unlikely.

John Thornton