We'll no shit... didn't we already know this?
this post was submitted on 27 May 2024
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United States | News & Politics
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I did not know this. Like I knew they had a lot of the wealth but 93% of the stock market is frankly depressing and the reason nothing will change unless we starting eating some people.
does that include 401ks?
That's probably how most of the 50% have any stock.
It should. If a 401k is used to purchase common stocks, there's no reason for the market to differentiate that it's held by a retirement plan (at least to the best of my knowledge). Even 401k target-date funds are just mutual funds or ETFs, comprised of common stocks. I'd wager a large portion of the 7% not held by the Do Nothing class is from 401Ks and IRAs.
Don't think it does, roughly half the population still has some retirement savings according to this https://usafacts.org/data-projects/retirement-savings
It's a rich peoples game. Those with mere pittance to invest will not end up with much even if they live a very long natural life and do not touch a penny of whatever they could invest until their death bed. Even then they've have to wait until the very end for that pittance. The whole thing is based on having a enough wealth such that small percentage returns equate to a lot in absolute value. A small or even larger than average percentage return from relatively little wealth is still very little.
To change any of this would be to change the underlying issues of unequal distribution of wealth. The stock markets are derivative. If more had wealth then obviously they'd be investing more. It's not the other way around.
Some believe they can cheat code their way to the other side by gambling which is not investing. Seems to have become popular again in recent times after certain cultural phenomenons. That again does not change underlying issues. A few lottery winners and many more silent losers only serves to amplify inequality.