Americans' net worth up for 3rd straight quarter

[Peacetrain]

Since most of us have our IRA's,pensions, retirements, tied up in the stock market whether we realize it or not.. this is a much better direction to be headed..

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100311/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_net_worth


WASHINGTON – American households saw their wealth increase at the end of last year, mainly because the healing economy boosted stock portfolios.

The Federal Reserve says household net worth rose 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter to $54.2 trillion. It marked the third straight quarter of gains. Net worth had risen 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2009 and an even stronger 5.5 percent in the third quarter.

Net worth is the value of assets such as homes, checking accounts and investments minus debts like mortgages and credit cards.

Even with the gain, Americans' net worth would have to rise an additional 21 percent to get back to its pre-recession peak of $65.9 trillion. That shows the vast loss of wealth people have suffered from the worst downturn since the 1930s.

[hobbit709]

1. Can't tell by me

[azmouse]

2. Our 401k is looking a bit better.

Just going up a tiny bit is better than the losses we were having during boosh.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. Median or Mean?

I'd guess that since the economy is only getting better for the wealthy, the mean is up but the median is down. Also, does that take into account true housing prices?

[HughMoran]

10. You wouldn't be asking if you read it

:rofl:

[MannyGoldstein]

14. What Did I Miss - I Don't See It

Sigh.

[jefferson_dem]

4. Good news.

While all is not perfect, it's undeniable that things are headed in the right direction...thanks in large part to President Obama's economic policies.

[Donnachaidh]

5. stock portfolios

yeah the folks using foodbanks are REALLY happy with their stocks :eyes:

Spin -- it's the spin that will do us IN...... :sarcasm:

[Cha]

6. That's more good news..it

could be worse.

[DailyGrind51]

7. We have also been paying less for gasoline, dairy products, produce, and bread!

And I live in Chicago where we have the highest sales tax in the nation!

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. Let me guess how the "Federal" reserve got this number

If you put a Gold Mansacks billionaire with a 7 figure bonus in the same room with a minimum wage WalMart greeter, the "average income" of the people in the room will look pretty damn good. But it sure as fuck won't reflect reality.

[high density]

13. Thanks to the stock market rebound my net worth has certainly increased

I am still far removed from being a billionaire.

[GeorgeGist]

9. Fooled again.

Shame on you.

[HughMoran]

11. Only bad news is accurate

:crazy:

[ipaint]

12. From your article-

"Growth in stock portfolios delivered the biggest lift to net worth in the October-to-December period. The value of stocks rose by nearly 4 percent to $7.7 trillion."


Who holds the stock-

In terms of types of financial wealth, the top one percent of households have 38.3% of all privately held stock, 60.6% of financial securities, and 62.4% of business equity. The top 10% have 80% to 90% of stocks, bonds, trust funds, and business equity, and over 75% of non-home real estate. Since financial wealth is what counts as far as the control of income-producing assets, we can say that just 10% of the people own the United States of America.

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html


Hooray for the top 10%. The same folks who never felt the recession are now "recovering". All hail the wealthy.