The millionaire next door

Maybe we are reading different papers or something. Both studies that I linked more or less talk about the same thing - intergenerational economic mobility as evidenced by income plasticity in one or another form (another, a more comprehensive study can be found here: https://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways-SOTU-2016-Economic-Mobility-3.pdf). There is nothing in these studies (at least that I can see) that looks at the intra-generational mobility.

Yeah it was there. I read it. LOL. I can't copy and paste from the document unfortunately. But it is mentioned.
 
Yeah it was there. I read it. LOL. I can't copy and paste from the document unfortunately. But it is mentioned.
Well, at least say which paper and give me the page :) I only had a cursory look, so I would not be surprised if I missed something.

Well, actually, they specifically say that
Overall, American workers seem as likely as European workers to move up or down the earnings ladder in a 5- or 10-year period. However, there is again evidence of a troubling pattern of less upward mobility for Americans starting at the low end of the economic ladder.
 
Well, at least say which paper and give me the page :) I only had a cursory look, so I would not be surprised if I missed something.

Well, actually, they specifically say that

If you teach me how you copied and pasted that, I'll show you. :)

I'm too lazy to write it out.
 
I was talking from an immigrant's perspective. Being born into poverty is a different issue, but still doubt there is country which offers more opportunities (not just safety net) than US. Just my admittedly limited opinion. Don't have the stats to prove it, just hearing things.
 
I was talking from an immigrant's perspective. Being born into poverty is a different issue, but still doubt there is country which offers more opportunities (not just safety net) than US. Just my admittedly limited opinion. Don't have the stats to prove it, just hearing things.
Well, as an immigrant myself, I should say something like "I am the living example, I came here with $140 in my pocket and now I am in the top 5% by net worth in this country". But I am pretty sure that for any immigrant success story like my own, there are plenty failures. Plus, even in my case luck played a pivotal role - both my parents are doctors, I was lucky to get a full scholarship and was lucky to land in finance. The point is that opportunity does not necessarily equal ability.
 
Hmm. I was going to call this out as an under-estimate of the millionaires in the US (intuitively, I felt like around $5m is the 95th percentile by wealth, which apparently is very wrong), so I googled it. Instead, it appears that the estimates are all over the place depending on the metric and methods:
-- net worth inclusive of primary residences and all sorts of possessions, the number apparently at 10.5 million in the US (spectrem group: https://goo.gl/QUPUAQ)
-- liquid net worth, there are 7.6 million millionaire households in the United States and Canada (BCG: https://goo.gl/Y5etu5)
--investible net worth only, 4.8 million according to the World Wealth Report (Capgemini: https://www.worldwealthreport.com/download), which apparently is the most reliable data
 
Well, apparently the author himself did not really follow his recipe. In 2013, Stanley died driving a Chevrolet Corvette, a car at the time retailing for over $50,000. American public likes a winner while nobody cares about the losers, so the attitude is consistent.

PS. Honestly, I think the whole era of blue collar millionaire has been over for a while.

PPS. You can live well if you're rich and you can live well if you're poor. But if you're poor, it's much cheaper.
Love that PPS
You should get that on a mug, or something
 
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