How the stock market is a sham for the working and middle class. 53 percent of Americans have no money in the stock market, including retirement accounts. 62 percent of all US wealth owned by top 5 percent.
The growing wealth divide in this country is devouring every piece of the middle class that is currently left. The stock market is largely a sham for most Americans. Why? Many hedge funds and other large Wall Street firms are in the business of making quick profits even if it means destabilizing the underlying economy. Many large companies have made larger profits since the recession ended by slashing wages and benefits. More importantly however, is that this dramatic bull market in stocks since 2009 has been one big sideshow for most Americans. A Pew Research survey found that 53 percent of Americans own no stocks, including in their retirement accounts. And the fact that only 10 percent of Americans have pensions, many (most) are going to rely on Social Security as they enter old age. Why is the stock market a sham for working and middle class Americans?
A decade of no real gains
The buy and hold idea hasn’t really worked for nearly 14 years. Take a look at S&P 500 returns going back to 2000:
http://www.mybudget360.com/stock-market-sham-most-americans-own-no-stocks-who-owns-us-wealth/
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