Graph of this issue: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DcqzcKlU0AEyEoj.jpg
The indexes are widely used as a kind of shorthand for U.S. economic health, appearing on nightly newscasts and President Trump's tweets.
But for many, perhaps most, American households, those indexes measure an economy far removed from their own daily concerns. One figure from a recent working paper by New York University economist Edward Wolff illustrates that point: Fewer than 14% of American households directly own stock in any company.
Even when you consider indirect ownership via 401(k) retirement accounts and similar vehicles, about half of U.S. households don’t own any stock at all.
Until the early 2000s, stock ownership had been on the rise. From 1989 to 2001, the percentage of households directly owning stock rose to 21.3% from 13.1%, while the percentage owning any stock — including indirect ownership via 401(k)s — increased to 51.9% from 31.7%, per Wolff's analysis.
But since then, stock ownership has declined. The share of households directly owning stock in 2016 (13.9%) is similar to the share in the early 1990s. The total rate of stock ownership, including indirect holdings, has fallen too but by a slighter amount, owing to the continued popularity of 401(k) retirement plans.
Do you think more private US citizens should buy stocks?
Submitted May 12, 2018 at 08:55AM by gorillaz0e https://ift.tt/2IdFYRq
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