Net Worth Disparity among whites and blacks/hispanics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and doctors are most definitely among the 1% from their "efforts"--not all but certainly plenty that I know--highly specialized, highly educated, working machines.

With regard to the fictional author, those royalties are a product of his or her labor.

So you don't think the publisher and the publisher's marketing had anything to do with it? The book world is kind of a rigged system. Your publisher can very well buy it's way onto the New York Best Sellers list. Once there, you get prominent display locations and premium advertising. The author is part of the factor, but a minor one compared to the Publisher and the marketing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and doctors are most definitely among the 1% from their "efforts"--not all but certainly plenty that I know--highly specialized, highly educated, working machines.

They will never break into the top 1% without becoming partners or establishing their own practice. And once they do, again your back to the case where there pulling in tons of money due to other people's efforts rather than their own. And that's when they also start pocketing percentages of individual and large class action lawsuits. They will never break into the 1% from their personal hourly salaries alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know a single self-made successful person who has achieved success through "luck." They gave carefully planned, taken risks and positioned themselves to be in the right place at the right time. "Luck" was never part of the equation.

For every single self-made top 1% person there are thousands who did the same planning, risk taking, and careful positioning but didn't make it into the top 1%. I wonder why? Perhaps something to do with luck?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:generational wealth transfer

this.

For instance, asian americans might have higher median incomes than whites, but not median wealth.

Wealth is highly dependent for most people on intergenerational transfer.

Interesting. I inherited $50,000 from my grandfather when I was 40 but I already had over a million dollars of net worth by that point. No other intergenerational transfers yet, I'm 49, and my net worth is $3.6 million now. Completely and entirely other than the 50K from savings from my 9 to 5 slog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know a single self-made successful person who has achieved success through "luck." They gave carefully planned, taken risks and positioned themselves to be in the right place at the right time. "Luck" was never part of the equation.

For every single self-made top 1% person there are thousands who did the same planning, risk taking, and careful positioning but didn't make it into the top 1%. I wonder why? Perhaps something to do with luck?

There is a whole generation of people who planned carefully, took risks, and are flat broke because of the year in which they were born.

Luck is almost always part of the equation. Don't believe me? Name the entrepreneurs who have built successful companies twice. Very few.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread, thanks op.

You are welcome. I am reading the posts now with great interest.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I am white and I got nothing from my parents and grew up with a single (divorced) mom. The only reason I have a nice lifestyle now, despite going to college (loans), is because I married well.

Ummm...you realize that the bolded part undercuts the first part? You may have not had inter-generational wealth but you married someone who did. And that relative wealth will pass to your children. That's one of the points of the article.

Right, however the person I married is a 1st generation immigrant that came from nothing. He isn't black but he still was highly disadvantaged and did well for himself.

I am a 1%er who is the first generation to go to college (lower class) married to a first generation to go to college (lower middle class). We benefited from no inter generational wealth transfer. In fact, the wealth transfer has been reverse.

And you will end up transferring a ton of wealth to your kids.

So? I have earned it.

No one "earns" becoming a 1%er. If earn had anything to do with it the vast majority would be 1%ers and that mathematically just isn't possible.

I could SAH and we'd be top 20 percenters. But because we both work, we're close to the top 1%. How is that not earned?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, most of the 1%ers I know earned their money. Only a couple inherited or are set to inherit.

All depends on how you define earned. For most earned means being paid for you time. You work 8 hours you get paid for 8 hours. The only way you can become a 1%er is to be getting a whole bunch of money when your doing nothing.

Let's take a book for example. You decide to write a book and you spend 8 hours a day for 3 months writing the book. That's roughly 720 hours of work. The publisher takes the book, markets it, and it sells 1 million copies. You get a royalty check for 5 million dollars. So you basically "earned" $5,000,000 / 720 = $6,944.44 an hour to write the book. Now if you hired someone to work for you would you pay then $6,944.44 an hour?

Or another more drastic example, the lottery. You take 15 minutes of your time and go by a lottery ticket with numbers you laboriously pick. That night they draw the number and you win $250,000,000. Did you "earn" that money?

Getting money is one thing, earning it is another. There not the same thing.

I earned my money by working 60 to 100 hours a week for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am white and I got nothing from my parents and grew up with a single (divorced) mom. The only reason I have a nice lifestyle now, despite going to college (loans), is because I married well.

Ummm...you realize that the bolded part undercuts the first part? You may have not had inter-generational wealth but you married someone who did. And that relative wealth will pass to your children. That's one of the points of the article.

Right, however the person I married is a 1st generation immigrant that came from nothing. He isn't black but he still was highly disadvantaged and did well for himself.

I am a 1%er who is the first generation to go to college (lower class) married to a first generation to go to college (lower middle class). We benefited from no inter generational wealth transfer. In fact, the wealth transfer has been reverse.

And you will end up transferring a ton of wealth to your kids.

So? I have earned it.

No one "earns" becoming a 1%er. If earn had anything to do with it the vast majority would be 1%ers and that mathematically just isn't possible.

I could SAH and we'd be top 20 percenters. But because we both work, we're close to the top 1%. How is that not earned?

We can only answer if you tell us where you income is coming from. Only from salaries? From investments? From business partnership/ownership? Inheritance? Property appreciation? Patent/Book/Music/etc royalties? ....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, most of the 1%ers I know earned their money. Only a couple inherited or are set to inherit.

All depends on how you define earned. For most earned means being paid for you time. You work 8 hours you get paid for 8 hours. The only way you can become a 1%er is to be getting a whole bunch of money when your doing nothing.

Let's take a book for example. You decide to write a book and you spend 8 hours a day for 3 months writing the book. That's roughly 720 hours of work. The publisher takes the book, markets it, and it sells 1 million copies. You get a royalty check for 5 million dollars. So you basically "earned" $5,000,000 / 720 = $6,944.44 an hour to write the book. Now if you hired someone to work for you would you pay then $6,944.44 an hour?

Or another more drastic example, the lottery. You take 15 minutes of your time and go by a lottery ticket with numbers you laboriously pick. That night they draw the number and you win $250,000,000. Did you "earn" that money?

Getting money is one thing, earning it is another. There not the same thing.

I earned my money by working 60 to 100 hours a week for years.

How much were you being paid per hour?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Married well can also mean marrying someone with the drive to succeed, or marrying someone kind and loving. Your narrow mindedness is showing, as is your petty jealousy.

By your definition, I too married well. Tsk, tsk, you are bit testy and overly sensitive. Nobody is jealous of an anonymous poster on DCUM who may or may not be embellishing their assets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and doctors are most definitely among the 1% from their "efforts"--not all but certainly plenty that I know--highly specialized, highly educated, working machines.

That and the ability to pay for college and graduate school.

Lawyers are the problem.

Jealous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and doctors are most definitely among the 1% from their "efforts"--not all but certainly plenty that I know--highly specialized, highly educated, working machines.

With regard to the fictional author, those royalties are a product of his or her labor.

Lawyers and Dr.s tend to have a lot of student debt, too, which would bring down their net worth, which is what we are talking about.

Worse, they tend to want to spend it once they have it, instead of living modestly to build up their net worth. See The Millionaire Next Door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and doctors are most definitely among the 1% from their "efforts"--not all but certainly plenty that I know--highly specialized, highly educated, working machines.

They will never break into the top 1% without becoming partners or establishing their own practice. And once they do, again your back to the case where there pulling in tons of money due to other people's efforts rather than their own. And that's when they also start pocketing percentages of individual and large class action lawsuits. They will never break into the 1% from their personal hourly salaries alone.

That's bs. I'm a lawyer who's never been a partner in a law firm but I made it into the 1% by net worth by being a saver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am white and I got nothing from my parents and grew up with a single (divorced) mom. The only reason I have a nice lifestyle now, despite going to college (loans), is because I married well.

Ummm...you realize that the bolded part undercuts the first part? You may have not had inter-generational wealth but you married someone who did. And that relative wealth will pass to your children. That's one of the points of the article.

Right, however the person I married is a 1st generation immigrant that came from nothing. He isn't black but he still was highly disadvantaged and did well for himself.

I am a 1%er who is the first generation to go to college (lower class) married to a first generation to go to college (lower middle class). We benefited from no inter generational wealth transfer. In fact, the wealth transfer has been reverse.

And you will end up transferring a ton of wealth to your kids.

So? I have earned it.

No one "earns" becoming a 1%er. If earn had anything to do with it the vast majority would be 1%ers and that mathematically just isn't possible.

I could SAH and we'd be top 20 percenters. But because we both work, we're close to the top 1%. How is that not earned?

Salaries and investments made from savings from those salaries.
We can only answer if you tell us where you income is coming from. Only from salaries? From investments? From business partnership/ownership? Inheritance? Property appreciation? Patent/Book/Music/etc royalties? ....