After five tough years, the nation’s wealth has finally pushed above the former pre-recession peak. Household net worth in 2013 has topped $70 trillion for the first time, exceeding the old 2007 mark by more than $2 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported last month.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the gains haven’t been shared by everyone, with the rich-poor divide widening. One study, by the Pew Research Center, estimates that the 7 percent of most-affluent households saw a 28 percent jump in wealth from 2009 to 2011, while everyone else got 4 percent poorer.
Why are affluent households doing better than the nation overall? Many factors are at play. In part, it’s a result of higher salaries and income generally. But there might also be attitudinal differences, including the ways wealthy people deal with risk and how they approach investing.
Read more...Investing attitudes help rich get richer
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