<story><title>Americans Now Need at Least $500k a Year to Enter Top 1%</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-16/americans-now-need-at-least-500-000-a-year-to-enter-the-top-1</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aphextron</author><text>&amp;gt;In coastal cities, a two income household making 250k each is not absurd, and can certainly happen with two doctors, lawyers, or even software developers.&lt;p&gt;This is why the 99% stuff misses the mark. That 1% is the best of us; our doctors, lawyers, successful small business owners, etc. People who drive the economy and create outsized value through specialized labor that is rightfully compensated. The true problem in our society is the 0.01%. There is a tiny portion of these that are the Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerbergs who are self made. But the vast majority of them are the intergenerational wealth holders whose fortunes have simply continued to compound and provide them with an unnatural amount of power influence that is completely undeserved. It&amp;#x27;s why a wealth tax is so neccessary in this country, and if properly implemented could completely absolve the need for income tax.</text></item><item><author>arcanus</author><text>Not to quibble, but this is household income, not necessarily a single individual&amp;#x27;s income.&lt;p&gt;In coastal cities, a two income household making 250k each is not absurd, and can certainly happen with two doctors, lawyers, or even software developers.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;d much rather see metrics normalized by the local household income, which would be much more representative of relative inequality.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>elsewhen</author><text>In 2018 67% of the Forbes 400 were self made&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.forbes.com&amp;#x2F;sites&amp;#x2F;luisakroll&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;the-forbes-400-self-made-score-from-silver-spooners-to-bootstrappers&amp;#x2F;#56321176cd90&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.forbes.com&amp;#x2F;sites&amp;#x2F;luisakroll&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;the-forbe...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Americans Now Need at Least $500k a Year to Enter Top 1%</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-16/americans-now-need-at-least-500-000-a-year-to-enter-the-top-1</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aphextron</author><text>&amp;gt;In coastal cities, a two income household making 250k each is not absurd, and can certainly happen with two doctors, lawyers, or even software developers.&lt;p&gt;This is why the 99% stuff misses the mark. That 1% is the best of us; our doctors, lawyers, successful small business owners, etc. People who drive the economy and create outsized value through specialized labor that is rightfully compensated. The true problem in our society is the 0.01%. There is a tiny portion of these that are the Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerbergs who are self made. But the vast majority of them are the intergenerational wealth holders whose fortunes have simply continued to compound and provide them with an unnatural amount of power influence that is completely undeserved. It&amp;#x27;s why a wealth tax is so neccessary in this country, and if properly implemented could completely absolve the need for income tax.</text></item><item><author>arcanus</author><text>Not to quibble, but this is household income, not necessarily a single individual&amp;#x27;s income.&lt;p&gt;In coastal cities, a two income household making 250k each is not absurd, and can certainly happen with two doctors, lawyers, or even software developers.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;d much rather see metrics normalized by the local household income, which would be much more representative of relative inequality.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>xyzzyz</author><text>How many of the 0.01% inherited their wealth, and how many have made it? Do you have any sources for that? Most people on Fortune 500 list, for example, didn&amp;#x27;t inherit any significant part of their wealth.</text></comment>