If you have wealth, every single thing in the American economy is working great for you right now.
And if you don’t, well...
Here’s something I’ve learned covering the markets for the last couple decades: Capitalism is a lot more fun if you have some capital.
That’s especially true right now. To a remarkable degree, if you have some kind of wealth — stocks, bonds, savings, a house, a rental property — your financial stars are favorably aligned.
Surging home prices have left home owners sitting on remarkably high levels of home equity, which, while illiquid, is the single largest source of wealth for most American families.
High interest rates — while painful for borrowers — are just peachy for those with cash they can park for a while, earning upwards of 5% per annum, while taking virtually no risk. Interest income is hovering near the highest level on record.
And of course, the stock market has knocked the cover off the ball over the last couple years. The S&P 500 rose 24% last year and is up 15% in 2024. Some 61% of US households said they owned stocks in 2023, according to Gallup, the most since 2008.
These stylized facts should always be accompanied by several giant, red, blinking asterisks. For one thing, we know that the majority of the country’s wealth belongs to the wealthiest sliver of the population. Of household holdings of stock and mutual funds, for example, 93% of it belongs to the wealthiest top 10% of households, the highest share on record. Housing wealth on the other hand is divided far more democratically across the population.
But perhaps the biggest thing to keep in mind, with regards to the data presented above is the definition of “household” used by the Federal Reserve. It oddly includes US hedge funds, private equity funds, and personal trusts under the “household” rubric, which likely means even more of this rising pile of wealth than first appears belongs to the richest among us.
