Rising riches: One in five in U.S. reaches affluence
The Columbian
Published: December 9, 2013, 4:00pm
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James Lott stands Nov. 21 outside the Wal-Mart store where he works as a pharmacist in Bonney Lake. Lott, who lives in Renton, a suburb of Seattle, adds significantly to his six-figure job salary by day-trading stocks. It's not just the wealthiest 1 percent: Fully 20 percent of U.S. adults become rich for parts of their lives, wielding outsized influence on America's economy and politics. And this little-known group may pose the biggest barrier to reducing the nation's income inequality. While the growing numbers of the U.S. poor have been well documented, survey data provided exclusively to The Associated Press detail the flip side of the record income gap: the rise of the "new rich."Photo Gallery
WASHINGTON — Fully 20 percent of U.S. adults become rich for parts of their lives, wielding extensive influence over America’s economy and politics, according to new survey data.
These “new rich,” made up largely of older professionals, working married couples and more educated singles, are becoming politically influential, and economists say their capacity to spend is key to the U.S.
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