Seeking hard stats on how much of the wealthy population is genuinely rich (owns outright solid assets, stocks, cash, gold, real estate) as opposed to living rich (owns much of above but with borrowed money). I'm curious as to how many people living on, say, Fifth Avenue or in Atherton or Greenwich can actually afford it and how many are simply spinning plates on borrowed time, borrowed money, and a (for now) high income. (Time will tell, of course, and perhaps sooner rather than later, but I'm curious now.) Many thanks.
posted by IndigoJones on Apr 25, 2008 - 18 answers

My mother-in-law is under the impression that my wife and I are far wealthier than we actually are, and it's threatening to drive a wedge between us and the rest of her family. Help! [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Dec 17, 2007 - 66 answers

Why is wealth skewed towards "colder" countries? [more inside]
posted by jacobean on Oct 26, 2006 - 38 answers

After reading hundreds of blogs (Why, oh why?), I’ve come to the conclusion that a big number of the people who write about their own financial situation, explicitly or indirectly tell of how broke they are; Like Jim Anchower, many describe low wages and bad jobs, job losses and unemployment, crashing bills, life in apartments with roommates who don’t care and having a hard time paying rents & bills, etc. I understand that the real median household income in 2003 was $43,318 (US), and I know that times are hard for most people. Still, is the average blogger poorer than the average person?
posted by growabrain on Jan 12, 2005 - 18 answers