Reply #19: 52.7 Million Investment Households....

[KharmaTrain]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_percentage_of_Americans_own_stock

The Mutual Fund Industry group - Investment Company Institute - has a lot of data on this subject. Its 2002 study, http://www.ici.org/pdf/rpt_02_equity_owners.pdf showed that 49.5% (or 52.7 million) of US Households owned equities in some way shape or form in 2002. However, only 21 million (less than 20%) owned individual stocks outside an employee sponsored plan.

There is an important distinction here. When politicians talk about eliminating the capital gains tax, it is only these 21 million households who will pay lower taxes, because retirement investments are tax deferred while you hold them, and then taxed at regular income tax rates when you take the money out.

Other sites I googled showed an even higher number. I didn't say that people live solely on their investments (a pipe dream for all but that upper 10%), but many retirees do live on a combination of SSI and their investments. Yes, without those investments they'd still have the SSI but live at a substantially lower standard and probably require additional assistance. Social Security has always been a suplement...not a full paid retirement fund...an incentive for people to save and invest and not rely totally on the government.

So even by your own numbers above, it's more than 10% who rely on the markets, not just an exclusive number like you're trying to portray. Methinks you're the one who needs to get out and meet the real world...

Cheers...