Percentage Of Americans With Stock Hits Eleven-Year Low, Gallup Says

A smaller percentage of Americans now have a stake in the stock market than at any point since May 2000, Gallup announced on Thursday.

The research polling center, which has been monitoring stock ownership since 1999, reported that only 54 percent of Americans said they own "individual stock, a stock mutual fund or in a self-directed 401(k) or IRA." The percentage invested has steadily declined from 65 percent in 2007, when the financial crisis first brought the U.S. economy to its knees.

That general drop in stock market investment correlates closely with Gallup's additional finding that Americans now trust stocks much less than real estate as a long-term investment, despite currently surging stock prices and the total collapse of the housing industry. Of Americans polled, 33 percent believe real estate to be "the best long-term investment," while 24 percent chose savings accounts, 24 percent chose stocks or mutual funds and 12 percent chose bonds.

After stumbling last year, the percentage of Americans that place investment faith in real estate has climbed back to the level it held two years ago. Faith in saving accounts, in comparison, has dwindled to 24 percent from 34 percent over the same two-year period, perhaps due to inflationary concerns over rising food and gas prices.

Who does play the stock market has become intensely stratified, too, as 87 percent of Americans making over $75,000 own stocks. Republicans, men and postgraduates are also much more likely to hold stocks or mutual funds than Democrats, women and less-educated people, respectively.

Since Gallup first started tracking stock market stakes, the highest point was reached between June 28-30, 2002, when 67 percent of those polled reported have a stock market investment.

Comments

[Livid]

11:32 AM on 04/23/2011

Wall Street is a zero-sum suckers game.

As the saying goes, only the innocent will be harmed.

[nothingchanges]

11:08 AM on 04/23/2011

Maybe the individual investor is smarter than Wall Street gives them credit for.

When they discover the game is rigged, the smart ones stop playing.

[irochfpst]

08:32 PM on 04/22/2011

just another ponzi scheme for the rich. please invest and leave your money there for a lifetime while we skim off the top with no guarantee of the money being there when you retire.

[teabagflush]

07:47 AM on 04/23/2011

You obviously know nothing about investing and I'm not faulting you for that, but YOU ARE on the right track. Let me state two simple facts that get individual investors in trouble.
1. Management Fees are excessively high.
2. Mutual Funds and Annuities report their investment returns BEFORE EXPENSES in their sales promotions, therefore masking the fact that real returns are not what they say.
Yes, quite a tricky scheme for rich money managers.
If you examine these two items when looking to invest you will do somewhat better than the herd. Also, avoid taking on too much risk: if it sounds too good too be true, that's because it is!

[hairydodger]

06:00 PM on 04/22/2011

I got out two years ago when I felt that I knew, by the numbers, that a stock would rise. I was wrong so many times that I came to the realization that the shorts were manipulating the market and I couldn't actually do good research and have it work as it should. Oil at $112 at the moment should indicate the reality of market manipulation.

[LindaWarnke]

05:51 PM on 04/22/2011

The article is a bit misleading. Yes, I'm sure the number of Americans directly invested in particular stocks has gone down, but most still have at least some of their finances 'in the market', whether they are aware of it or not.
Annuities, pensions, settlements, bank accounts, whatever...if you have cash "somewhere", meaning you are NOT CURRENTLY HOLDING IT IN YOUR HAND, chances are it is, at some point, invested by the entity who is.
So you can't escape being affected, unless you put all your money into like, gold or something, and bury it in the backyard.

[Carl Caroli]

05:34 PM on 04/22/2011

Owning stock is not for the little people anymore. It's like playing musical chairs, except you're the only one that doesn't know when the music will stop. Without millions invested and friends in high places, the average investor will get nothing but screwed.

[George Hanshaw]

11:02 PM on 04/22/2011

Actually, most people would do well to do their stock market investing through a broadly diversified index fund - like Vanguard Index 500.

With inflation returning, it's a reasonable conservative investment. If IT tanks, your only hope is to have your money invested in guns, ammo, and freeze-dried food, cause that's how bad it will be.

[Miss Muffett]

02:10 PM on 04/22/2011

Good! Keep your money off the markets! These guys obviously have no one's best interest in mind but their own and it's not just risky to invest your retirement in stock, its dumb. I'd be most likely to recommend a high-yield savings account and a few cumulative interest annuities. At least you'll know you'll actually have retirement money that way. Life insurance has started to become a more viable investment vehicle for the Middle Class these days as well and also serves as a small tax haven. Dont waste your retirement letting Wall St gamble with your money - they might not win their bet and then you'll be eating cat food for the rest of your life.

[darkmark]

03:34 PM on 04/22/2011

each of those vehicles will come out a lose at the end of the year. i agree with the difficulty of finding places to invest so money isn't lost to inflation and taxes. if inflation is 3% and taxes for the average investor is 20% then what gives a profit at the end of the year. surely not a savings account or insurance.

[Miss Muffett]

03:49 PM on 04/22/2011

All of the investment options I discussed are meant to be long-term investment options for retirement, not something that gives out a yearly dividend. We're investing, not trying to make income. Life insurance is actually a fantastic investment vehicle as your investment to return ratio is extremely high. Compounding annuities are a bit complex as you are correct in adjusting for inflation. There is a formula that aids in calculating the "time-value" of money and in that formula, your rate of return must exceed the projected rate of inflation over the terms of the annuity. Additionally, any investor should be aware that all of the options I mentioned do have early withdrawl penalties so these kinds of measures should only be taken with the realization that you do not have access to these funds free and clear until your terms have expired. A high yield savings account is simply for accessible investment but ideally, would certainly not be your primary source for investment, more like a rainy day fund that actually accrues a reasonable interest rate.

[bluepond]

10:51 AM on 04/22/2011

Investment tip: tar and feathers, rails, pitchforks and torches. Yarn.

[Miss Muffett]

02:11 PM on 04/22/2011

Check!

[dinglebe]

10:22 AM on 04/22/2011

We've often looked at the American middle class as having two tiers - lower and upper. The lower middle class, as it's been constituted for the past 60 years, is gone. Instead of decently-paying industrial jobs, these folks are unemployed or working at poverty level wages. That group had worked its way into the stock market but has had to cash out to survive. But the lower tier won't be empty long, because the majority of the upper middle class is making its way down to that level with falling home values and diminishing investment profiles.

[guveqzero]

10:12 AM on 04/22/2011

They are scams. The real money is in derivatives and reselling junk assets to rich investors.

[thaneb]

09:27 AM on 04/22/2011

This blurb wrongly equates owning stocks with "playing the stock market" IMO. Holding equities (even as things seem to go bad) as part of a long-term financial plan is something all who can should consider as part of a diversified portfolio. {Not a financial expert: Seek your own advice on this}. Historically, this strategy has provided growth with relative safety.
"Playing the stock market" has historically referred to short-term trading. This is something only for experts, some not so ethical, and is potentially very risky for most investors.

[larmar]

08:46 AM on 04/22/2011

Of course people are leaving the "Sock" Market it's rigged.

http://open.salon.com/blog/dean_petkanas/2010/05/07/hey_k_you_ever_flashy-thing_me

[ken derow]

07:12 AM on 04/22/2011

Not holding stocks is a great mistake for those planning for a long-retirement, but, the greatest mistake is that most of those preparing for retirement do not prepare properly. And, what is the proper approach, simply, it is to have a long-run investment plan that you believe in, and stick with it, with all the tenacity that you have. I did this over 25 years ago with the aid and encouragement of the Vanguard Group of mutual funds, and, this strategy, that I have never veered from has served me extremely well.

In brief, Vanguard's advice was then, and continues to be now, to invest long-run in a mix of low-cost index mutual funds that track broad market indices, and simply rebalance your investment portolio about once per year. The facts are, that fewer than 20% of actively managed mutual funds actually surpass the returns of index funds over the long-run (e.g. over a 10-20 year period). Pick an investment plan, stick-to-it, "stay-the-course", you will not be sorry.

[larmar]

08:47 AM on 04/22/2011

Vanguard charged $25 a month in fees and we dumped them like yesterday's leftovers.

[George Hanshaw]

11:54 PM on 04/22/2011

You must have pissed them off. They've never charged me that.

[delta7777]

02:59 AM on 04/22/2011

.
"A smaller percentage of Americans now have a stake in the stock market than at any point since May 2000,"

Main Street is recognizing the stock market for the
Ponzi Scheme Casino run by the Megabanks and Hedge Funds that it is.

It is an epiphany that is difficult to accept.
.

[Steve Rockett]

12:49 AM on 04/22/2011

People who make money in the market do exactly the opposite of what the masses are doing, but they must do their own research.