Majority Of One Percenters Don't Know They're Part Of The One Percent

Think you're part of the 99 percent? You may be wrong.

Half of the top one percent of earners, don't think they're part of that category, a new survey from wealth marketing firm, HNW Inc., finds. The survey, which polled 100 people making more than $350,000 per year, also found that two-thirds of the respondents don't sympathize with the occupy movement.

That could be because many of the survey respondents' views are at odds with those of the protesters. Nearly 45 percent of respondents said they think they pay too much in taxes and only 37 percent think the wealthy should pay more in taxes. Still, more than half of respondents said they think the financial industry needs more regulation.

Two-thirds of those surveyed also said they believe Occupy Wall Street is a "flash in the pan" -- an assessment the protesters are attempting to defy even after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered police to clear Zuccotti Park of protesters and their belongings early Thursday morning. The majority of New Yorkers believe the protesters should be allowed to stay in the park, according to a Siena College poll released Tuesday.

Still, some one-percenters are throwing their weight behind the 99 percent movement. Fifty seven members of Congress fall into the top 1 percent of earners, according to a USA Today analysis, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has said she supports the Occupy movement. In addition, celebrity one-percenters such as filmmaker Michael Moore, actor Alec Baldwin and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons have also publicly backed the protests.

Though nearly two-thirds of the survey respondents said they believe there is a wealth gap in the U.S. -- one of the many rallying cries of the movement -- only 25 percent see it as a problem. That could be because it's the rich that have been the primary beneficiaries. The one percent saw their incomes rise 275 percent between 1979 and 2007, according to the Congressional Budget Office, while Americans in the bottom fifth of earners saw an income boost of only 20 percent.

Even if all of the one percent realize they're rich, their kids probably won't find out. One-third of parents worth $20 million or more discussed their wealth with their children, according to a survey released earlier this month.

 

 

Comments

[Noble9]

11:23 AM on 11/29/2011

I asked my boss for a pay cut from $350k/year down to $349k so I can be part of the 99%.

[Donald Kinge]

06:57 PM on 11/28/2011

One good stat that should be up here is that the richest 400 Americans have more wealth than the bottom 156 million Americans. Income gap indeed.

[danny saunders]

04:10 PM on 11/28/2011

Where can I find a generous, single and ignorant male in the top 1% who wants me to help him discover his wealth?

[xanadu4024]

01:05 PM on 11/28/2011

You know its strange, I have worked all my lie since getting out of school,,including tech school. I DONT make large sums of money but honestly, if I had some information like I have now about debt and credit and such I would be much better off. I came out of school not knowing what it was to get a loan or pay a payment as such,,,but I learned, AND it took me almost 4 yrs to get to a point where I UNDERSTAND money. Most people would think $25k to $30k is small paycheck but for me its pretty good and properly managed it can be a fortune. My mom never made more that $10k a year, yet her house stayed paid for(part of divorce) wasnt worth much and had issues but she still sold it for profit. She is amazed at my lack of understanding at how much I make, but I do. And still I struggle, but every time I make a mistake I learn too bad the OWS idiots dont.

[logan sandoval]

03:33 PM on 11/28/2011

how sad for you. your life sounds awful.

[xanadu4024]

06:09 PM on 11/28/2011

SAD? How so? I paid my home in 10 yrs, I have a car to drive, two project cars,my car trailer, my truck, my motorcycle, flatscreen tv, home theater system, laptop, computer, desktop computer and over $50k in tools( am a Master Certified Technician in southern Indiana), I owe less than $20k total to be out of debt. And you feel sorry for me. Heck I am blessed to be in an areas where it doesnt cost me a $1000 a month to live.
And being between jobs I still have cash in bank so far, and prospects for work so I am ok,,,heck I am even thinking of starting MY OWN shop. So why feel sorry for me?

[lalalexm]

12:57 PM on 11/28/2011

Oh boo-hoo-hoo. Nobody appreciates you

[jjjames]

09:22 AM on 11/27/2011

I give up -- just can't watch the videos anymore with all the constantly repeated commercials. It's just not worth it.

[Bodie1]

05:15 PM on 11/26/2011

Net worth is the more reliable figure.

[liarfire]

01:50 AM on 11/25/2011

People keep arguing what makes the 1 percent when THAT IS NOT THE POINT!
The disparity is due to corruption..the corporate trickle down mindset of RIPPING PEOPLE OFF..
And the government COLLUSION with big finance that did the RIPPING OFF...
Argue the figures all you want the 99 percent is SYMBOLISM....
This is about the disparity that has more to do with political CORRUPTION....corporate greed....Media BIAS supporting the well connected and powerful that are running things.
And the fact that they don't give a rats patudi what happens to the rest of us..IS THE POINT

[Rawmodel]

02:57 PM on 11/23/2011

All the 1% have to do is focus on turning this Earth into a paradise planet...creating a world full of food forests and free education. Heaven on Earth for all. Yet...separation. We are getting closer. Money isnt the issue...its what we do with it.

[DatingA1Percntr]

12:29 PM on 11/23/2011

Bottom line, people aren't happy with their circumstance and for the most part that is in their control- to change their life, job, whatever it may be that is putting them down. Obviously, there needs to be change- jobs need to be created, student loan policies need to change, foreclosures happen and need to be regulated so as to not take advantage of the process (whether the debtor or bank) and the greed that inspires wall street needs to be curbed because self-regulation just does not work! But enough with the protest, think of a positive solution!! Occupying and physical presence is great, but at the end of the day, what is it that matters?! And how are you actively changing things for the better?

[lmo913]

12:53 PM on 11/24/2011

They are protesting for the changes that you acknowledge need to occur. Those are rooted in policy. We don't have direct democracy. We have representative democracy. We need to speak to the people with the power to make such changes. We need to be heard. That hasn't been happening. That is how these protests move towards changing things toward the better.

If you think protesting doesn't work, history suggests otherwise. YOu could have said the same thing about the Civil Rights Movement or the Vietnam Protests.

[Donald Kinge]

06:54 PM on 11/28/2011

Amen - the people protesting aren't the ones that influence these policy decisions. They are doing what they can to try to get their message across. Protesting is one of the few tools they have to try to change the direction of this country - something that everyone can agree on.

[Hannah Bernstein]

06:38 PM on 11/19/2011

I had to tell my parents they were part of the one percent. Some kids aren't so ignorant about finance. I'm proud of them, though. They promptly went down to Occupy LA and donated a bunch of items on their list of requests.

[hattrick752]

01:01 AM on 11/24/2011

faved...

[Altario]

07:12 AM on 11/18/2011

"Upwards of 25% of people are in the 1%" You guys are just nuts.

[Donald Kinge]

06:55 PM on 11/28/2011

Didn't they say that 25% don't see the income gap as a problem?

[WildWill98]

09:10 PM on 11/17/2011

OK, the first kid. If you want to be appreciated for something useful, LEARN something useful!!!!

[liarfire]

02:07 AM on 11/25/2011

Kids are coming out of collage with degrees in hand full of knowledge and cant find a job with loan dept already hanging over their heads.....fix the system....then repeat your post....

[Donald Kinge]

06:55 PM on 11/28/2011

Thank you!

[PoliticiansRspineless]

06:13 PM on 11/17/2011

350K is not a 1%

[liarfire]

02:08 AM on 11/25/2011

to the majority that make under far under it it seems like it...but i get your point...the ultra rich are the real problem becasue they are manipulating the system to benefit themselves

[sindurrella]

05:30 PM on 11/17/2011

Seems no one can conclusively state what constitutes the 1%. These figures $350,000/year figures being bandied about are from 2009 and the gap has widened since then.
A recent CNN article said one study – from G. William Domhoff, a sociology professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz – pegged the top rung at $1.3 million a year.". There’s a difference between income – how much one makes in salary as well as dividends, interest and rents or other payments from real estate – and wealth, which is defined in “marketable assets,” such as real estate, stocks and bonds, as well as what you’ve squirreled away from your income. Your house is wealth, your car is not; your shares of Apple are wealth, your personal computer is not.
In fact, according to Domhoff, most really rich people – the 1 percent of the 1 percenters – only get 19 percent of their income from working. The rest comes from investment income.