More than half of all private wealth has been inherited in most of Europe

Re:More than half of all private wealth has been inherited i... by Broken_Hippo on Monday December 18, 2017 @06:37AM (#15950957)

15% of those are in poverty. This doesn't let you save up money. One in two americans are low income. [1]. I'd not call these number exact, but close enough. Much of the group you describe only suck at saving because their income sucks. $50-$100 extra a month doesn't make it easy to save up $500 for an emergency. Literally months. Months with nothing happening. Not a flat tire, not a doctor's appointment. Nothing breaking.

This doesn't explain everyone in your category, though, so a portion suck at saving.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/12/16/well-of-...

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Re:More than half of all private wealth has been inherited i... by kiliantics on Monday December 18, 2017 @11:45AM (#15952948)

There's a great reddit comment that explains this in a relatable way. It's very expensive to be poor:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueReddit/comments/1v4t18/it_is_ex...

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Re:More than half of all private wealth has been inherited i... by closeparen on Monday December 18, 2017 @11:48AM (#15952979)

As the linked article points out, we have defined terms like “poverty” and “low income” relatively, so telling us the percentage of people they cover doesn’t convey any information.

The 57% figure is much more illustrative, in large part because it conveys an absolute capability which people can lose or acquire.

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Re:More than half of all private wealth has been inherited i... by murph-almighty on Monday December 18, 2017 @10:10AM (#15952116)

15 percentage points, or 15 percent of the 57%?

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Re:More than half of all private wealth has been inherited i... by Broken_Hippo on Monday December 18, 2017 @11:16AM (#15952653)

The first. The percentage would be higher if taken from the 57%.

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