Bit strange when you can't even enter savings/wealth, equity to calculate wealth. Income has very little bearing on how rich someone else if their cost basis is out of whack.
Well you did fairly well up to that point. There purchsing power is not net lower. It is net higher. They only pay higher taxes on their last dollars earned. They are still way ahead! You remind of a guy who complains about paying a million bucks last year on income tax. I wish we could all be so "unlucky."
That completely ignores alpha generation. If someone can generate uncorrelated alpha then over the long term you will most likely beat the index even by generating 6 percent per annum. Most fund managers, however, don't generate uncorrelated alpha. Heck, most hedge funds don't even manage to do that. They take large, concentrated bets fully aligned with the market. And most hedge funds suffer badly when equities trend down. Your suggestion of bespoke index replication is rather oversimplified. If that held true then most fund managers would do so. They don't because they can't beat the index that way. Peter Lynch held many dozens of positions and invested a lot in stocks that did not make up the top 10 positions of any index, capitalization wise. Most guys here and anywhere can't even end a single year in the green. What you suggest is not realistic for most. Still the best way to grow equity in stock markets is to buy an index tracking fund. Period.
Not true for most. It starts biting most families. And mortgage rates have not even meaningfully ticked up yet. If mortgage rates quote 4 or 5 percent then let's talk again. Unless the supply crunch abides soon and China again manufactures and delivers on time prices will only tick up more. This is highly questionable in the current geopolitical realm.
It's theft to those living on fixed income it is manna from heaven to those who are heavily in debt at fixed rates whose income keeps pace with inflation.
I'm now a resident of The Sunshine State. No more Wisconsin income tax, high property taxes and heating bills. I've also cut the cord, no more cable bill. I bought a Superbox. A big increase in income.
agree. Was more to point out how much have compared to the rest of the world. There is a calculator I'm sure for wealth and it would probably blow you away on how we fair out.