But only 52 percent of Americans have money in the stock market, matching the lowest rate in 19 years, according to a Gallup Poll from April. In 2007, according to that same poll, 65 percent reported investing in the market. Based on those Gallup numbers, many Americans lost faith in the market at exactly the wrong time — just as it was staging a powerful comeback.
Looking at the number of Americans who own stock does not tell the whole story. To get the complete picture, it is necessary to determine how stock assets are distributed overall.
I used the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances to calculate the distribution of equity assets broken down by equity deciles.
The top 10% hold 86.8% of all the equity. The next 10% owns 9.5% of all the equity. The rest own little to none of the equity.
