Where's the Money for the 99%?

When you look to make an impact financially - you go where the money is.

Willie Sutton was famously asked 'Why do you rob banks?'

Then where do you make a financial impact?

• The 99%, have 85.4% of their wealth percentile in real estate.

• The 99% hold 95.3% of all debt.

Most wealth is held in Pensions, Real Estate, Stocks and Mutual Funds. The 1% have little wealth in pensions and real estate, and most of their wealth is in investments. The 99% have the most wealth as a percentile in pension account, followed by real estate.

The pension accounts work because companies create investment program that work automatically. Real estate is very similar, if you can get someone to buy a house, they will be forced to pay down that debt and build equity and the house is very likely to appreciate. Over time, with leverage, real estate has consistently been the top wealth creator for the 99%.

This of course just assumes you go on automatic and do two things: 1) take advantage of any company sponsored retirement plan with matching, and 2) buy a house when it makes financial sense for you. As you'll notice, the 99% have 95.3% of all debt. The 1% tend to use debt to make money, not to afford a lifestyle. They invest early and often in stocks and mutual funds and through compounding that becomes the primary 53.5% location of their wealth.

TIP. Learning how to maximize wealth creation over time - by simply understanding the basics of money dynamics and how small decisions compound just like interest, is the key to mastering our own fulfillment with money. Being in the 1% isn't the goal, it's playing your own game and playing it well.

Jonatan Mårtensson put it:

“Success is not a big step in the future, success is a small step taken right now”