Millionaires continue to climb in the US as more people go out of work

by Jeremy Schoemaker on July 28, 2011 · 59 comments

Some people doubt my stance on how politicians always cater to the wealthy.

Sure they tell a good story how they will help the poor but eventually the rich always win.

Consider this.

Last week another report came out showing the number of millionaires in the United States grew by almost 10% in 2010.

Meanwhile unemployment soared by an increase of 25% over 2009.

But not just Millionaires are growing at a high rate. People with a net worth of over 5 million grew by 8% in 2010

From a Forbes article:

The number of ultra-high-net-worth households, which is defined as those with over $5 million in investable assets, also increased 8% to 1,100,000 in 2010. According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, household wealth was $56.8 trillion at the end of 2010 with millionaires controlling about 56% of U.S. wealth, according to a survey by Fidelity Investments.

The United States is quickly going the way of Mexico and many other countries with extreme class separation. Take a look around you. The middle class is dying. There is only going to be poor or rich.

Millionaires

Picture from CNN

Which side are you going to be on?

Fortunately with the internet anyone of any class can achieve financial success. And with zero investment. All the information is out there. It just takes patience and determination.

The social proof is everywhere. There are countless stories of rags to riches.

There will never be a more level playing field for people to change their financial stars. But buying an ebook or an info product wont do it magically for you.

With all this government intervention and taxes coming around the “gold rush” on the internet is coming to an end.

Sources:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/05/pf/millionaire_rise/index.htm

About the author...

– who has written 2424 posts on ShoeMoney.com.

Hi I am Jeremy Schoemaker and ShoeMoney.com is my blog. 99% of the post here are done by me but you will see others occasionally make guest posts. This blog is fun to write but for my day job I run several online companies.

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{ 58 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Jesse July 1, 2011 at 11:18 am

I would also assume that if you were to check the stats on the gap between “smart” and “stupid” that the numbers would be equally alarming. Poverty can be overcome by anyone with the mental fortitude, will power and determination to put in the work needed to see the rewards.

I see no reason for anyone to be poor and living on the streets in this country unless they either want to live there, lack the education/intelligence to obtain an income in some form or they are disabled in some way that affects their ability to personally better their lives.

Failure is often times the “easy way out” for those that lack motivation, it’s easier to sit on their ass bitching about how bad they have it and how the whole world has failed them than it is to get up before noon, take a shower, get a hair cut and look for a job.

Life is what you make it, failing to plan or failing to follow through on a plan for ones own success is the same as planning to fail, might as well never even start if you only put out 5%.

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2 Perry August 3, 2011 at 8:05 am

You discount the luck factor. Not everyone in the country can be rich.

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3 Jeremy Schoemaker August 3, 2011 at 11:44 am

you make your own luck

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4 Perry August 9, 2011 at 6:50 am

If only we had such power. I agree that people can do things to improve their chances of getting lucky. But the major things that affect your life are the result of luck out of your control. People getting hit by natural disasters, meeting their life partner, becoming friends with that person who gets them the perfect job, working for a successful company, etc. These are all just luck. A good book on the subject. “Fooled by Randomness” is worth reading.

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5 Mara July 16, 2011 at 12:57 am

Survey conducted by Fidelity Investments found that there are now only rich and poor people in US. Middle class is not seen. Any body who is using the internet can make money without any investment.

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6 TrafficColeman July 28, 2011 at 11:01 am

Even the middle class is one or two pay check away from being in the poor house..the times are getting crazy.

“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”

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7 Deangelo July 16, 2011 at 11:00 pm

And people thought obama was different…

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8 uspiggybank July 28, 2011 at 4:22 pm

He is different cause he doesn’t hide what he does in politics and where he get his funding and contributions, or where he stands ( leans more towards helping the poor vs the rich).
One man cannot undo what took years of politicians and big business screwing up.
Everyone looks to blame Obama when their life is in shambles…
Americans still haven’t figured out how to fix the Money problems… Politicians know HOW to fix it, but by fixing it the rich may not be rich anymore so big business will not profit from it and may fall.
The federal reserve needs to be audited and the govt needs o print the money. The govt currently borrows money and continue to stay in debt, while we wait for Obama to fix this…. The thing is no one will touch this with a 90000000 ft pole. it’s called a “3rd rail”- your career in politics will be over by “fixing” the govt.
Obama needed to change how we had the entire world hating and ready to kill and American on site. i think he is helping with our arrogant snobby image lol

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9 AJWalton July 31, 2011 at 11:51 pm

Yeah, like anyone could have fixed the mess the Bush administration created.

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10 Noe July 17, 2011 at 8:16 pm

Unemployment is like a headache or a high temperature – unpleasant and exhausting but not carrying in itself any explanation of its cause.We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work.

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11 Zechariah July 17, 2011 at 8:25 pm

I agree to an extent. it seems most people struggle to get by, while others have it easy. although it is possible for people without a lot of money to be successful in this day and age if done right.

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12 Adam Baird July 28, 2011 at 11:03 am

The lack of middle class has very little to do with goverment/politics/economics/etc. It has everything to do with the fact that we expect everything to be given to us.

People need to stop bitching about government/politicians/unemployment and whatever other lame excuses they wanna throw out.

Take some personal responsibility for your situation. If you don’t like it, fix it. Its really not complicated.

Also, the definition of poor in this country is seriously messed up. The next time I see someone in Walmart buying groceries with food stamps while browsing the web on an iPhone I am gonna puke.

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13 Rashad July 17, 2011 at 8:31 pm

i agree, it seems most people struggle to get by, while few live the easy life. although, it is possible for people without alot of money to be succesful, if the money they have is invested wisely.

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14 Alize July 17, 2011 at 8:32 pm

It is really sad to know that there is such a large gap between rich and poor in USA. If you take a look at figures in countries like India, China then you will see figures are even more worsening.

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15 Kokhar August 5, 2011 at 10:58 am

not true its actually reversing.

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16 David July 17, 2011 at 8:35 pm

It is great to know that people can change their life by internet. But as said in the post it is true, you should have proper strategy and patience to see the results.

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17 Rocio July 17, 2011 at 8:57 pm

Unemployment in the United States is at an all time high. But the shocking news is the gap between the rich and poor is widening day after day, at an alarming pace. The middle class is indeed dying.

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18 Anderson July 17, 2011 at 8:59 pm

This is a big disappointment for the United States, closely becoming one of those third-world country who have this similar kind of situation where every year more and more people are getting poorer.

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19 Christine July 17, 2011 at 9:14 pm

Definitely with internet around, anyone or any class of people can achieve financial success, with zero investment. In fact internet is the last hope for those millions of unemployed youth in the US.

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20 AJWalton July 31, 2011 at 11:54 pm

At some point there will be so many people working online that it’s simply not possible for some/many people to make a living with all the competition. There have to be some people feeding money into the system.

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21 Darius July 17, 2011 at 9:23 pm

I think the people of the US should consider seriously about working on the internet now. It definitely requires patience and determination but it can definitely bring you fortunes.

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22 Stephanie July 17, 2011 at 10:30 pm

The Government should take necessary action against it. If the unemployment keeps on increasing then it could be the reason of corruption in the country. So the Government should take care this.

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23 Erika July 17, 2011 at 10:56 pm

Some politician should realise his moral responsibility and work to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. Your post is so true and to the point, I’ll make my friends read it. Thanks.

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24 Jaida July 17, 2011 at 10:59 pm

God, that’s so true. I have seen both sides, the rich as well as the poor, and believe me, these politicians are just making it worse. I just wish someone would understnad what you have so simply put.

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25 Ryleigh July 17, 2011 at 11:01 pm

I don’t know whose fault all this is. Millionaires just keep on stashing money without thinking about the guy living on the streets. An eye opener of a post, very factual and well written.

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26 Arthur July 17, 2011 at 11:04 pm

Well the first thing comes in my mind is Richer gets rich and poor gets poorer. The percentage of unemployment is increasing every year which is not at all a good sign. Anyhow sort out this problem.

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27 Fidel July 17, 2011 at 11:10 pm

The biggest problem of any country is unemployment. It is shocking when we see that percentage of unemployed people is increased to 25%. Should find a solution for as soon as possible..otherwise!!!!

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28 Lucia July 17, 2011 at 11:17 pm

That we call recession. There is nothing wrong if rich people are getting richer.

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29 Ricky July 17, 2011 at 11:31 pm

Anyone who earns dependable how good is his mind. We are seeing poors because common jobs are disappearing. examples: packing goods, hotlines etc are these days performed by machines, computers.

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30 Jordan July 17, 2011 at 11:34 pm

This shows that the poor continues to be poor always and rich people continue getting richer and richer. The government and the politicians do nothing to improve the economy of the poor people.

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31 Brenda July 17, 2011 at 11:57 pm

Right on the money shoe

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32 DCas July 28, 2011 at 11:28 am

Is it just me or do all of these comments seem very peculiar?

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33 Lyndsy Simon July 28, 2011 at 12:56 pm

Last month, my sister had zero husbands. Today, she has one. At the current rate of growth, this time next year, she’ll have over a dozen husbands!

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34 Jeremy Schoemaker July 28, 2011 at 1:08 pm

lol

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35 sean July 28, 2011 at 1:11 pm

I thought we left europe because of the class/caste structure. In my america anyone can be rich and capping that dream at a certain amount of money actually creates more class warfare and not less.

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36 Dan July 28, 2011 at 1:27 pm

The internet did make it much easier to become rich, but it’s definitely still possible to do it the old way, slowly with a brick and mortar business, no doubt about it. It will take a lot of determination and hours of work put in, either way.

But if more people are becoming millionaires, it means there is less money left for everyone else, so in the end, either there will be only rich and poor (most likely), or the middle class will come back, since the poor who will start becoming rich will get the money from the currently rich, spreading them out more evenly. But people are poor and stupid (even with the wealth of free information available online) and will most likely continue to whine about the rich/poor divide, the government, jerbs, or anything else they think is at fault for their failure. Too bad…

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37 Courtney July 28, 2011 at 1:57 pm

Interesting! It does, with all statistics shown, look like we are growing a huge class separation. I have strongly debated moving to another country where I can live better on less money.

I know, I know that idea only makes the situation worse. I am still pulling for a day when a politician will come along that behaves to the ideal “public servant.”

I was able to compromise when my sister and I got $7 for snacks and drinks… Why can’t adults?

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38 David July 28, 2011 at 3:00 pm

Good news – if the US defaults, inflation will skyrocket and we will all become millionaires, just like in Zimbabwe!

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39 sjhigbee July 28, 2011 at 3:12 pm

As a student of history, I am very aware that when the middle class disappears in a democracy, it becomes a lot harder for the democracy to continue. Rich people tend to be part of the ruling class – poor people drop out, becoming disenfranchised by their lack of material wealth. So… no middle class, no one to put the brakes on the ruling class… Far too many of the above commentators seem far too complacent, it seems to me…

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40 Dan B July 28, 2011 at 3:16 pm

“With all this government intervention and taxes coming around the “gold rush” on the internet is coming to an end.”

I think u just pointed out a lot of the problems. Shoemoney is a genius!

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41 Patrick July 28, 2011 at 3:34 pm

Interesting. I just wrote an article that’s similar titled “How the Rich and Powerful Control America”. You can read it at http://money-cake.com/2011/07/how-the-rich-and-powerful-control-america/.

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42 Justin Dupre July 28, 2011 at 7:41 pm

Wow! it seems pretty odd that as more people are out of jobs, the number of millionaires have increased.

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43 Anna July 28, 2011 at 8:50 pm

Are you single and rich shoebunny?

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44 fas July 28, 2011 at 10:58 pm

The classic case of rich getting richer, poor getting poorer

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45 danandjacob July 29, 2011 at 1:49 am

So that’s where all my money went in 2009… Makes complete sense.

Neuroscience supplements |

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46 netmeg July 29, 2011 at 8:43 am

The historical correction for huge gaps in wealth is revolution. Of one type or another. Just sayin’.

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47 Jeremy Schoemaker July 29, 2011 at 9:34 am

revolution or evolution?

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48 aaron wall July 31, 2011 at 5:06 pm

Revolution.

Every single time.

A lot of scams are only able to continue so long as people are deluded into believing that things are reasonable & they too have a chance. Once the facade falls off so does the willingness to subject oneself to what is viewed as pious fraud. In fact, in the minds of some it can become patriotic to not submit/subject oneself to a corrupt system.

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49 aaron wall July 31, 2011 at 5:52 pm

a couple of citations…with thoughts from the likes of Adam Smith & a top Reagan budget advisor David Stockman cited
washingtonsblog.com/2011/07/adam-smith-would-neither-recognize-or.html
washingtonsblog.com/2011/07/top-reagan-aids-raise-taxes-on-wealthy.html

Further, the Fraudulent Reserve went so far as giving handouts to tax shelters, where the tax shelter would keep 100% of any profits & the Fraudulent Reserve would eat any of the losses
rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-real-housewives-of-wall-street-look-whos-cashing-in-on-the-bailout-20110411

The end result? It will ultimately lead to violence
washingtonsblog.com/2011/07/raging-inequality-may-cause-unrest-and.html

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50 Ryan July 29, 2011 at 4:09 pm

Stuff like this always gets me thinking. It amazes me how as we go through one of the worst economic periods I’ve ever lived through (certainly not the worst in the history of our country) that places like the Apple Store continue to thrive and are packed out from open to close.

One thing is for sure…I want to be on the wealthy end rather than the poor end!!!

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51 bassem July 29, 2011 at 10:10 pm

internet will be the real world sooner

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52 Rodney August 2, 2011 at 2:33 pm

Thats the thing I believe Obama is different, but its only so much you can do. Even as the president.. Thats why its important to set yourself up to be your own boss. In hopeful future financial freedom!

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53 Bobby August 4, 2011 at 12:52 am

David above is the only one who really got it right.

Take a look at inflation over the course of the same period, in real terms. You’re measuring everything in terms of dollars, you should be measuring in terms of a currency that didn’t have trillions of new units printed over the past 2 years.

Millionaires are better at preserving their capital than non-millionaires because they invest more intelligently. They own businesses or invest into assets like gold that are able to rise just as fast as the fed can print. Thus, more “millionaires” but a similar amount of buying power.

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54 Lela August 5, 2011 at 2:52 pm

Politicians have always been for the rich because they are the rich. The majority of politicians are rich only the lower level ones are not millionaires and they still are extremely well off. The problem is you have to have people in charge who come from poverty, etc and people who will not forget what was like to be on the bottom. Those who can stand up and out and not want to join the rich or be considered as rich and never coming from lack.
Another problem is how the rich are getting rich in this country. The majority of major businesses are outsourcing American jobs to foreign countries and employing the work forces in these countries. And by employing a foreign workforce, the American Companies are fueling and boosting the economies of a foreign countries. And while they are doing this, they are destroying the American workforce and decreasing the economy in this country. How foolish and stupid is this. No other country is doing this.
Finally, there is so much information on IM it is hard to know who is telling you the truth. You have a lot of blogs that don’t give you complete information and it takes a lot of research or buying bad information to figure out what to do. I hope to be in the area of millionaire.

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55 fas August 13, 2011 at 4:50 am

Agreed that the rich are getting richer and poor getting poorer but its not just in US, its everywhere!

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56 Divya@ Make Money Online August 19, 2011 at 4:46 am

i heard about news related to this, where in us and canada only, there are more no.of. millionaires are living. compare to other countires.

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57 pilo August 24, 2011 at 1:24 pm

Great stuff from you, man. Ive read your stuff before and youre just too fantastic. I love what youve got here, love what youre saying and the way you say it. You make it entertaining and you still manage to keep it smart. I cant wait to read more from you. This is really a great website.

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58 Miko September 18, 2011 at 7:00 am

Whoa I’m glad I read this. Its only getting worst, hopefully this country can get out of this mess.

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