New Data on Wealth Distribution Include Ownership Through Retirement Funds

A new study by James Poterba of M.I.T. and Andrew Samwick of Dartmouth has provided the first analysis of the ownership of stock by households that includes ownership through retirement funds. The data indicate that the top 10% of the population owns 90% of all stock, the top 5% owns 77%, and the top 1% owns 47%. Meanwhile, the bottom 80% of the population owns just 2% of all stock.