~62% of US adults own stocks: https://news.gallup.com/poll/266807/percentage-americans-own...
Also, 'owning stocks' vs 'investing' feels different to me. My brother will go all in on tesla for one year, and then pull out and just sit there until he has another somewhat-random impulse. Likewise, my dad used to put all his money into some index funds for the 30 days leading up to Christmas, because 'the government always makes the stocks go up during the holidays, to keep everybody happy'. They count as 'owning stocks' (at least sometimes), but I don't feel they count as 'investing'.
Isn't that very little money?
1 in 5 have $0
50% have enough to cover 3 months of expenses
You're saying that $500-600 (the amount you claim 50% of people have saved up, if it's the median) covers 3 months of expenses?
The math does add up. There is no contradiction in your parent’s post.
Yes, there are people who don't invest. Where do they keep their retirement savings? 40-50% of Americans, at least, simply have no retirement savings! Most people in America aren't earning enough to put away a meaningful amount for retirement. It's going to be grim as boomers and millennials hit retirement age and have to keep working.
Median household net worth is around $193k, not negative. Maybe this is true on an individual basis because there a bunch of, say, young debtors and elderly parents who have transferred their positive assets living in households with working adults with more positive wealth than the youngsters and elders combined have net debt, but...
Rest assured it usually isn't their choice.
