Household net worth hit a new record in 2017 at $98.74 trillion, up $2 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year, according to a report from the Federal Reserve.
A recent Wall Street Journal article says that the latest surge in wealth is due largely to stocks and property value. While the nation's "flow of funds" has grown, the distribution of said wealth may show "evidence of an economy becoming more and more uneven, due to the unequal distribution of opportunity across economic, racial, and generational lines," Curbed reports.
These figures suggest that stocks and real estate continue to be the engines of American wealth generation. And it’s an engine that many Americans can’t access. Only 54 percent of U.S. adults have investments in the stock market, with just 21 percent of households making $30,000 or less owning stocks. Homeownership figures aren’t much better. While the rate has increased slightly, the anemic 62.9 percent national homeownership rate in 2016 was the lowest since 1965.
