You’re right about seeing things through your own life b/c after all, that’s really all one knows. However, everywhere I go, i see copius amounts of consumption, as if there was never a recession. I noticed this during the summer, and as a result, I decided to not sell my company stock and just ride things out.

In “Fortunes, Fortunes, Everywhere”, I write exactly about what you talk about. I observe incredible amounts of salaries from people who don’t even work! We’re talking $100K+++ pensions for firemen, police officers, longshoremen etc. It’s incredible.

So, when I see these stats, I do believe in the incredible wealth of Americans, and am pleased we will be able to recover.

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Financial Samurai´s last blog ..You’re Rich And I’m Rich, OK! You’re Still Rich And I’m Not As Rich, Not OK!
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Those guys from the top 20 schools … that’s quite an accomplishment, right? Meaning that it’s pretty rare and that they are outliers

It’s VERY easy to see the world through the lens of our own life. If you’re a dentist and all your friends are dentists, you’re going to subconsciously overestimate the number of dentists in the world … but how often do you see your dentist? Ah, so the ratio of dentists : people can be pretty high.

The next time you’re out and about, watch the people you interact with. The garbage man, the barber, the cashier at the grocery store – and, yes, the doctor, lawyer, and the dentist. In the course of a year, I spend a lot more time talking to waitresses and Target cashiers than I do talking to my doctor. Heck, most of the time when I see the “doctor”, I don’t even see an actual MD.

And that doesn’t even include the multitude of people you never see – the factory worker, the guys who sort packages at UPS, etc.

Oh, and I have been to your site a few times – I just haven’t made any comments yet.
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On the flip side, there are folks who say that everybody is looking for a job, but if everybody is us, and we are all still working, what’s up with that.

Is it true that only 2.3% of the population makes $200-500,000, and 0.4% make $500,000-$1million? I find that an amazing stat since 28 year old kids out of Top 20 business schools make $100-140,000 to start. At age 40, they are making 2-5X that.

Then again, here I got with delusionment. Thnx for the insights and hope to see you at FS one day!

There are so many cool blogs, I can’t keep track, but leaving a comment at my sites gets me up to speed!

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Financial Samurai´s last blog ..Slapping Hands With Famous People, Saving Money At Events & Priceless Moments
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You are right that I look at my own situation and think of it as typical when it really is far from it.